Windy Interview on leaving for ESPN

[Falb7]

If someone can clarify this for me, that would be great..

When exactly is Brian leaving the PD to cover the Heat?

The Heat index launches on the 11th of October, he'll be sharing the beat duties with the other fellow... I would guess with fair certainty that we have until around Friday with Windy working for the PD. He said he was going to cover the Wizards preseason game tomorrow night.

 

[Cavatt]

I bet he feels like a total ass, but it's hard to turn down your dream job no matter how it comes to you. Imagine a co-worker dies and you get a promotion. It totally sucks, but you can't just say no.

 

[Dungong]

He should be writing at the National Level, hes better than the ESPN guys currently writing there, has written several "specials" and such to ESPN while covering the Cavs the past few years. Basically, this is no surprise, makes sense, and really I hope his role shifts from Heat beat writer to more of a General NBA guy that doesn't suck, as there aren't too many of those.

 

[kjw21stl]

He should be writing at the National Level, hes better than the ESPN guys currently writing there, has written several "specials" and such to ESPN while covering the Cavs the past few years. Basically, this is no surprise, makes sense, and really I hope his role shifts from Heat beat writer to more of a General NBA guy that doesn't suck, as there aren't too many of those.

I agree, he is better than ESPN. Can't blame him for going, but I hope he can move on too better stories than Miami.

 

[bscskis]

I'm very surprised that so many people are questioning this move by Windy. I apologize b/c I don't want to look back through this thread, but the baseball comparison I think is a good one when comparing the writing market.

Mid Market Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, ect= AA Akron Aeros
Big Market NYC, LA, Chicago Local Coverage- AAA Columbus Clippers
National Market ESPN, SI, CBS, FOX ect- MLB Cleveland Indians

People think that Windy had all of these offers on the table from SI, CBS Sports, whomever.... I seriously doubt that. As good as a writer as he is, I don't think that all of these national news sources were looking to Cleveland, Ohio to rescue a good writer from a mess of a situation like the Cavs. There are tons of good writers out there and the turnover, especially on the National Level is very low. ESPN hired him because of his unique knowledge and history with LeBron- that was the only reason he was able to jump from AA to the Majors. He will always be able to give a different perspective than the other writers.

Yes it does suck that we lost our best inside source for Cavs info.... and I'm upset about it as much as the rest of you are. But, comparing Windy's situation to LeBron's is ludicrous. Jumping from AA to the big leagues is a no brainer for everyone who is ambitious and wants to move up- not everyone does, but the best like Windy do most of the time.

 

[Jon]

Umm it was Windhorst who mentioned that he'd entertained offers from Yahoo, the NY Times, and Fox Sports.

Anyway, I find the "market tier" discussion irrelevant. He had his reasons for wanting to move on and going to ESPN, and it simply doesn't matter what they are as it's his right to pursue his career how he wants whether that means staying or going. It doesn't mean it's a no brainier. It doesn't mean it was his best move. It's just what he wanted to do.

 

[Powerslave]

Now that he'll be getting major money hopefully he won't just let himself go