Today’s merriment and celebration is tempered greatly by a sad reality in Washington sports media: today marks the final edition of the Washington Times as Washingtonians have come to know it for the better part of of 30 years. The entire sports department at the paper has been pink-slipped. It was a development whose impact I decided to share today with my other hockey audience, at Fadoo. Of Corey Masisak’s committed coverage on the Caps’ beat I noted:
“It’s been genuinely exciting for me, watching and listening to Corey formulate questions of Capitals’ players and coaches during press conferences the past couple of seasons, mature from being a quiet, respectful young reporter into one of the most thoughtful and astute observers of the game night after night. Here’s how respected he is: this past Monday night, mere minutes after the Capitals suffered a disheartening and embarrassing defeat at home to last-place Carolina, Capitals’ head coach Bruce Boudreau concluded his press conference by directly addressing the trauma at the Times: “Corey, if this is your last game, I’d like to thank you for everything you’ve done in the covering of our team for the last couple of years.”
I also shared with my Canadian readers my favorite anecdote involving Corey. Just as he was arriving on the Caps’ beat three years ago he agreed to meet me for dinner and a chat before a Caps’ game one evening. He told me that night that he was convinced from being on the Navy football beat that no matter how long his career in sports journalism lasted he’d never meet a caliber of athlete whose character rivaled that of the Midshipmen in Annapolis. If you know anything about the profiles of the men and women who attend the U.S. Naval Academy, and commit to serving their country for years after graduating, you’d understand why he said that. And then Corey followed with this observation: “But already on the hockey beat I’ve found that hockey players are even more impressive.”
Please take some time this holiday weekend, if you haven’t already, and read the reminiscences of Corey and the Times’ coverage offered by Eric McErlain and JP.
On Frozen Blog 