Mike Reiss Ending Mailbag

Sounds like Mike is expecting a pink slip due to espn layoffs...shame but good for him to get out of there.

So anyway -- until fairly recently, I've had no complaints about Reiss' ESPN blog. The reporting was excellent. He stayed within himself on analysis; he didn't do much because that's not his strength, but what he did attempt was stuff he was perfectly capable of. His choices about what and how to write were good. He was and remains a very pleasant guy, never putting his ego in front of his work, crediting others, linking to good resources not from ESPN, etc.

However, within the past year or so, other posts have been mixed into his feed to the point of detracting from it. Also, he seemed constrained on Deflategate, most obviously by the need to pretend that Mort's reporting was competent.

Now, this season, he's dropped in-game posts, Picked Up Pieces and the Mailbag. That's a large fraction of the analysis he did. What's left is his usual skillful stenography, and distressingly little other good stuff.

BJ_McWild said:

Sounds like Mike is expecting a pink slip due to espn layoffs...shame but good for him to get out of there.

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I question that only because he has a very specific role they'd fill with somebody else; his is not a position they'd let go vacant.

Deus Irae said:

My mind is fine, with no delusions.

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Almost everybody believes that about themselves.

People it's just a stupid 'x'. The thread is about losing a weekly feature that a lot of people liked to read. At least Reiss has his Sunday column - always found those most informative thing he's done

Fencer said:

I question that only because he has a very specific role they'd fill with somebody else; his is not a position they'd let go vacant.

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While I stand by the above, I wonder whether he's cutting back on some of what he does to free him for other duties, which he might take over from laid-off people.

I wonder if ESPN is dropping the regional sites. They are aggressively cutting costs.

BJ_McWild said:

Sounds like Mike is expecting a pink slip due to espn layoffs...shame but good for him to get out of there.

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You might be right.

Report: ESPN could lay off as many as 350 employees on Wednesday

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Report: ESPN could lay off as many as 350 employees on Wednesday

Tony2046 said:

You might be right.

Report: ESPN could lay off as many as 350 employees on Wednesday

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Could be. It would seem like ESPN to do some type of "number of clicks" (with that being a good thing in their view, even if it is outraged clicks) analysis, and their winners would be guys like Steve Smith and Mort. I'm sure Mike's even reporting puts him far down the "number of clicks" list.

zydecochris said:

Could be. It would seem like ESPN to do some type of "number of clicks" (with that being a good thing in their view, even if it is outraged clicks) analysis, and their winners would be guys like Steve Smith and Mort. I'm sure Mike's even reporting puts him far down the "number of clicks" list.

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It's too bad really. ESPN use to be ritual for me but it has really gotten bad in the last 2 or 3 years.

ESPN reminds me of McDonald's...... the product keeps getting worse and worse and worse, while the competition gets better, and then the corporate bigwigs can't figure out why they aren't as popular as they used to be....

Amusing to see ESPN drive Reiss' blog off the cliff and then wonder why no one goes there any more.

IcyPatriot said:

When reading a Mike Reiss piece ...

How do we know all the content is from Reiss?

Most of them are being edited ... even CHB gets edited more than before.

Other than that I enjoy Reiss's stuff ... always have and always will.

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We don't. The press has long allowed editors to change articles. In doing so, they can eliminate or water down specific points, and that's regarded as perfectly OK by the rules of the game. Also, they can introduce errors or utterly change the meaning, although those cases are examples of them doing a bad job by their own criteria.

Analogy: Reporters change the precise wording of quotes all the time. But if they change the meaning and are called out on it, they feel they failed.

Deus Irae said:

They are effectively the same. Mike today is what ESPN has him being. He's sacrificed his reporting/analyzing site for the money. Again, I don't blame him for that. Pretty much this entire kerfuffle is because I wanted someone to flesh out a disagreement post instead of just using the <disagree> click.

And QuantumMechanic is pretty much making my point for me, all by himself.

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You should be thankful that for once quantum uncertainty and superposition has resolved into a definite.

SlowGettingUp said:

I note the following in his farewell piece:

Things look a lot different today than they did in 2005, and that’s primarily why you won’t be seeing the mailbag each Tuesday anymore. My hope is that we can find new ways to connect and have the same type of interaction about the Patriots.
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I think that means he is actively looking for a new position.

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Hopefully he ends up on whatever Simmons new content site is that all the Grantland people are fleeing to.

surely reiss can find work somewhere else?? cbs/fox..whatever.

carpetbagger1 said:

Yes, we are all sick of BSPN, but Mike is the one reliable guy they have and the sole reason I still check their site. He posted his mailbag today with what reads like a heartbroken breakup letter at the top, declaring this his final mailbag. I suspect it's a result of bspn leadership doing their best to ruin their and his product (incidentally the website's new format is HORRIBLE!) Anyone have intel as to why this is happening?

It's time for Mike to get out of there and replace Volin at the Globe.

Mike, maybe you want to post something yourself incognito as to what's going on behind the scenes?


Marcus Cannon injury leaves New England Patriots thin at tackle - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN

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This might sound anti-Reiss, but it is not.
Hopefully he is one of the 350 they are reportedly laying off.

zydecochris said:

Could be. It would seem like ESPN to do some type of "number of clicks" (with that being a good thing in their view, even if it is outraged clicks) analysis, and their winners would be guys like Steve Smith and Mort. I'm sure Mike's even reporting puts him far down the "number of clicks" list.

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Not in New England. The number of twitter followers he has is double the next most popular (Curran, I think). So if they ax him, they're axing the most popular Patriots sportswriter.

aluminum seats said:

It doesn't make sense as an explanation for stopping it.

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It does if you assume he's being diplomatic. How about, "I used to enjoy my job, now it sucks, ESPN sucks, I'm mad as hell and i'm not going to take it anymore." *Reiss turns green and busts through his shirt, shredding it to pieces.

Yeah, Curran too. and Matt Chatham.