Two Down, Many to Go

Pour some of that 40 out, the Trib has some sad news today.

Mike Downey departs Chicago Tribune

Mike Downey, who returned home to Chicago in 2003 as a Tribune sports columnist, is leaving the paper. "The Tribune was generous enough to make me one of the best-paid sportswriters in the history of this business, so I certainly can't fault the paper for doing this now that times are hard," Downey said Thursday.

Tribune Associate Managing Editor for Sports Dan McGrath informed his staff "with profound sadness" in a note hailing Downey, who was a must-read at the Chicago Daily News and Sun-Times before becoming a columnist for the Detroit Free Press and Los Angeles Times, as a "wise, wry, sane voice of reason."

Um, yeah.

Wise, wry, sane voice of reason? Somehow I doubt those are the words most of us would use to describe him. He was never as idiotic as Mariotti or as boring as Rogers, but he was far from a "must read." I'd give you a list of his most moronic columns over the years, but frankly I rarely read his stuff. Here is a typical conversation I've had about Downey with my buddy Brent:

Me: You see Downey's column today?
Brent: Yep.
Me: You read it?
Brent: No, saw the dumb ass headline and skipped it.
Me: Yeah.
Brent: You read it?
Me: Hell no.

Yup, that about sums it up.

So forgive me if I'm not "profoundly" saddened by his departure. On the plus side, now I have more time to not read Eric Zorn!

Go Cubs.