Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Thanks and Good Bye Jerry Brewer

My absolute favorite local sports meida figure is the Seattle Ties Jerry Brewer. He does an excellent job of avoiding the "hot take" approach to sports jouranlism and actually thinking through his positions. Brewer is an excellent writer and provides an upbeat and optimistic view of the sports world, which makes his pieces a joy to read (especially when you remember Steve Kelley who he replaced). During his brief time at KJR, Brewer also did an excellent job speaking his views to the world on the radio. Sadly his time in Seattle his coming to an end.

On April 6th the Washington Post announced that Jerry Brewer would be leaving the Seattle Times and joining them as a sports columnist. The change has been under the radar here in Seattle. I have seen nothing from the Times about his departure. In fact I heard about it through Seattle Sports Net. This is sad new for us here in Seattle. We are losing a great local voice, someone that stood above the ruckus.

Brewer's departure comes on the heals of the announcement by Bud Withers of his retirement from the Seattle Times. That means the only major local daily will be losing two of their three sports columnist in a months time. The Seattle Times Sports Editor has their work cut out for them. Hopefully they do a good job picking a writer to follow in Brewer's foot steps. Finding talented and interesting sports writers isn't the easiest thing in the world. Many of them just fall into the Skip Bayless trap of trying to say the most shocking or provocative thing they can. This is not what Seattle needs in a sports columnist.

Fans in Washington D.C. are getting a true gem of a sports writer. Hopefully they appreciate what Jerry Brewer brings to the table. If they don't he will always be welcome back to the Emerald City.

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