By Jeff Moss
DetroitSportsRag@GMail.com
February 11, 2015
This website is so despised and feared in Southeastern Michigan that even when we break a story wide open — like the Rod Allen/Mario Impemba drama — we not only aren’t given credit by media members but they go out of their way to discredit our exclusive without any real knowledge of the situation.
This occurred AGAIN yesterday when news broke that Allen had been demoted at Fox Sports Detroit and would only be doing the color commentary for about 60 games this upcoming season. It’s a story the DSR has been working on since August of 2013 and the money shot came Tuesday morning when it was announced that Allen would be losing airtime to Kirk Gibson and Jack Morris.
This occurred mainly because Impemba doesn’t like working with Allen. They can’t stand each other. It’s not really news to anyone paying attention. And when I tell you that I am 100% sure that Impemba’s dislike for Allen and his work ethic was the major reason for the shakeup, I am not blowing smoke up your ass.
If I am wrong about this I will stop posting on this site for good. A good old-fashioned WWE-style “Retirement Match” wager. But I am not making a mistake here and if you want to know why I am so confident it’s because the site is in possession of a smoking gun.
A missive from an FSD exec confirming everything I just told you. This isn’t speculation on my part. It’s a fact.
But that didn’t stop Matt Dery, Jamie Samuelsen and Bob Wojnowski from going on the Detroit airwaves yesterday and misleading their audience. Ratt Dreary claimed Allen and Impemba had good chemistry. Yeah, and so did Ike and Tina Turner.
Then Tapioca Pudding and Mail-It In Lard Ass stated that they could not imagine that Rod and Mario’s relationship had anything to do with the demotion. Basically refuting something only I have been reporting.
All of this is a nice segue to another Detroit media story that the site has been on top of yet ignored by the mainstream journalists.
On December 18, 2014 I posted a story stating that Chris McCosky would be replacing Tom Gage on Tigers’ beat for the Detroit News.
This is what I posted almost two months ago ….
As I first reported on Twitter earlier tonight, McCosky is replacing longtime Tigers beat writer Tom Gage. Ya know, the same Tom Gage who was elected to the BASEBALL HALL OF FAME nine days ago!!!!
“Hey Tommy Boy, congrats on your election to the Hall of Fame! Can I see you in my office for a minute? I am going to replace you with the biggest toolbag on staff.”
Of course, nobody said anything. There was no public outcry by media members in Detroit (and they ALL read my shit) because that would mean they’d have to acknowledge my existence.
And as DeadlineDetroit.com (one outlet that actually does give the DSR credit) pointed out yesterday, I mentioned it AGAIN on January 19th. Still nothing.
Then, finally the other day Gage himself Tweeted the following out:
thanks to all who’ve asked, but after 36 yrs, am no longer on #Tigers beat despite winning Spink Award – not my doing, will greatly miss it
— Tom Gage (@Tom_Gage) February 9, 2015
Suddenly, something that had been known by these disingenuous fucks for two months became a cause célèbre. Dery opened his show Tuesday ranting and raving about the unfair decision made by the News. What a contrived phony. YA KNEW ABOUT THIS WEEKS AGO, Ratt.
So, do you really want to know what is going on here or do you want to continue to listen to the Weasel flap his gums about nothing?
It’s very simple. The News wants Tom Gage out. But because his union is so strong they can’t fire him. Of course, you could have a Wisconsin union shredded to bits by Governor Scott Walker’s policies and they probably could still file a successful grievance over a man losing his job just DAYS AFTER GETTING ELECTED TO HIS PROFESSION’S HALL OF FAME!!
Not only did the paper demote Gage, they gave his gig to a man who basically quit as the paper’s Lions beat writer last year because it was too much work. Yes, the News replaced a man who will enshrined in Cooperstown in five months with a quitter. And a career joke.
Chris McCosky’s idea of journalism is regurgitating team press releases. He is a laughingstock among his peers and the only Hall of Fame he will ever get elected to is the Miserable Fuck Museum.
Anyway, how do I know that the following News press release isn’t genuine ….
He remains a “valued member of The Detroit News sports staff.” Oh, ok. Pull this leg it plays “Jingle Bells.”
This is how valued Gage is currently at the News. They took away his beat — against his will — just days after being honored with the Spink Award and they won’t even let him write about BASEBALL any longer ….
Yep, they aren’t even going to let Gage write about baseball from his Lazy-Boy recliner!!!!
Because they are trying to get him to quit.
What does News Publisher Jonathan Wolman expect Gage to write about after 36 years of covering BASEBALL?
Is sports editor Phil Laciura going to assign him an article debating the pros and cons of the Wings trading for Keith Yandle or Cody Franson?
Maybe Gage can attend the NFL combine and breakdown some defensive lineman tape while assisting Josh Katzenstein on the Lions’ beat.
Do you see how ridiculous this is? I mean, this is like the Washington Post telling Bob Woodward to start writing articles about Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber for Christ’s sake.
And am I the only one who can imagine a despondent Gage going to the nearest Courtyard by Marriott and scrawling “Gage Was Here” on a ceiling beam and hanging himself?
That press release from Gary Miles claimed the paper wanted a fresh perspective on the Tigers’ beat? Are you shitting me? Chris McCosky’s takes are about as “fresh” as that rotting corpse Edmund Exley discovered underneath the crawl space at Mrs. Leffert’s house halfway through “L.A. Confidential.”
The News replaced Gage with a lazy quitter who has ZERO social media presence and who disappears when major Tigers news breaks.
That’s the story that everyone is dancing around. And I am shocked Dery didn’t discover it himself since there was an episode of “Seinfeld” where George’s co-workers tried to get him to quit when it was learned Costanza wasn’t actually handicapped.
And we all know how much Dery and his creepy concierge producer Tom Mazawey love to throw out inane Seinfeld resets ad nauseum.
What a classy move by the paper. Attempting to force a five decade employee into such despair that he gives up and calls it a day.
I hope you’re proud Wolman. Fortunately for you, Gage is a helluva lot classier than your disheveled ass and has taken the high road.
Me? Not so much.