Category: Commentary/Editorial || By

Tube City Almanac has repeatedly pointed out that Bob Nutting is running his baseball team just like he runs his newspapers --- on the cheap. And although Nutting's newspapers stink, they make gobs of money.

So this weekend's revelation that the Pirates are raking in profits even while they're stinking up the National League should not have come as much of a surprise.

Here's "the best of" (a relative term, to be sure) Tube City Almanac regarding the king of crappy baseball and even crappier newspapers, Bob "Gives Pirates Fans" Nutting:

. . .

(from July 31, 2009)

Nutting Ventured, Nothing Gained

Possible reasons why Pirates owner Bob Nutting keeps sabotaging his own club:

• Worried that successful season will push him into higher tax bracket


• Doesn't want Washington Nationals to feel lonely at bottom of standings


• Has instilled same "quality control" in baseball team as in his newspapers


• Thinks it's like golf and has been trying for low scores


• Strategy to keep Pirates unique? Leave "winning" to Steelers and Penguins


• His giant piles of money make it hard to see good talent


• At heart, he's more of a Phillies fan


• Needs smaller crowds for planned move to Helen Richey Field


• Hoping for federal government bailout


• Just three more lousy seasons makes it an even 20!

. . .

(from June 11, 2007)

Nutting From Nutting

If Nutting is running the Pirates to make them as cheap as possible, it should come as no surprise. "Cheapness" has been a virtue of his family's newspaper chain for decades.

Ogden Newspapers dominates West Virginia (and) southern Ohio, and it has properties in other parts of the country as well, including several in central Pennsylvania, like the Altoona Mirror.

I've seen probably 10 or 12 different Ogden newspapers on a semi-regular basis over the years ... (Many) Ogden papers look slapped-together; instead of local news coverage, they're stuffed with cheaper syndicated features.

Chris Stirewalt, a commentator for WBOY-TV, the NBC affiliate in Clarksburg, says the Ogden chain's key to success has been "lean newsrooms and aggressive ad sales" which has left many West Virginia towns with a newspaper that "reads like a Rotary Club bulletin and is staffed by those too busy to think" ...

There are some very talented, dedicated people working at Ogden Newspapers --- I've known some of them --- who turn out quality journalism. But unless they're very dedicated to the communities they cover, few people can afford to make a living on the penurious salaries Ogden pays reporters.

There's been little written in the big journalism "watchdog" magazines about Ogden's operating style, possibly because it's a privately held company that operates mainly in very small towns, out of the view of the news media "experts" in New York, Washington, D.C., and Chicago ...

(The) Nutting family's supposed stinginess with the Pirates is just part of a pattern that hundreds of writers and editors in Ohio and West Virginia have seen before. And while I'd like to see the Pirates winning, I suspect people in places like Wheeling would be more interested in seeing better quality news coverage.

. . .

(from June 20, 2007)

Avast, Ye Scurvy Dogs!

(A) young salesman came to my door over the weekend. He had (an) overly enthusiastic, cheese-eating grin. "I'm not trying to change your religion," he said, "I just want to talk to you for a few minutes."

"I'm listening," I said through the screen door.

"I'm conducting a survey on behalf of the Pittsburgh Pirates," he said. "As a reward for answering a few questions, we'd like to give you a voucher good towards your purchase of tickets to an upcoming Pirates home game."

"I'm not interested," I said.

"That's cool," he said, "but can I write down why not?"

"Yes," I said. "Write down that I'm tired of Mr. Nutting screwing over the fans, and that I'm not spending a dime on that team until they draft some decent players."

He started to laugh ... and wrote it down. I suspect I wasn't the only one who told him that. I wonder if he's still working for the Pirates, or whatever marketing company sent him out on that suicide mission.

. . .

(from June 20, 2008)

Random Friday

Frankly, you should root for your home team when they're trying their best, but failing. But the Pirates aren't trying. Or, more specifically, the Pirates' ownership isn't trying.

You may wonder how the Nutting family sleeps at night. I say, "On a big pile of money."

They're pocketing money from the fans and the taxpayers, paying lip service to the idea of being competitive, and laughing all the way back to West Virginia, where they invest the profits in a chain of mediocre newspapers and contribute money to things like the "Oliver North for U.S. Senate Committee" ...

The "P" on the caps doesn't stand for "Pittsburgh." It stands for "Painful," "Pitiful," or maybe just "Pathetic."

Give your money to the Nuttings. As for me, I'll drive to Altoona to see a baseball game, even with gas at four bucks a gallon.

Yeah, I'd almost rather see the sheiks of Saudi Arabia profit than the owners of the Pirates.

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