2011 Point & Laugh at the skins thread

[ice grillin you]

Larry Weisman Goes From "Unfiltered" to Unemployed
Posted by Dave McKenna on Apr. 25, 2011 at 2:11 pm
Larry Weisman lost both his job and his Twitter handle on Friday.

In July 2009, Weisman became what to me looked like the smartest hire Dan Snyder ever made. Snyder never got along with the press; Weisman was the press, a longtime and respected NFL writer for USAToday and frequent guest on local sportsradio who was liked by pretty much everybody.

When he signed on with "taterskins Unfiltered," the team's p.r. machine's attempt to write news stories about the team itself, Weisman said his job was to keep doing what he'd always been doing as a newspaperman, only for a new boss.

In a statement from the team when Weisman was hired, Senior Vice President/Executive Producer-Media Larry Michael said, "Larry's credibility and experience will give taterskins fans something new and compelling to look forward to this season and beyond."

Weisman gave the team's faux news operation its greatest, and really only, credibility. ESPN would treat Weisman's releases like real news stories in regular news round-ups.

And though he was no longer a journalist, Weisman played one on TV, and played one well, during appearances on the infomercials produced by the team-owned taterskins Broadcast Network that aired on WRC-TV.

Bringing Weisman to taterskins Park made Snyder look big, too, since during his years with USA Today Weisman had taken tons of shots at the taterskins owner.

Like this one, from a USA Today chat in March 2006:

Ashburn, VA: Does Dan Snider have a clue? You think he would learn from his past mistakes. I wonder if looked at the number of catches El had last year or just the big pass in the Super Bowl. Even more funny is his pickup of T.O. lite from San Fran. 30 mil for a saftey that has taken one too many blows to the head? I give each player no more than two years before Dan cuts them.

Larry Weisman: Look at the bright side. He passes the costs on to season ticket holders and those who park cars at FedUpField. Ever heard that expression about people who know the price of everything and the value of nothing? Remember that Dan Snyder isn't so much playing with house money as with your money.

"FedUpField" is brutal! Yet here was Snyder hiring the guy who coined the phrase.

There was also this, which appeared on the Sporting News site about two weeks AFTER Weisman was brought into the taterskins' employ, with Weisman's byline and the headline "Mediocre Returns on Big Investments":

Since Daniel Snyder bought the franchise in 1999, it has one division title and two playoff victories, accolades hardly worth the megamillions Washington has burned through trying to get the best players of the day... The offensive line is past ripe, the quarterback has not matured and the receivers are in transition. They rely too heavily on Portis on offense, and on defense, they'll bank on Haynesworth to elevate everyone's level...

Bottom line: The taterskins are a mediocre team.

But maybe those words weren't ever really forgotten. On Friday, Weisman began spreading the word that he was out of work. "Kind of a shocker this AM," he tweeted. "So it goes. I guess free agents signed by the taterskins eventually get cut." Also: "Blindsided."

Weisman's tweets came on a new account, @MrLarryWeisman. His old handle, @LarryWeisman, was canceled when he got canned. (So far, Washington City Paper hasn't been able to get a hold of Weisman directly, but we'll update when we do.)

Asked about Weisman's departure, taterskins spokesperson Tony Wyllie says via email: "We don't comment publicly on personnel decisions and wish him the best of luck."

As for the cancellation of Weisman's Twitter account, Wyllie says, "We own the Twitter accounts that we publicize on our site/that our employees use to communicate with fans as part of their jobs."

Why I am suing Washington City Paper
By Dan Snyder, Monday, April 26
On Tuesday I am refiling my lawsuit against Washington City Paper, a tabloid paper that published false and reckless charges about me in November 2010. The case needed to be refiled in Washington, not New York, for legal reasons; the rest of the complaint is essentially the same.

I expect to be criticized once again for pursuing this lawsuit. I originally filed it for one reason: The paper refused to issue an apology and retract false and damaging attacks on my integrity. If it had done so, there would have been no lawsuit.

For more than eight months, the same writer at this tabloid blogged or wrote about me. In producing more than 55 pieces, only three times did this particular writer bother to call my staff to check facts. The reporters of The Post and other papers know that my communications adviser, Tony Wyllie, is available 24-7 to respond to questions about me and the Washington taterskins. This writer, however, chose not to call to check the facts before he wrote an article last November that contained so many false assertions. 

I am the son of a University of Missouri School of Journalism graduate whose professional pedigree includes working at United Press International and National Geographic. I am proud of that legacy from my dad and understand the journalist's perspective and challenges.

I am not thin-skinned about personal criticism. I consider myself very fortunate to own the taterskins. Criticism comes with the territory and I respect it. I have never sued people who publish critical opinions of me, nor have I previously sued any news organization.

I understand the anger people feel toward me when the taterskins have a losing season or when we sign a veteran player who does not meet expectations. I have been a taterskins fan all my life, and I get angry, too, including at myself. I am the first to admit that I've made mistakes as an owner. I hope I've learned from them. All I want is for the taterskins to win!

But I also hope that people understand why sometimes, especially in the age of the Internet, when an unretracted lie can live forever, you have to draw the line. I honor vigorous free expression in the media. But even a public figure can sue for defamation when a tabloid paper publishes a harmful assertion of a fact, not an opinion, that it knows to be false or recklessly disregards the truth.

That is exactly what this writer and City Paper did. Among many examples in the November 2010 article, the most egregious was when the article stated: This is "the same Dan Snyder who got caught forging names as a telemarketer for Snyder Communications." That is a clear factual assertion that I am guilty of forgery, a serious crime that goes directly to the heart of my reputation — as a businessman, marketer and entrepreneur. It is false.   

Remarkably, several weeks after I filed the lawsuit, the publisher wrote in Washington City Paper that she was "baffled" that anyone could read the article and believe that I had been accused of personally engaging in forgery. "In fact," she wrote, "we have no reason to believe he personally did any such thing — and our story never says he did."   

Well, I am baffled, too, since personally engaging in forgery is precisely what the paper explicitly said I had been "caught" doing. If the publisher has "no reason to believe" that "Dan Snyder got caught forging names," then why not retract the words that explicitly said I was a forger and simply apologize?   

Let's be clear what this lawsuit is not about. It is not about money. I have already publicly committed to donate any financial damages I win to help the homeless. Nor did I or any of my representatives ask for the tabloid writer to be fired, despite published reports to the contrary.

The large for-profit corporation that owns Washington City Paper could have checked the public facts and done the right thing: required its paper to retract the false charges and apologize. Had they done so when I filed the lawsuit, I would have immediately withdrawn the case. If City Paper in the next several days retracts the false statements cited in my lawsuit and apologizes, I am still willing to withdraw the case.

Simply put, this lawsuit is about the truth — and the need to correct the record, even when you are a public figure, when your character and integrity are falsely and recklessly attacked. This is the case whether you are a public figure or a private citizen.  Nothing more and nothing less.   

Enough is enough. 

The writer is owner of the Washington taterskins.

[paco]

Just saw that.  Dan Synder gets it.

[PhillyPhreak54]

igy's taterskins are the gift that keeps on giving.

[Rome]

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/DC-Haynesworth-Indicted-on-Sexual-Assault-120729739.html

lolz

[SD]

So she consented to him putting his card down her shirt then got pissy when he copped a feel? Stupid whore out for a quick buck.

[Sgt PSN]

Yeah, sounds to me like she got pissed when Albert did his best Chappelle/Rick James impression and said "I wish I had more hands.....so I could give them titties 4 thumbs down.  The milk's gone bad!" 

[QB Eagles]

News from Taiwan... love the Jeff George reference. Make sure to close the banner ad so you can read the subtitles.

http://www.youtube.com/v/xOIsaCWKQzU?fs=1&hl=en_US

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Snyder's insinuation that he cares about the skins winning more than making bank is absolute bunk.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

frontrunners to land Vince Young

[QB Eagles]

frontrunners to land Vince Young

lol

it's the franchise that keeps on giving

[ice grillin you]

vince young for essentially free is a good move

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

We are aware that you like all of their moves and hate all of the Eagles' moves, yes.

[ice grillin you]

yeah cause 50 of the last 51 posts in this thread "mocking" the skins werent by me

i think your eagle homerism is making you dizzy

[PhillyPhreak54]

lol I hope they do get him

[General_Failure]

I hope he's still terrible but makes the Pro Bowl. The sound of Russel's head exploding will be wonderful.