I admit I didn't like his style, but I did receive prompt responses from him whenever I asked him a question on his blog for which I was grateful. I do think he was a supporter of the Houston Rockets at heart. I wish him well.
I'm not going to miss Blinebury one bit, and won't be shy in saying so. IMO, he's an example of a sports journalist that got progressively jaded on the sport over the years and morphed into a curmudgeon. I'm not saying I could have done better (Feign has, though), but I'm not interested in dipping into his endless well of piss, vinegar, and sarcasm. In the past few years, I've openly ignorde anything he's written, with the exception being when I was mining (all over the place) for insider hints on McGrady this past Fall/January. He was also one of, if not the, worst on chron adjusting to the blog formats, constantly sniping with the commenting readers. I recognize that 60% of the people leaving comments are dips***s that would get rookied or banned here in short order, but he was one of the few that couldn't be the bigger man and ignore them like a professional. Evan
Please pray tell how he 'got it earlier than most people' about McGrady unless he somehow predicted the necessity of microfracture in one of his 'blogs'.
Aw, come on give the guy a break, he was the DD of the chron. He never lets emotions of a game or streak jade what he really thinks of a team. He has always given a reality check to people who read his blogs. He wasn't great but he should be underappreciated for his hard work!
Even though he came off as a jerk, he still wrote about the Rockets so we all lose another resource. I also hate seeing anyone lose their job. I'm sure the Rockets will get him up on his feet though. In the meantime, I'm confident the Chronicle will put up a <a href="/showthread.php?t=158597">tracker</a> on their front page showing us how much money they are saving. BLINEBURY TERMINATION TICKER: Games missed: 1 • Rockets without Fran: 0-1 Pay for no write: $320 x 1 = $320
It's one thing to write crap that gets people angry but at least glues their eyes to the page, a la Pete Vescey...Fran repelled eyes from the page. He wasn't even trashy, he was just bad. Did anyone ever read one of the song quotes he had on his blogs? Really? All the way through? I just think he put entire sections of crap in his articles that most human beings had to just gloss over, I know I did. Good riddance. He was bad at his job. He is probably the most recognizable writer in that sports section, and he still got canned. Why did it take so long?
I enjoy reading Fran's article, though he is too harsh on T-MAC. I miss his live blog too, sometimes he is funny as hell! Wish him all the best and write for Houston Chronicle again in near future!
totally agree. I hate him BS journalism. Dude is bias and his information is highly opinionated. Needs to find another line of work.
A very impressive thing about Fran (and what makes his firing more shocking) is that he had the Rockets beat in the early 80s and has made the adjustment to his current role live blogging and things. As someone who has done like 4 live blogs at basketball games, it is REALLY hard to watch the game and reply at the same time while moderating comments, and I think Fran did a really amazing job of finding the balance between discussing with commenting people and giving game insight. I will definitely miss him at the chronicle
Hated his writing style. Disagreed with most of his analysis. But, I hate to see people lose their jobs all the same.
I am sorry that Fran lost his job. Being laid off sucks. But frankly, I don't feel he contributed anything of value since Hakeem left the Rockets. He did not seem to enjoy his job. I hope he finds something better suited to him.
Fran always seemed to have an axe to grind with McGrady and he definitely had 'crusty old b*stard' syndrome, but when he had his own column back in the day before the internet took over, he wrote some great pieces. I always thought Fran was just like Tracy McGrady: Talented underacheiver Good luck Fran.
Well, Fracis is a different name. Johnson isn't the same as John. Jen isn't the same as Jin. But if it's short for Frantic like someone else said, that sounds reasonable. Tracy is quite common though, sort of like Terry. Fran? That's something else...
