Watchdog

Oh, snap. Our friends at The Big Lead beat us to the news ESPN will not be having a company-supported holiday party this year, what with the money troubles affecting Planet Earth.

I asked ESPN about this Nov. 1 but hadn't gotten around to writing it. There is an old saying in the newspaper business: "Write it or read it." I didn't do the former, so Wednesday I did the latter.

No worries. The Big Lead was nice enough to link to my Warren Sapp item today, so it's all good.

Here's the statement ESPN gave me about its party pooping a few weeks back: "The holiday party decision was an appropriate step in the process of managing smartly in these challenging times. We are focused on managing costs efficiently."

The Newsday sports department had a popular holiday party back in the early and mid-1980s that was well attended by star reporters who rarely showed up in the office, such as Marty Noble, who covered the Mets for us back then.

I was young an impressionable and easily impressed by star journalists.

Now I'm old and cynical and nothing would impress me short of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein showing up in my basement and revealing that Deep Throat was not Mark Felt but actually Hal Holbrook.

We don't have a sports department holiday party anymore. Or at least I haven't been invited lately.