Tough economy forces tough decisions
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- December
- 3
This is Susie Arth, the sports editor at The Journal News and LoHud.com. I understand your concern about Tony Pinciaro no longer being on the wrestling beat. He did great work for you and great work for us. The state of the economy forced us to make some very difficult decisions, including the reduction of our staff. Our commitment to high school wrestling hasn’t changed. We will make every attempt to give all of the excellent athletes the coverage they deserve. I appreciate your passion and look forward to a great season.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 at 1:10 pm by Susie Arth. 
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It will be interesting to see if the Journal News commitment to wrestling will be as Susie stated. The season is starting and the tournaments are this weekend. Time will tell.
Translation: Stop emailing me.
The headline should’ve just been shortened to “Tough”
This week matches and the tournament coverage will tell.
If the sports editors comments are just to put the wrestling community off, I believe she may have miscalculated. As the President of the Brewster Wrestling Club I have an obligation to our sport. Positive promotion of wrestling is just one part. The club is in its 20th year, with emails/adresses of current parents and alumni going that far back. If the Journal News doesn’t feel the need to cover regional wrestling , perhaps we do not need to read the Journal News. I belive I speak not just for Brewster (Jack Duncan)
Jack
You are correct and we all should monitor the coverage closely. Until then we should give them the chance to fail. As much as we love the job Tony did, cuts like this are a reality at this time. There may be a need to rally the troops but lets wait and see. I will be at the Carlucci this weekend and Tony has been there every year. I’ll report back on Saturday night.
FL Parent should do coverage!
Tony will be missed – I hope the coverage will be as good as it was last year but I doubt it. I tend to think this is a big mistake !
Susie
Who will be doing the wrestling beat?
Ms. Arth, why couldn’t you cut someone else? Have you followed Tony’s coverage? I have sons in SEVERAL varsity sports and no other sports writer is as passionate about their athletes as he is. He makes a point to know many of the parents, we all love him. He should cover wrestling and whoever else you were putting in his spot, should cover something else. This is my six year being a varsity wrestling parent and I tell you, it’s not going to be the same without Tony. I’m so dissapointed in the Journal News.
Janet Protano
one of the many people that cover football should’ve been let go.
i doubt the state tournament will be as knowledgeable as last year.
Brewster 75 Harrison 6
Wrestling Fan
Can you give us a break down of the weight classes
I was shocked and saddened to hear about Tony. I have been coaching high school sports for 20 years. In that time, I have never had the honor and privilege of working with a more professional, knowledgeable, passionate, approachable and caring reporter than Tony Pinciaro. He is one of a kind. He is all about the kids. He understands that the athletes he’s responsible for covering are not seasoned professionals but high school student/athletes. I always knew that if Tony was covering one of my games then win or lose he would do the right thing. I knew that if one of my players or a player on the other team made a game ending error that he would never think of mentioning that player’s name in his article. Tony just “gets it”. This is a terrible, terrible loss for high school sports, for the coaches, for the parents, for the fans but most importantly for those who should matter the most – our student/athletes. This was not well thought out. The powers to be at the Journal News need to step back and realize that this was a mistake. One that can be rectified. I urge all of you who follow high school sports in our area to email those listed above. The Journal News is supposed to be our local newspaper. They just let go one of our own.
this is bull. im gonna go argue with someone on the forum…
can anybody contact tony and ask him if he could still cover wrestling but not for lohud??
what a shock this was and right at the beginning of wrestling season, his commentaries were excellent and most of us looked forward to his blogs after each wrestling match. I cannot believe you let him go, what a mistake you people made, and then to raise the price of the journal to boot.
Terrible News…Although I no longer live in the area, I counted on Tony’s coverage to keep me updated on the local wrestlers and their success. As a former Section 1 wrestler, I know first hand that these students/athletes do not get the recognition they deserve for all the hard work that goes into this sport. Tony did a great job to try and change that…it’s a shame the Journal news can not understand what he has done for the sport. His coverage was the best I have ever seen and wish him well. Hopefully, the Journal will see from these responses that they made a big mistake and do the right thing…allow Tony to continue his outstanding coverage of Section 1 wrestling. Best of luck to Tony and all Section 1 wrestlers.
Anthony Alberti
OK Then –
Susie Arth – as the sports editor- show us what you got. The season is here and, I care more about whether you can assign or cover a sport that dates back to the original Olympiad, then this shit economy.
Good Luck Tony
Classless…if you’re going to fire anyone make it Carpiniello. He’s the worst writer on the staff by far, guy didn’t even go to college for cryin’ out loud.
Fox Lane 75
Nyack 15
Of note: Grippi, Rodrigues Did Not Wrestle. Thakur dec. Rueda 10-6. (Rueda had Thakur on his back as the the second period ended)
Bring Back Tony!!
So who’s going to cover wrasslin’?? The great Kevin Devaney? Yeah, right.
The Journal News is truly pathetic, they raise the price to 75 cents three weeks ago and cut the staff this week. FYI, wrestling has a huge following, it’s not all about Rye football and Mount Vernon basketball.
Blame Gannett…...
Who decided who was to be givin the boot ???
The creme of the crop should not be one of the
unlucky people to be canned
cya
Will be canceling my Lohud subscription and will no longer visit your site. The only reason people actually buy a newspaper is because of the writing…and Tony was one of the best.
This reminds me of the decision made a few years ago by WCBS FM to switch formats for economic reasons. After loosing a ton of money for a year they said oops we made a mistake but at that point they could not get back half the DJ and have yet to recover
Part of the reason you are loosing money is because like the car companies you have made poor decisions. Cutting back does not mean cutting your head off…A once or twice a week column could replace the fabulous almost daily column we would all like to see
Ms. Ash if there is something you failed to realize is that the wrestling community is extremely passionate and loyal. You still have time to reconsider your decision and as many of these posting suggest it may be wise to do so!
Thank you Tony for the coverage that you have provided for years.
Ms. Arth:
Where is the coverage of the opening night? By now Tony would have posted. I see nothing from you or anyone on your staff on last night’s matches. Does anyone on the current JN staff know wrestling?
Maybe, Tony should set up a website covering section one wrestlers, but then again, that would be the only way JN staff would have any idea about whats happening in wrestling.
I’m going to miss Tony and being up to date on all the wrestler’s.
Hey JN,
You know that there was a match at Suffern last night? Do you know who won? There was not even a outline of who did what>
i have been coaching high school sports for 17 years and have been fortunate enough to have tony cover many of them.
i have been coaching high school sports for 17 years and have been fortunate enough to have tony cover many of them.He has always showed great interest and enthusiasm when inquiring about the kids and the games and was always well informed about the matchups. Tony always knows the players by name no matter how good a player they are and never favored any team or town, i know he has been there for years and find it hard to believe he was one of the ones who had to go.i called in a game the other night and spoke with someone who seemed they can care less about what they were doing..i understand that in tough times there must be tough decisions made, i believe your paper has made a mistake with this one, coach marino
( To Just A FAN)
Plammentto (96- Harrison) out for month with broken arm.
Brewster 75, Harrison 6
At Brewster
96 – Mike Parise (Bw) pin. Sebastian Cortes, 1:05;
103 – Jimmy Duncan (Bw) pin. James Nitis, 1:35;
112 – Dan Friedlander (Bw) pin. Max Winkelman, 3:00
119 – Kyle McAlpin (Bw) won by forfeit;
125 – John Peragine (Bw) pin. Rob Tiburzi, 4:33;
130 – Chris Gogatz (Bw) pin. Kurt Hinrichs, :46;
135 – Ricardo Lopez (Bw) pin. Dom Ricotta, 1:14;
140 – Gerome Gooden (Bw) pin. Rob Carducci, 3:55;
145 – Andrew Cullen (Bw) pin. Juan Mateus, 2:28;
152 – Nick Ghelarducci (Bw) pin. Nick Auliafico, 1:00;
160 – Bernando Magalhaes (Bw) dec. Jordan Brunner, 9-3;
171 – Zach Guarnero (H) dec.John Borchert, 9-7;
189 – Juliano Zaneti (Bw) pin. Rob Mulderric, 5:28;
215 – Dan Santiago (Bw) pin. Duke Alvora, 3:16;
285 – Mike Protano (H) dec. Dardan Gecaj, 7-6;
Records – Brewster 1-0, Harrison 0-1.
Outcome of Somers v Pearl River?
Cancel my print subscription of Journal News
Somers won big, Realbuto wrestled at 112.
Looks like Matthew Ng is the new wrestling writer. RIP solid wrestling coverage..
After reading Matthew Ng article – there is simply no comparison to Tony’s previous article. This guy has no clue.. I’m done here and cancelling my subscription until Tony comes back
I’m still waiting to see a score on the Suffern – New Rochelle matchup last night… even though I was there, would like to know if JN knows anything about the other meets.
TTFN
Tony Pinciaro has gone above and beyond his responsibilities as a sports writer for the RJN. You can not say enough good things about this guy. He is there for the student-athlete. On top of this, he is a flat-out excellent writer. He provides in-depth coverage for not only the tournaments/matches he attends, but he is so dedicated that he makes phone calls to other coaches about other dual meets/tournaments to get scores/stories. You can not put a price tag on this type of person. As someone mentioned above, the wrestling community is a tight-knit group. Our loyalty lies thick and Tony Pinciaro is the one person that should be brought back! Please look into this a little more Mrs. Susan Arth…
The very 1st thing I did this morning when I woke up was to log into my computer to read the lohud Takedown. To my shock I read about Tony’s Cut and couldn’t believe it. I loved to follow the football blogs but nothing nothing was more informal,fun,witty,and exciting than Tony’s Takedown. It was one of the main reasons I would buy the journal. I honestly believe that Susie Arth does not realize the importance…the impact…and the huge amount of fans Wrestling has in the community. Very dum, irrational decision. I am so angry…it hurts!! I totally understand our Declining Economy and I know for a fact that everyone else does too!! For Gods Sake…the TV Internet Radio is a reminder everyday on our Suffering economy. But I can’t help feel bitter that the Journal wants us to sympathize with their set backs my Letting go of someone (Tony) who is your everyday average person just like us…trying to make ends meet. Good luck Tony…I wish u the best!! And as the saying goes “WHAT COMES AROUND GOES AROUND” Truly!
Wow that was pretty deep D- Well im with u. There are always so much negativity and obstacles that surround us on an everyday basis. The few things that bring me joy is to see my sons and daughter growing up academically and physically and happy. These blogs also have helped me network with other people and families and get to know them in a personal level rather then opponents. Some are really good friends of mine right now.ill miss ya Tony. this has really turned me off with the journal newspaper. Stupid bigwig people trying to cut the wrong corners.
if planamento is really out with a broken arm thats very big for kramer. Whats the deal with grippi and s rods injuries?
Once again the Journal News demonstrates complete ineptitude in their management. Letting go one of the finest”reporters” I have seen in the last 35 years of reading the Wrestling coverage is just another example of how out of touch the editors are at the Journal News.Tony approached his role in the wrestling community with un-matched passion and dedication. As a former coach and current parent of two field hockey players I have had the distinct pleasure of seeing Tony share his commitment to the kids in every endeavor. But Again to expect the management to care about such lowly sports as wrestling and field hockey would be much too much to ask. Tough Choices??? B.S. You editors are clueless!!—I think I will pick up the Bergen Record and at least read someone else who has some idea of how to cover a local sport—oh sorry who did Andrew Gross used to work for??
The Journal News will go back to the same kind of wrestling coverage they had when Tony was away last time. Good luck keep your sales up. You made a big mistake letting Tony go.
He was all about the sport and all about the kids. Rethink you decison. I hope your sales continue to drop and I assure you they will if you continue letting the good ones go.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have from a reliable source (I grew up in a newspaper family, so I know what this means) that Susie Arth had nothing to do with this. The three cuts in the sports dept came from above her and she was not given the opportunity to challenge the decision. So let’s not string her up on this blog. We need to figure out how to get above her in this fight. I also understand from this reliable source that when Susie came on board, she increased the local sports coverage, understanding that people don’t buy the Journal News to read about the Yankees, Mets etc, but buy the paper for the local coverage.
Here’s the list of Senior Management at the Journal News
Send them ANOTHER Professional email, informing that they made a bad decision.
We’ll probably all get another form letter response, but at least it will be a response. We need to keep the heat on. One of these people had to make the decision…......
The President and publisher..Michael Fisch mfisch@lohud.com
The Editor is Harry Freeman hfreeman1@lohud.com
The senior managing editor is CynDee Royal croyle@lohud.com
wow, tony did dome of the best coverage around and you let him go. O yea but you get rid of the wrestling and keep the basketball guys. HA you guys are inscrudable (just learned that in english class, bet even you news people dont know that)