JEIII taken off the Pistons beat

[flow]

Has been promoted to the Knicks beat.

I normally wouldn't care. But the Pistons have so few beat writers - not to mention quality beat writers - as it is. It's pathetic. Here's hoping the Athletic appoints someone competent and zealous to replace him.

[Snakebites]

Has been promoted to the Knicks beat.

I normally wouldn't care. But the Pistons have so few beat writers - not to mention quality beat writers - as it is. It's pathetic. Here's hoping the Athletic appoints someone competent and zealous to replace him.

Kinda sad that even a Piston fan frames that as a “promotion”.

I’ll wait and see who replaces him. He said the Athletic still plans on having Piston coverage.

[the_l_train]

Coty Davis is his replacement. "Houston Texans Beat Reporter" -- He was on the Locked On Pistons pod yesterday apparently, haven't listened.

[Snakebites]

The larger impact on the basketball reporting landscape is Woj’s retirement.

[Crymson]

I think Edwards is a talented writer, but he clearly carried water for multiple front offices for the sake of maintaining sources, wrote disingenuously positive articles as a result -- including perhaps some deliberate spin pieces, such as the one after the Wiseman trade which suddenly argued that Bey wasn't so good after all -- and was often derisive and bitter toward fans on Twitter for no good reason.

I dislike disingenuous journalism and derision of any sort, so I won't miss him. I hope for his sake that he learns better the virtues of restraint and patience on socials in his new job, because Knicks fans are far more militant and far less forgiving.

[Invictus88]

I think Edwards is a talented writer, but he clearly carried water for multiple front offices for the sake of maintaining sources, wrote disingenuously positive articles as a result -- including perhaps some deliberate spin pieces, such as the one after the Wiseman trade which suddenly argued that Bey wasn't so good after all -- and was often derisive and bitter toward fans on Twitter for no good reason.

I dislike disingenuous journalism and derision of any sort, so I won't miss him. I hope for his sake that he learns better the virtues of restraint and patience on socials in his new job, because Knicks fans are far more militant and far less forgiving.

Agree with most of this.

He may have been angry because folks gave him flak for constantly trying to polish the t*rd that has been the Pistons for the last decade; but that's the bed he chose to lie in.

When a team is good then all of the positive viewpoints of the organization and those external to it (e.g. fans, outside reporters, etc) are aligned. When a team is awful then they aren't. JEIII sided with the organization and it was blatantly obvious at times.

I hate propaganda. I'd rather read nothing then that. So here's hoping we get someone a little less biased.

[the_l_train]

If you listened to JEIII's pods, he was pretty negative about the team (rightfully so) -- but of course he is not going to trash Tom Gores and the staff if those are his close sources. Dude probably had to see those guys on a daily basis, and tough line to ride there...a lot of the hate he gets is uncalled for.

People are acting like he is Keith Langlois over here....Yes he was a little pompous at times, but it's easy to nitpick him when none of us were in his shoes and never will be.

[Crymson]

If you listened to JEIII's pods, he was pretty negative about the team (rightfully so) -- but of course he is not going to trash Tom Gores and the staff if those are his close sources. Dude probably had to see those guys on a daily basis, and tough line to ride there...a lot of the hate he gets is uncalled for.

You're looking only at the two extremes -- writing articles with a disingenuously positive spin on the one hand, and absolutely trashing the organization on the other -- and nothing in between. It's like saying that somebody confronted by a conflict with a coworker has only the options of completely avoiding confrontation or physically attacking them. That's not the case; there's a broad continuum between those options.

The vast, vast, vast majority of sportswriters find a healthy journalistic middle ground: write genuine, unbiased analysis, but in a constructive manner which allows them to maintain those relationships. The fact that very few journalists comport themselves like Edwards did should be proof positive enough for you of this concept.

People are acting like he is Keith Langlois over here....Yes he was a little pompous at times, but it's easy to nitpick him when none of us were in his shoes and never will be.

Langlois isn't a journalist; he's a mouthpiece for the organization. All beat reporters are in Edwards' shoes, and few of them comport themselves as he does.

[the_l_train]

The vast, vast, vast majority of journalists find a healthy middle ground: write genuine, unbiased analysis, but in a constructive manner which allows them to maintain those relationships. The fact that very few journalists comport themselves like Edwards did should be proof positive enough for you of this concept.

The vast vast vast majority of journalists are boring as hell though. He kept it interesting enough to keep reading him and keep listening to him even if you didn't always agree.

We are a sensitive fanbase, and we probably would throw anyone under the bus during these rough years.

Just listened to the new guy Coty Davis ---- dude seems pretty damn likable.

[DNice68]

He did very well as a beat writer. He was clearly not a fan of the team(who could blame with the past decade), but he did his best!

[SuperBad]

I’ve been watching the Pistons since 87; I think we need some totally new TV announcers, you want to bring in a new era, it might be a good place to put effort. I’m sure Jalen Rose could do some games, but we need changes there almost as badly as the roster needed it last year.

[Crymson]

The vast vast vast majority of journalists are boring as hell though. He kept it interesting enough to keep reading him and keep listening to him even if you didn't always agree.

His articles about individual people were entertaining. Nobody has taken issue with those, and rightly so. His deliberately biased analysis about the Pistons? Not so interesting, in my opinion.

We are a sensitive fanbase, and we probably would throw anyone under the bus during these rough years.

The fact that nobody has talked this way about Curtis or Omari is proof positive that what you're claiming isn't true. Edwards had his particular way of conducting himself.

[Uncle Mxy]

Hopefully we give the new writer something non-pathetic to write about.

[the_l_train]

I’ve been watching the Pistons since 87; I think we need some totally new TV announcers, you want to bring in a new era, it might be a good place to put effort. I’m sure Jalen Rose could do some games, but we need changes there almost as badly as the roster needed it last year.

Letting Blaha go at this point would just be cruel -- let the man ride this out a little longer, and hopefully we can give him something to root for soon. Would love to see Jalen pair up with him.

Nothing against Special K, but it seems like he has no enthusiasm when he is with George. When he gets paired up with Johnny Kane he seems way more lively, and I agree the Blaha/Kelser pairing has gone pretty stale.

Big fan of Johnny Kane though --- move Kane to the Grant Long spot and have him as backup for when Blaha retires.

[A_dub06]

I think Edwards is a talented writer, but he clearly carried water for multiple front offices for the sake of maintaining sources, wrote disingenuously positive articles as a result -- including perhaps some deliberate spin pieces, such as the one after the Wiseman trade which suddenly argued that Bey wasn't so good after all -- and was often derisive and bitter toward fans on Twitter for no good reason.

I dislike disingenuous journalism and derision of any sort, so I won't miss him. I hope for his sake that he learns better the virtues of restraint and patience on socials in his new job, because Knicks fans are far more militant and far less forgiving.

Completely agree with this.

The guy was clearly talented but his bias and inability to call a spade a spade until basically every other writer around the league called the pistons out was pathetic, and whilst yes he can’t be offensive there’s a way of communicating that which is more honest than he was being. He couldn’t have had his tongue up the teams ass anymore if he tried, and I think that disenchanted many readers.

Good riddance

[440BB]

I wish he was moved to the Nets beat, reuniting with Killian Hayes.

[NYPiston]

Wasn't really a fan tbh, he was too much of an organizational shill for my liking, but I wish good luck to him regardless.

[TPA]

He wasn't all that great of a writer in my opinion. He also had a certain arrogance about him; both on his podcast and in his Twitter communications that just rubbed me the wrong way. Best of luck to him though. He is still a young man with room for improvement, and he'll be living the dream in NYC.

[breezypeezy]

If paying $1000 a sq ft for ones quarters can be considered "viviendo el sueño".