I was at the Blackhawks game last night, and my son, who was sitting in a different part of the United Center, sent me a text:
“Dad, did you see Dickie V tweet? They got rid of The Schwab!!”
I knew ESPN was making another round of cuts yesterday, but I never envisioned they would include Howie Schwab.
Most viewers knew him from his Stump The Schwab TV show on ESPN. I must say my kids started to fall in love with sports from watching the program, in which contestants would try to beat Schwab at sports trivia. It was a fun show mainly because he took it so seriously. He truly didn’t want to get beat.
However, Schwab was much more to ESPN. He spent 26 years as a researcher and producer for ESPN. He was at Dick Vitale’s side for many events.
Judging from the reaction on Twitter and Facebook, he was beloved in Bristol. Former ESPNer Dan Patrick paid tribute to Schwab on his radio show today: “To me he belongs on the Mount Rushmore of ESPN. He took great pride in doing it better than anyone.”
You could feel Schwab’s heart breaking with this post he put on his Facebook page:
After 26 years at ESPN, I am extremely disappointed to say farewell. I have been proud of my association and my work during my tenure. I was a loyal employee, displayed respect for others, worked with numerous charities, represented the company well. I always did everything asked of me and more. What did I get in return today … word that I should get lost. The only thing that mattered was my salary, which in my view was the lone reason I lost my job.
Listen, the only people who get lifetime jobs are Supreme Court justices. Everyone is vulnerable, and times that by a million for people working in the media business these days.
I don’t think ESPN is cutting back. I believe the network is restructuring certain areas in an attempt to become more efficient. I also wouldn’t be surprised if the overall staffing became bloated, and ESPN president John Skipper was informed to trim jobs.
Many good people were told, “Sorry, that’s the way it goes.”
Yet shouldn’t there be some loyalty for an employee like Schwab who dedicated everything he had to ESPN for 26 years? Maybe I am incredibly naive, but if I’m running things, you find a way to keep someone who bleeds for the place.
I’m sure ESPN people will argue otherwise, but his firing makes it look like loyalty is a one-way street in Bristol. The Schwab deserved better.
Your last line got it backwards. The suits see this as a feature, not a bug. If the worker bees (and especially talent!) see that ANYone can get launched, they will be much more reluctant to ever go against anything the Mouse demands of them.
I literally worked next to Howie back in the day. He WAS ESPN, along with Boomer. Getting it right mattered more than any other consideration.
Today? Not so much. Ask Bob Ley.
I know it’s bad that Howie got fired, but how about every body else that lost their jobs? there were people that was paid a lot less then he and won’t be able to jump to another station so easily.