Ex-Rocky Mountain News sports columnist Bernie Lincicome: Blogging sucks

Bernie Lincicome, a sports columnist for the Rocky Mountain News until the tabloid went south last February, was known for his blunt opinions -- and blunt they remain even after almost a year on the shelf. In an interview with the Chicago Reader, Lincicome, who's moved back to Chi-Town, where...

By Michael Roberts

January 22, 2010

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Bernie Lincicome, a sports columnist for the Rocky Mountain News until the tabloid went south last February, was known for his blunt opinions -- and blunt they remain even after almost a year on the shelf.

In an interview with the Chicago Reader, Lincicome, who's moved back to Chi-Town, where he was based prior to his Rocky hiring, says he blogged for a while after losing his gig, but stopped because "it was like I was snoring in an empty room. Even I couldn't hear the noise."

Maybe that's why he ripped the medium even as he used it. In one online piece for his now-moribund site, BernieLincicome.com, he wrote, "I should have a fresh appreciation for bloggers, but I do not yet... To be self-published still seems to be unnoticed, to imagine notice is to be self-deluded. This is not the game. This is just calisthenics."

Lincicome tells the Reader's Michael Miner he doesn't need the money, but he still approached the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune about chipping in -- "and neither one threw me out. Maybe I'm kidding myself, but they didn't tell me to crap in my hat." He adds, "I'm tired of being irrelevant."

Take that, Blog Nation.

Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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