More on Van

The passing of Van McKenzie has created one of the most inspiring threads in the history of sportsjournalists.com. I'm sure it will stay near the top for quite a while, but you can get it here as well.

Meanwhile, this was taken out and made a sticky, the getting-more-famous-by the-minute "Vanifesto" that Van wrote when he was hired to return to the Orlando Sentinel.

A legend leaves us

Van McKenzie, one of the most important sports editors of the past 50 years and an equally large character, has died of cancer at 61. His obituary in the Orlando Sentinel -- his last stop in a 'nomadic' career (to say the least) -- describes the man who influenced the business for four decades and whose stamp will remain on the way sports sections are produced and how they look and read long after he's gone.

I never worked with Van, but I knew him through APSE, played poker with him a few times, ate dinner or drank with him a few times. And I certainly worked with others whose careers were profoundly influenced by him. And I don't think I ever heard anybody say a negative word about the man -- quite a feat in this business.

Wilbon: More ESPN, less Post

After signing a big new deal with ESPN, Michael Wilbon tells Harry Jaffe of the Washingtonian that he won't be leaving the Post altogether but won't be writing two or three columns a week for it anymore, either. "I might write columns for the Web. I might have a blog. I might do something with Tony [Kornheiser] on the Web. I’ll do whatever Don Graham and Len Downie want me to do. ESPN did not create the Wilbon-and-Kornheiser brand. The Post did."

Berkow to retire

Highly decorated and respected writer Ira Berkow is retiring from the New York Times' sports department. He intends to continue writing, though. The memo announcing his departure is posted on Romenesko.