Apparently I'm the only one to ever turn them down...

So the mass exodus of sportswriters from big-name newspapers and Sports Illustrated to ESPN only recently started making news (probably because of the departure of Rick Reilly). In any case a New York Times business section story does a pretty good job of putting it into perspective.

Apparently ESPN is signing writers at $150,000 to $350,000 a year (not to mention Reilly's $3 million).

Quote from the story:

“My counteroffer usually comes down to asking them what kind of cake they want at their goodbye party,” said Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, assistant managing editor for sports at The Washington Post, which has lost three writers to ESPN in the last year and a half.

ESPN has hired at least 15 sports reporters and editors from major newspapers and magazines in the last 18 months, according to the story.

Sad.