Jackie Mac--retiring from ESPN on 8/31

cornwalls@6

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Hopefully, she continues somewhere else. One of the best of the Globies from their heyday. I thought she always wrote and reported honestly, fairly, and didn't hold grudges/troll for clicks. The anti-Shank.
 

RG33

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She is awesome. Was always a must-read, must-watch, must-listen.
 

bankshot1

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Jackie Mac is a very good reporter, has deep knowledge, and a fun listen. It woudn't surprise me at all if she hooks up on a regular podcast with her buddy Simmons at Ringer/Spot.
 

Kliq

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Yeah she's been working pretty regularly with The Ringer. My guess is she will still be regularly involved in the media bubble in some ways.
 

Soxy

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When I was a kid I used to love her appearances on "Around the Horn"
This makes me feel incredibly old.

One of the Boston titan reporters. Hopefully she does semi-regular work as the Celtics make their 2022 NBA Championship run.
Seriously. Saw that comment and immediately felt old. When I was a kid it was still her, Gammons, and Ryan at the Globe. Murderer’s row of sports journalists right there. I might even put Jackie Mac at the top considering she still brings the goods.

Sidebar but Around the Horn, for as much crap as it and ESPN get, has been fantastic for giving a high profile national platform for diverse sports journos. When it’s a bunch of crusty old white men like Plaschke and Paige, it can be a pretty terrible program. It’s mostly fine when they have a decent lineup.
 

Lazy vs Crazy

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Hopefully, she continues somewhere else. One of the best of the Globies from their heyday. I thought she always wrote and reported honestly, fairly, and didn't hold grudges/troll for clicks. The anti-Shank.
She's been podcasting at The Ringer, I think that'll continue.
 

amRadio

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This makes me feel incredibly old.

One of the Boston titan reporters. Hopefully she does semi-regular work as the Celtics make their 2022 NBA Championship run.
Seriously. Saw that comment and immediately felt old. When I was a kid it was still her, Gammons, and Ryan at the Globe. Murderer’s row of sports journalists right there. I might even put Jackie Mac at the top considering she still brings the goods.

Sidebar but Around the Horn, for as much crap as it and ESPN get, has been fantastic for giving a high profile national platform for diverse sports journos. When it’s a bunch of crusty old white men like Plaschke and Paige, it can be a pretty terrible program. It’s mostly fine when they have a decent lineup.

Sorry, guys. But when it comes to the bolded, me too!

I haven't watched Around the Horn since like 2006, but there are definitely more than a few prominent sports journalists from around the country I've still kept tabs on. Blackistone (deflategate white-lister), Cowlishaw, etc.
 

54thMA

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Feeling old as well, as almost 40 years ago, we'd sometimes shoot the breeze at BU games when she was on the college hoops beat. IIRC she'd just graduated from UNH a year or two prior?
I went to high school with her, graduated in 1978, saw her a few years ago at our 40th reunion, she's a wonderful person, it was great to see her.

Now I feel old too.............................
 

Kliq

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Jackie was gone from The Globe when I was a kid, and I've been reading the sports page every day since I was 10.
 

HowBoutDemSox

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I’m still hoping she writes a book on the Kyrie era with the Celtics, she’s the perfect one to delve into that particular distinction.
 

Omar's Wacky Neighbor

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Leaving in a bit to the studio :)
I went to high school with her, graduated in 1978, saw her a few years ago at our 40th reunion, she's a wonderful person, it was great to see her.
It was a heck of a time to cover college hoops in Boston: Pitino was at BU, Calhoun was at NU, and Tom Davis was at BC. Plus you had two more (after Pitino) future NBA head coaches in Kuester and Brett Brown at BU.

No question that she deserved the gig, but she also fell into one hell of a situation and made the most of it/built up from there.
 

ifmanis5

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It was a heck of a time to cover college hoops in Boston: Pitino was at BU, Calhoun was at NU, and Tom Davis was at BC. Plus you had two more (after Pitino) future NBA head coaches in Kuester and Brett Brown at BU.

No question that she deserved the gig, but she also fell into one hell of a situation and made the most of it/built up from there.
For sure. She also had the huge fortune of learning from Bob Ryan but also a lot of pressure to maintain his level of NBA coverage. I'd say she did that very well and was a good person all along the way wherever she went.

Nice sendoff from Woj and if you look at pretty much any media member, they all say the same glowing things. This kind of 100% approval rating doesn't happen very often.
View: https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1427997758208806913

Farewell to one of the enduring forces and icons of our industry — Jackie MacMullan is retiring from ESPN. Incredible talent, incredible friend. There will never be another Jackie Mac.
 
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Kliq

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A few months ago Simmons had Jackie Mac and Bob Ryan on the same pod just talking about random NBA things and it was just the best.
 

geoflin

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I went to high school with her, graduated in 1978, saw her a few years ago at our 40th reunion, she's a wonderful person, it was great to see her.

Now I feel old too.............................
That was my high school as well although I was long gone by then. Jackie was quite the basketball player herself for one of the best girls' basketball programs ever in MA. As for her work, I've always admired her knowledge combined with her integrity and fairness. As noted above, she didn't hold grudges, didn't criticize unless it was deserved, and always acted like a regular person rather than the celebrity which she is.
 

54thMA

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That was my high school as well although I was long gone by then. Jackie was quite the basketball player herself for one of the best girls' basketball programs ever in MA. As for her work, I've always admired her knowledge combined with her integrity and fairness. As noted above, she didn't hold grudges, didn't criticize unless it was deserved, and always acted like a regular person rather than the celebrity which she is.
That's great; nice to meet another Wolverine...................;)............

Yes, the girls basketball team was a wagon when I was in high school, she was a big part of that program.

And yes, she was a celebrity but did not act the part; her and I talked for 45 minutes at the reunion and didn't talk about sports at all, we talked about everything but sports.

She's aces.
 

Jimbodandy

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It was a heck of a time to cover college hoops in Boston: Pitino was at BU, Calhoun was at NU, and Tom Davis was at BC. Plus you had two more (after Pitino) future NBA head coaches in Kuester and Brett Brown at BU.

No question that she deserved the gig, but she also fell into one hell of a situation and made the most of it/built up from there.
Incredible to remember. Seems kind of unbelievable.

Was a great time for local sports...and sports coverage.
 

Humphrey

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She gave great credibility to women sports reporters at a time when they didn't have much (mostly because there weren't any).
 

luckiestman

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Netflix should make a ten part show about Jackie’s career. The last 40 minutes or so of the recent Simmons podcast (after the super boring Warriors drama no one gives a shit about) is incredible. She was painting pictures with her stories that are easy movie/tv show scenes. The Bob Ryan “you’re going to make it” story was incredible.
 

Van Everyman

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So why is she leaving?

A close friend of our family, John “Finny” Burke, was an editor at the Globe (his wife owned the restaurant in Magnolia where I washed dishes at 14) once told me that he hired Jackie for her first job in journalism at the Gloucester Times – and that it was the best decision he ever made in the business.
 

Marceline

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Netflix should make a ten part show about Jackie’s career. The last 40 minutes or so of the recent Simmons podcast (after the super boring Warriors drama no one gives a shit about) is incredible. She was painting pictures with her stories that are easy movie/tv show scenes. The Bob Ryan “you’re going to make it” story was incredible.
I listened to that this morning. Fantastic podcast. Everyone posting in this thread should listen to it.
 

luckiestman

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So why is she leaving?

A close friend of our family, John “Finny” Burke, was an editor at the Globe (his wife owned the restaurant in Magnolia where I washed dishes at 14) once told me that he hired Jackie for her first job in journalism at the Gloucester Times – and that it was the best decision he ever made in the business.

Says she is burned out and her elderly parents have been sick
 

bankshot1

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Jackie is thorough and informed, connected, down to earth and seemingly a very nice person. I hope she enjoys her family and her much earned sabbatical from sports journalism. I will miss her in print, but expect to enjoy her future contributions to the Ringer.

Without a shred of hard evidence, I wonder whether Durant's dismissive criticisms of her insights and opinions as they related to him, played any role in her deciding to take a career TO.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Without a shred of hard evidence, I wonder whether Durant's dismissive criticisms of her insights and opinions as they related to him, played any role in her deciding to take a career TO.
I am sure that Jackie Mac had much worse criticism from bigger stars back in the day. I sincerely doubt that this had less than anything to do with her taking a time out.
 

bankshot1

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I am sure that Jackie Mac had much worse criticism from bigger stars back in the day. I sincerely doubt that this had less than anything to do with her taking a time out.
No doubt, and she's talked about the challenges and the sexist bullshit she had to deal with as a young woman trying to play on an uneven playing field and getting access and the respect of the people she covered. And she did a spectacular job of doing just that. HOWEVER, if you listen to podcast, there's an interesting exchange with Simmons about the Durant-Green interview re Golden State, where she and Simmons comment about how the principlals get to re-write what took place and re-write a more flattering narrative that is not questioned, even by those who know the truth.

She might have reflected upon a new world of social media and instant analysis and response, a platform she has not used, and decided that leveling one playing field was sufficient for her, at least for now.

I don't doubt her wishes to spend more time with her family is anything but sincere, but her announcement so close to the Durant comment, and her obvious still high skill level, lead me to wonder whether it had an impact on her decision to call a TO.
 
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Kliq

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I am sure that Jackie Mac had much worse criticism from bigger stars back in the day. I sincerely doubt that this had less than anything to do with her taking a time out.
What's interesting is when Bill asked her what the most heat she ever got from a player was, she mentioned an active player (KAT) and saying that he was mad that her story about Jimmy Butler challenging the Wolves in practice made him look soft.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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She might have reflected upon a new world of social media and instant analysis and response, a platform she has not used, and decided that leveling one playing field was sufficient for her, at least for now.
I didn't listen to the podcast so you could be right. I would say that caring for her elderly parents is #1A, but maybe she's just tired of all the bullshit and that factored in as well. I guess I'd be really surprised if this was a big motivating factor in her deciding to move along rather than, "You know what, that part of my job sorta blows too."
 

Milktoast

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Jack McCallum's book: "Unfinished Business- the Story of the 1990-91 Boston Celtics" has some good observations about a young Jackie on the beat. Put it in your Amazon Cart, you'll thank me later!
 

Chad Finn

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John Burke is the first person I met at the Globe and one of the best editors and people I've ever worked with.

So why is she leaving?

A close friend of our family, John “Finny” Burke, was an editor at the Globe (his wife owned the restaurant in Magnolia where I washed dishes at 14) once told me that he hired Jackie for her first job in journalism at the Gloucester Times – and that it was the best decision he ever made in the business.
 

jose melendez

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Listening to here talk about Lisa Olson was really interesting. 30 years ago now. It led me to look up Will McDonough on it, I couldn't find that much, but there's some not great looks. Will is an interesting charachter, huge talent, loyal to a fault, really stood by some awful people.
 

Soxy

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Her last episode of Around the Horn is on right now. They started with Mac/Cam, then immediately pivoted to the other three panelists (all female) rhapsodizing about how great Jackie Mac is and the positive impact she had on their respective careers. Ramona Shelburne was in tears talking about how Jackie helped her be a better mom.

Just a towering legend in sports journalism.
 

Kliq

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Her last episode of Around the Horn is on right now. They started with Mac/Cam, then immediately pivoted to the other three panelists (all female) rhapsodizing about how great Jackie Mac is and the positive impact she had on their respective careers. Ramona Shelburne was in tears talking about how Jackie helped her be a better mom.

Just a towering legend in sports journalism.
Wish Ramona learned to be a better journalist from Jackie too.
 

mikeot

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I hope this is not the last we hear of her, that she shows up on another platform with her indispensable insights.
 

Foxy42

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She’s going to be showing up on The Ringer podcast network and her and Simmons have already mentioned grabbing Doris Burke and Bob Ryan for future 3 way pods. Also, they keep referencing a special project that she’s been working on w The Ringer.

She’s great w Simmons.