First we lose Gribble, now this.

[VinnieVOL]

I am heading to http://t.co/MvkRlcUI to become its Ohio State beat writer, and I'm absolutely thrilled with the opportunity. -- Austin Ward (@Vols_Beat)

[BanditVol]

Ohio State?  Really?   

[Black Diamond Vol]

When you get the chance to go from a mid-market newspaper to ESPN, you have to take it.

[Stogie Vol]

We still have this guy:

[BigOrange Maniac]

Ward's decision would've been an easy one to make. As BDV said, you don't turn down ESPN to stay at a mid-market paper. Gribble's decision to go to Mobile as an Alabama beat writer is more of a head scratcher. Either way, the KNS is now faced with breaking in two new UT football beat guys at the same time, which should be interesting.

These guys generally aren't fans of the teams they're covering. In fact, newspapers go out of their way to hire someone with no affiliation to the teams so that they can ensure objectivity. Ward may have been an exception, since he is a UT alum.

[VinnieVOL]

I have no problem his decision and agree it's a no brainer...

Just sux that we cant seem to get rid of the idiots and the guys I like are leaving.

[BigOrange Maniac]

Just sux that we cant seem to get rid of the idiots and the guys I like are leaving.

For sure. I like Ward's style. He's probably the most objective guy on the beat, IMO. In fact, his style is a lot like Rucker's, before Rucker became totally full of himself. Now we're left with bozos like Rucker and Mike Griffith.

[BanditVol]

The decision makes perfect sense, but OSU still suxes, and even more so with urban there.

I didn't follow Ward that closely, but of what I did see he always seemed to kind of state the obvious.  NTTAWT!