Ernie Roberts--A Blogger Before There Were Blogs

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An uncle of mine, Ernie Roberts, died on Monday. It's not a name that means much to most people--unless you're a sports aficionado in the Boston area. Then it means a lot. He worked at The Boston Globe newspaper from 1947 until 1983, working his way up in the Sports department hierarchy--from evening sports editor to sports editor to executive sports editor. He was instrumental in making The Boston Globe's Sports section the powerhouse that it was in the 1970's and 1980's. The story in the Globe notes, "He's probably more responsible for making the Globe sports section great than any other individual," said Globe sports columnist Dan Shaughnessy.

Most readers of the Globe didn't know him as an architect of the Sports section's writing dynasty. Instead, to them he was just another Globe columnist--but with a gimmick. Because Ernie always started his column talking about breakfast--what he had that morning, or what some sport celebrity's favorite breakfast was. After I moved to the Boston area in 1975 I'd read his column from time to time and I can still remember being struck at how casual it all was. He'd start with the breakfast thing, and then talk about this, and then talk about that. It was very casual and conversational--back in a more formal time when most business people wore suits and ties to work and the term "business casual" hadn't been invented.

Now that I think back on it, Ernie was ahead of his time--he was writing a blog before blogs were invented. He instinctively realized that people hungered for a quick, casual conversation--even while he labored at a newspaper, the classic broadcast medium--and he gave it to them. In other words, Ernie and others popularized a writing style that finally found an outlet when blogs came along--a quirky, quick commentary on events of the day.

I'll close with an Ernie story that's probably more of a commentary on me, rather than my uncle. Ernie called me one afternoon in 1978 when I was working at John Hancock in Boston. Excitement was high at the time because the Red Sox were in a tight race with the New York Yankees for the American League East. Ernie had some extra tickets for a Boston/New York game at Fenway and had called to ask if I wanted them. (At the time I lived in Salem, MA and took the commuter rail back and forth to work.) I did a quick calculation, figured that the game would get out late and that I'd be taking a midnight train back to Salem, and declined them. When I casually mentioned to my underwriting colleagues that the Executive Sports Editor of The Boston Globe had offered me free tickets on the third base line to a Red Sox/NY Yankees game--and that I'd declined them--I was almost lynched on the spot.

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