Sports Illustrated

The last year or so has not been a great time for the Times sports section. The paper lost three major talents in Damon Hack, Selena Roberts and Lee Jenkins all to Sports Illustrated. Clifton Brown, an NFL reporter, went to—of all places—The Sporting News. The paper's Nets reporter, John Eligon, left sports for the Metro desk.

Last year, the Nets beat, famously a career-launcher for the paper, was cut and the paper's other NBA reporter, Liz Robbins, went on book leave. (Oddly, she has yet to return even though her book is finished.) Howard Beck, one of the many dispirited Knicks reporters from last year's season in hell, was the only man The Times had to cover the NBA in 2007-08.

Finally, the paper has found its second man: Jonathan Abrams, a Clippers reporter for The Los Angeles Times, has escaped the clutches of Sam Zell and will join The New York Times' Sports section.  read more »

Sports Illustrated writer S.L. Price has signed a contract with HarperCollins imprint Ecco to write a book about Mike Coolbaugh, the minor league baseball player-turned-coach who died this summer at the age of 35 after being struck in the head by a foul ball, according to Ecco's director of publicity. The book is based on an article Mr. Price wrote about Coolbaugh for Sports Illustrated in September.  read more »