Posted in News
1 comment
08/30 2010

What Headline Can You Write For a Story Like This?

Posted by Dan Levy.

Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press has a column today about Matt Dobek, the former Detroit Pistons VP of public relations. Dobek committed suicide last week. He was fired in May. Here’s part of the story from Rosenberg:

I don’t know the details of why Matt was fired. As far as I can tell, very few people know, and those who do haven’t spoken publicly. So I am in no position to judge the merits of the decision.

But I do know that when I talked to Matt shortly after he was fired, he seemed lost, and not just in ways you might expect. It wasn’t just that he needed a job. He sounded like he didn’t know what to do with himself. He had worked for the Pistons for 29 of his 51 years and suddenly he must have felt that it meant a lot more to him than it did to them.

Rosenberg talked about trying to organize a dinner for Dobek but scheduling precluded it from happening before it was too late. The framework of the column (which I strongly suggest you read in its entirety) is Rosenberg lauding Dobek for helping him with a Rasheed Wallace interview that seemed impossible to get. More, it was about Dobek being a good person in a sometimes terrible field.

Working with athletes and media — at any level — is an utterly thankless job. Nobody ever knows the names of the PR staffers unless someone does something wrong. The job is 50% putting out fires and 50% fire prevention. It’s not always easy.

If Rosenberg doesn’t know the reasons why Dobek was fired, it would be silly for anyone else to speculate. I will say this, however: he sounds like a lifer. We all know those people, at any job, who have become a part of the wallpaper. It’s hard to know what to do when your everyday routine is taken away. At 51 years old, it’s impossible to just start over, especially in this fickle field.

On a good day, life is hard. It’s sad to imagine how hard the days must have become for Dobek.

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Posted on August 30, 2010 at 11:14AM

 

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  1. Let’s Do A Monday Linkfest
    08/30 2010

    [...] the sad death of former Detroit Pistons Vice President of Public Relations Matt Dobek. Thanks to Press Coverage for the [...]