DK Pittsburgh Sports...lots of turnover in employees...

[wondermoose]

What happened with Mackey? I wasn't aware of anything specific.

[Realist]

What happened with Mackey? I wasn't aware of anything specific.

He left stating it wasn't "the right fit", then DK implied that Mackey had Dave Molinari stabbed in the back so to speak and Molinari lost his Pens beat to Mackey due to that.

[FLPensFan]

What happened with Mackey? I wasn't aware of anything specific.

He left stating it wasn't "the right fit", then DK implied that Mackey had Dave Molinari stabbed in the back so to speak and Molinari lost his Pens beat to Mackey due to that.

I think I said something on Page 2 of this thread. Biggest thing I saw, which DK has done with half his employees, is that he jerks his employees around. Mackey was hired for hockey, but then, all of the sudden someone covering Steelers is canned or quits, and all of the sudden Mackey is covering the Steelers, and DK is talking about the change like Steelers football is Mackey's hidden passion and what he always wanted to do.

Mackey was hired for hockey, moved to football at some point. Gajtka was hired for baseball, has been doing hockey more than anything lately. Even Yohe was forced to cover some Pirates games. DK played musical chairs to suit his needs.

Mackey has never said specifically why he left, that I know of. My guess is getting moved off hockey was a major piece of it.

[Realist]

Wow. DK is apparently a pervert boss too:

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[Durbano]

Wow. DK is apparently a pervert boss too:

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Eh, I don't know. That's a meandering post by her and I guess the alleged texts never showed up?

I'm not necessarily defending the guy but if there's no proof....

[Realist]

I'm not necessarily defending the guy but if there's no proof....

Well, apparently the proof is coming in a Deadspin article soon to be published per stuff on Twitter:

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[FLPensFan]

Wow. DK is apparently a pervert boss too:

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Eh, I don't know. That's a meandering post by her and I guess the alleged texts never showed up?

I'm not necessarily defending the guy but if there's no proof....

I was a huge DK fan. I really loved his writing, columns and general coverage of the Penguins all the way back to his Post-Gazette days. But man, once he left to become his own boss, his true colors really seemed to come out, and the guy has shown himself to be a big time jerk.

It goes much deeper than Katie Brown or now what Sara Civian is implying. There are stories from several others, maybe not blogged to that extent, that were let go or fired by DK that really continue to paint the picture of how rotten of a person he can be. I know Mackey has refused to comment on why he left, and only defended himself when DK implied Mackey knifed Dave Molinari in the back to get the PG Penguins beat. Even Yohe, after the Katie Brown stuff came out, simply made a comment on twitter to the effect of "If I was a guy that like to air my dirt, oh the stories I could tell...."

There is just so much stuff out there against him, so much negative feedback by those that worked for him, that I find it very hard to believe that everyone is a disgruntled employee trying to sabotage him.

[Durbano]

There is just so much stuff out there against him, so much negative feedback by those that worked for him, that I find it very hard to believe that everyone is a disgruntled employee trying to sabotage him.

I am periodically intrigued by all of it, maybe because I was such a huge fan of the site for a while.

[ville5]

Wifey must not have liked the Sara blog :lol: . DK fired himself. Dali is now in charge og hiring/firing etc. And Lolley is editor-in-chief. DK will only write. He makes sure to point out that these changes are not in name only. Which leads me to believe he's getting heat from advertisers too.

[FLPensFan]

Wifey must not have liked the Sara blog . DK fired himself. Dali is now in charge og hiring/firing etc. And Lolley is editor-in-chief. DK will only write. He makes sure to point out that these changes are not in name only. Which leads me to believe he's getting heat from advertisers too.

Could have also been health related, as DK was recently diagnosed with Diabetes (don't remember if Type 1 or Type 2). He does tell the truth, he sucks at being a manager and a people person. I question though how his wife is suddenly going to be able to determine who is a good hire and who is not. To my knowledge, she has no background in the industry before DK started his site. Maybe no more female employees except for Audrey, who stays at a distance in Penn State land.

His site has peaked. From his initial expectations though, I'm sure if he can maintain the almost 39,000 subscriptions he has, he'll be just fine. I also noticed unlike the Katie Brown blog, the Sara blog didn't seem to create the same type of backlash. Katie's blog saw about a 400 user drop in subscriptions. I've seen no type of drop, and maybe even a slight increase after the Sara piece.

[Durbano]

I also noticed unlike the Katie Brown blog, the Sara blog didn't seem to create the same type of backlash. Katie's blog saw about a 400 user drop in subscriptions. I've seen no type of drop, and maybe even a slight increase after the Sara piece.

Katie had several screen shots and a coherent write-up. Sara never really got directly to the point and there were no copies/screens of the texts. I get that she's saying DK texted inappropriate comments to another person, but privately talking about sexual daydreams (while gross in this particular case) isn't the same thing as verbally abusing an employee.

That's my guess on the lack of reaction, anyway.

Dali taking over is just the latest in the never-ending sequence of "this time we really got it right."

[ShipHockey7]

Is there any benefit for Dali taking over in terms of being a women/minority owned business? I know there's some sort of category for that but I don't know if there are any real benefits.

[turd_ferguson]

In the comments on the announcement of transition of power DK says: "It’s not that I haven’t been good at it. I’ve been terrible at it. I’ve hurt the company far more often than I’ve helped."
Maybe an epiphany? I think health had a lot to with it also.

[FLPensFan]

So, the lastest is that DK's personal account, which he uses often for work, as do all the DK writers.....has become private. This means unless DK follows you, you cannot see his tweets. He has 121,000 followers.....I have never seen a Private account for one with so many followers. It's weird, and reeks of something to hide (like messages not getting out), since his Katie Brown messages already leaked at one point.

DK likes to block people that disagree with him. He blocks a lot of people. I happened to see a tweet from late last night, that DK has blocked Josh Yohe. Someone replied back to Josh saying, it's 1am in the morning, everyone is sleeping, you can delete these later, can you spill it on DK? He still really wouldn't get into it, being the better person, saying life is too short to be an ******* to people, and said "when people are smart, talented and successful, sometimes egos grow." He also said there were plenty of issues when he worked there, but he doesn't like to talk publicly about them...no point for him to do that.

Sounds about right, DK launched his own site, became more successful than he imagined, and his ego swelled to the size of a large sumo wrestler.

[Fast B]

It's a shame, I always liked DK's writing but I remember he went on some Twitter rampages even before starting this site. He's always come across as kind of a loose cannon, I can't imagine what he'd be like to work for.

[ShipHockey7]

So, the lastest is that DK's personal account, which he uses often for work, as do all the DK writers.....has become private. This means unless DK follows you, you cannot see his tweets. He has 121,000 followers.....I have never seen a Private account for one with so many followers. It's weird, and reeks of something to hide (like messages not getting out), since his Katie Brown messages already leaked at one point.

DK likes to block people that disagree with him. He blocks a lot of people. I happened to see a tweet from late last night, that DK has blocked Josh Yohe. Someone replied back to Josh saying, it's 1am in the morning, everyone is sleeping, you can delete these later, can you spill it on DK? He still really wouldn't get into it, being the better person, saying life is too short to be an ******* to people, and said "when people are smart, talented and successful, sometimes egos grow." He also said there were plenty of issues when he worked there, but he doesn't like to talk publicly about them...no point for him to do that.

Sounds about right, DK launched his own site, became more successful than he imagined, and his ego swelled to the size of a large sumo wrestler.

They have also made the @DKPghSports account private as well - which is also weird.

[FLPensFan]

I'm not necessarily defending the guy but if there's no proof....

Well, apparently the proof is coming in a Deadspin article soon to be published per stuff on Twitter:

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I keep seeing veiled comments today on twitter that this Deadspin article is coming out today.....

[Admin]

I keep seeing veiled comments today on twitter that this Deadspin article is coming out today.....

That might explain the Twitter-turtling.

[Defence21]

This is worth a read: http://awfulannouncing.com/online-outle ... olley.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[FLPensFan]

I keep seeing veiled comments today on twitter that this Deadspin article is coming out today.....

That might explain the Twitter-turtling.

That's what everyone thinks. Put the personal and business sites in private mode, and, hand over the keys to the business to the wife, and hunker down.

[Defence21]

DK just posted an article getting in front of the upcoming Deadspin piece, essentially throwing everyone with a gripe under the bus.

But I’ve also never hurt anyone, never mistreated anyone — not at this company, not anywhere — and, above all, never came close to disrespecting women. (I’ll get to that in a minute.) I’ve made rash hires, uncomfortable firings, and people have come and gone too often at this place. But there’s never been any suggestion, much less an allegation — and there won’t be one in this article, either — of anything remotely resembling misconduct.

[ShipHockey7]

DK just posted an article getting in front of the upcoming Deadspin piece, essentially throwing everyone with a gripe under the bus.

But I’ve also never hurt anyone, never mistreated anyone — not at this company, not anywhere — and, above all, never came close to disrespecting women. (I’ll get to that in a minute.) I’ve made rash hires, uncomfortable firings, and people have come and gone too often at this place. But there’s never been any suggestion, much less an allegation — and there won’t be one in this article, either — of anything remotely resembling misconduct.

It's a smart PR move to get out in front of it, but now if the Deadspin article comes out and does have some allegations of disrespecting women or anything like that, he's going to have to eat his words.

[FLPensFan]

DK just posted an article getting in front of the upcoming Deadspin piece, essentially throwing everyone with a gripe under the bus.

But I’ve also never hurt anyone, never mistreated anyone — not at this company, not anywhere — and, above all, never came close to disrespecting women. (I’ll get to that in a minute.) I’ve made rash hires, uncomfortable firings, and people have come and gone too often at this place. But there’s never been any suggestion, much less an allegation — and there won’t be one in this article, either — of anything remotely resembling misconduct.

It's a free article if anyone wants to read the whole thing: https://www.dkpittsburghsports.com/2018 ... n-article/

He is in major damage control mode, but it seems he has enough of a cult following that it likely won't hurt his bottom line too much. It's a shame, because to me, he's ripped through the best talent and nuked bridges along the way. If you ask me, DK covering nothing but hockey with either Yohe or Mackey......or Yohe and Mackey as his hockey reporters would have been his best setup.

I dropped my subscription to DK's site after the Katie Brown stuff, but mainly because since Yohe left, I haven't been a fan of their hockey coverage. Yohe was easily the most personable and liked reporter by subscribers. His Q&A sessions were always much, much larger than any other staff reporters sessions.

Since switching to the Athletic, I haven't been overly impressed. The quality of the articles is fine, but the Athletic seems to be slow to get content out. Nowhere near as fast as DK's site. As an example, Yohe took questions on Tuesday via Twitter for a Q&A session. Article still hasn't been posted to the Athletic yet.

So, right now, I'm not impressed with the coverage of either right now. Mackey to me has been killing it, but a subscription to the PG is more expensive than Athletic or DK's site, and can't bring myself to pay more for a site when all I want is the hockey coverage.

[wondermoose]

The ship's going down. To think he had both Yohe and Mackey at one point.

[FLPensFan]

The Deadspin piece has finally dropped. In the process of reading it now:

https://deadspin.com/pittsburghs-cuttin ... ssion=true