My Favourite Writer Goes Missing...

I was 13 when I started really paying attention to the sports section of the newspaper and reading it more and more.

Every morning, I would get up and immediately find that day's Winnipeg Free Press and read what my 3 favourite writers had to say. The 3 T's. Ed Tait, Randy Turner and Scott Taylor.

Tait covered and still covers the Bombers. When I was 13, I cared a lot more about the CFL then I do today, so his articles were must-read for me.

Turner has always given his humorous take on the hottest local sports topics, and I like to try to resemble his style when I'm writing.

Taylor was considered the lead sportswriter. He travelled to Super Bowls, Stanley Cups, and other huge sporting events. When Scott Taylor was writing it, I knew it was big. His articles were the first that I would find to read.

(Side note: My dad played hockey for the University of Winnipeg Wesmen back in 1980, and Taylor covered the university hockey scene back then for the Free Press. So Taylor would interview the players, including my dad, on occasion. Back in 2004, I used to tell my dad how I would read Scott Taylor every morning. My dad would reply with"'Scott Taylor is an idiot". Then again, isn't this how most athletes feel about certain sportswriters?)

And then one day, Scott Taylor was gone.

I was stunned. How could the Free Press let go of this guy? My mornings were ruined.

This is when I discovered the seriousness of plagiarism.

In a November 2004 article about the NFL, Taylor apparently used a quote from a USA Today article and presented it as his work.

Taylor strongly denied the accusations and eventually resigned from the paper.

I know I had heard the term before but I don't think I realized that it could lead to something as serious as termination from a newspaper.

So I asked around(family, teachers) and was given the same answer. They told me plagiarism is something you don't do.

I don't know when everyone else learned about plagiarism, but for me it was in November of 2004.

Fortunately, Taylor has bounced back from the incident and is the sports director for a number of radio stations in Winnipeg as well as the sports editor of Grassroots News and One Magazine.

And I'm glad that my first favourite sportswriter has kept his career moving after an incident that could have completely ended it.


Here are some interesting quotes from a 2004 article I found online:

This is Taylor's take on the incident:

"Whether it's true or not, it's basically a death sentence," said Taylor. "I can't defend myself from it."

Here is a wise journalism instructor's take on the incident:

Duncan McMonagle, a journalism instructor at Red River College and a former editor at the Free Press, said the incident will compromise the integrity of the newspaper and its journalists.

"As a result, readers could easily say, 'Boy, I'm going to have to second-guess everything I read in the Free Press,' said McMonagle.