Dear Gainesville, all of Alachua County and Independent Florida Alligator supporters, wherever you may be today;
You recently found out in a column on Tuesday that Tom Green has decided to abandon you to write for the Miami Herald.
The self-proclaimed “Tom Green Show” is taking his writing somewhere else. Obviously, I know that all of us are SHOCKED by his decision to desert Gainesville and his loyal readers.
But know that I, as sports editor, am already in the process of planning the next step to make this the BEST sports section in the country.
I understand your frustration and disappointment, but be confident that after this abrupt exit, we at the Independent Florida Alligator are working harder than EVER to make “The Tom Green Show” regret his choice.
The worst part about all of this was his “method” of announcing his future plans. The Independent Florida Alligator is not meant to be used as a platform to advertise your future career plans with another newspaper.
We will NOT take this.
His cowardly decision to leave will not stop us. Our sports section, which was named as the best sports section by the Florida Press Association last month, will continue on its upward path to the top of the journalism world.
We were not notified until two hours before the newspapers were inserted into the newsstands. But he didn’t even have the guts to stick the knife in himself. His best friend gave us a call to let us know.
“The Tom Green Show” will soon be taken off the air.
With that, I want to make one guarantee to you: “I personally guarantee you that our sports section will win a Hearst award before Tom ever does.”
BOOK IT.
Enjoy your day, Gainesville. The sun is still shining and Gators football season is just 51 days away.
Anthony Chiang
alligatorSports Editor