Delamater Announces Retirement

In a surprise move Monday, Ohio blogger Tom Delamater announced that he is retiring from blogging.

At a hastily convened news conference, Delamater said he could no longer keep his part of the bargain. “I’ve given everything I possibly can to the Blogger organization, to the field of blogging, and I don’t think I’ve got anything left to give,” he said, his voice cracking as he put his head in his hands, trying to choke back the tears. “And that’s it. It’s been a great career for me, and it’s over.”

“As hard as that is for me to say, it’s over.”

After the words officially retiring escaped from his mouth, he broke down.
"I'm not going to sit here like other bloggers maybe have in the past and say that I won't miss it," Delamater said, fighting back tears as a hush fell over the room of usually cynical, not to mention self-respecting, reporters. "Because I will. But I just don't think I can give anything else, aside from the few minutes at a time when I’m actually writing on my computer. And in blogging, you can't do that."

Several times during the news conference, Delamater said that he could still blog “at a high level.” He also denied that representatives of Blogger had not done enough to urge him to write on. At the same time, he said he might have given it more thought if they had.

"I've questioned my decision," Delamater said. "But I believe it's the right decision. And there's nothing that they can do or say now to change that.

During the rambling, wide-ranging news conference that inexplicably lasted more than an hour, Delamater talked of his appreciation for being a Blogger blogger, his lack of a plan for life after blogging, the yearlong sabbatical he and his wife are going to take from appearing at social events, and the inspiration he drew from his readers.

He admitted that as time passed, being a blogger got tougher.

"Tom Delamater got hard to live up to," Delamater said. "It's only gotten tougher, and something told me 'It's gotten too hard for you.' I could probably come back and do it, suck it up, but what kind of a toll would that take on me, my family or my fellow bloggers who are putting forth a genuine effort?

"At some point, it would affect one of those, if not all of them. Maybe it has already."

There were questions about whether Delamater was nudged out the door. But he said no.

"As I walk away, I'm walking away on top, my head high, chin up,” he assured the crowded room of reporters who were hanging on his every twitch, his every word, and his every puzzled expression when someone asked an incredibly fawning and idiotic question. “And it is on my terms, which is a good way to go out."

Immediately, speculation began about whether Delamater would stay retired. ESPN devoted the first 15 minutes of “SportsCenter” to the breaking news, which, by definition, appeared to have actually broken.

“I think he still has too much good writing left in him,” said ESPN’s Mark Schlereth, breathlessly undeterred. “There’s no way he’ll follow through on this.”

Woody Paige of The Denver Post and ESPN’s “Around the Horn” said Delamater, like any other fickle member of the media, had the right to flip-flop back and forth and change his tune whenever he wants. “He’s earned that right,” said Paige. “Just don’t ask me to explain my reasoning.”

Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times, like Paige a frequent contributor to “Around the Horn,” said Delamater wouldn’t be able to stay retired. “What’s he gonna do, go fishing and relax the rest of his life? He’s too much of a competitor.”

“Mind you, he’s not from L.A., so I really don’t care about him,” said Plaschke. “But, still….”

And so, for today, at least, blogging fans everywhere will have to adjust to the reality that Tom Delamater has hung up his keyboard and moved on.

Delamater was expected to appear on "The Late Show with David Letterman" to discuss his decision to disappear from public view. "I mean, I don't want to draw attention to myself or anything," he commented, as he left for a meeting with representatives of Sports Illustrated to talk about being on the cover of the magazine's next issue.