Volume 124 Issue 2
kansan.com
TAKING CHARGE
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Lawrence leads Manhattan in
PAGE 41
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
ment" was when he realized that sports columnist Peter Gammons was following him on Twitter.
Gammons is now just one of 2,296 people following Fisher as he tweets regular updates on the Dodgers drama. He said he is in contact with the Dodgers front office, and speaks with Frank McCourt often, along with attorneys on all sides and Dodgers public relations.
OPENING UP THE BOOKS
The self-described "Dodgers diehard, news addict and law nerd" has written more than 200 blog posts investigating, explicating and commenting on the case — or, cases — beginning in October of 2009. when he obtained Jamie McCourt's divorce application. He was in law school at the University of Minnesota then, having graduated from the University of Kansas as an English major with a minor in business.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2011
Like his brother, he joined Delta Upsilon Fraternity, where he made his fraternity brothers watch the Dodgers play the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2009 playoffs and flew to L.A. for the National League Championship Series when the Dodgers went down in five games against Philadelphia.
"It was the money," Fisher said, explaining his particular interest in the case. Fisher grew up in Los Angeles a Dodgers fan and came to the University of Kansas partly in order to be near his brother Chris, who was living in Lenexa at the time.
His passion as a fan combined with an interest in business when he learned the Dodgers franchise was about to explode in 2009, and all the controversial business dealings of its owners were to be made a matter of public record. The spark that ignited it all was Jamie McCourt's divorce application, which someone sent to Fisher before it hit the news. As a law student he "knew the words," and called his purchase of the website the best 10 dollars anyone will ever spend.
Fisher graduated in 2008, with a business minor that focused on credit financing at a time when credit was short amid the global financial crisis. He worked at a bank for a short time before entering law school in Minnesota, and it was then that he took more than an amateur
In retrospect, Fisher said, he should have studied finance as an undergraduate at the University of Kansas. But he decided as a sophomore English major that he was best served by taking the shortest route out of school and looking for a job. He was responsible for the cost of his tuition, and had "hated school ever since I was two."
interest in following the Dodgers.
In Fisher's view, the fall of Dodgers ownership is a three stage failure that contains echoes of a national economic collapse of housing and credit. First, the McCourts' purchase of the Dodgers was "leveraged to the hilt," partly supported by investments in real estate that evaporated in 2008. Second, Fisher said, the McCourts had the opportunity to fix their financial problems without making their bookkeeping public.
He suspects dramas such as the McCourts' play out behind the scenes at many baseball franchises, but don't become public unless a court case opens the books.
UDK
Speaking of the fallout from the divorce, Fisher said, "They had the opportunity to make sure I was never relevant, that nobody in this field was ever relevant. Buty they didn't. Any success I've had is entirely related to their decisions not to fix this." The third stage of failure Fisher described as an ongoing disaster where the worst possibility seems always to happen, from bankruptcy to Selig's takeover of the team to the looming conflict between the McCourts and major league baseball, which Fisher said he expects to be "bitter and contentious."
"I can't have these people filing for bankruptcy every week," he said. "I didn't buy Tigerdivorce.com."
"You don't throw something like this away," Fisher said. He will continue operating the site as long as there's a use for it. He has acquired skills and credibility as a sportswriter and a wealth of contacts, which he feels will be valuable to him in the long run, even if he isn't sure exactly how.
But at the same time, covering the Dodgers is a lot of work, and Fisher will soon need to focus on his new job at the law firm.
LIVING WITH
DODGERDIVORCE.COM
Meanwhile, Fisher has recently moved to Kanasas City and is preparing to start a job at the downtown law firm of Bryan Cave LLP, where he will work in corporate transactions. His brother, Chris, lives nearby in Parkville, Mo., and his mom is now the house mother at Delta Upsilon in Lawrence. He said he will continue to report on the Dodgers cases.
Oh yeah. There 's an app for that!
"Everything that could go wrong with the Dodgers, did go wrong. I'm really looking forward to the stories that I can tell in a few years, once this is all cooled down," Fisher said. "I'm an accidental journalist - I didn't mean to. I got a break on a big story before anybody else did. Who am I? I'm a 25-year-old nobody."
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bookstore recently began offering price comparisons between its own prices, Amazon.com and Half. com.
"There was one student that said, It was the best idea that KU has ever had." Rourke said.
Rentals cost 61 percent less than new print textbooks and could reduce the yearly amount spent on textbooks, according to Student PIRGs, an organization consisting of college students that looks at the rising cost of college.
Renting textbooks has also become a more popular option among students.
But while students can save money renting or buying online, the bookstore prides itself on being there for students even after they've bought their textbooks.
Used Books
"We are the non-profit store for the University," Rourke said. "Every profit that we make goes right back into student success such as the Student Union Activities (SUA) and the campus radio station,
GRAPHIC BY HANNAH WISE/KANSAN
CLASSIFIEDS 2B CRYPTOQUIPS 4A SPORTS 18
CROSSWORD 4A OPINION 5A SUDOKU 4A
All contents, unless stated otherwise. © 2011 The University Daily Kansan
Don't forget
The UDK will continue to keep students and others up-to-date through our new mobile app and a stronger social media presence. You can find The University Daily Kansan's mobile app on Android and in the iTunes store. We've also re-branded our Twitter accounts to reflect our redesign and added more accounts. To stay updated on news on campus and around Lawrence, follow us at @UDK_News. For the latest on KU sports teams, follow @UDK_Sports. And to read opinion
Kansan.com will also be getting a new look in the coming months. To complement our print redesign, we're striving to make Kansan.com an online destination for students. We want you to check out our exclusive content, watch Web videos and daily KUJH-TV broadcasts and talk with our football and basketball writers during games in live chats on the website. If you have ideas of what you'd like to see on our website, let us know.
give out the day to bring news to students and alumni.
Though The UDK is undergoing a gamut of changes, one thing isn't change: We're still the student voice. We're your voice. So, let us know what you think. What do you think of our redesign? What do you want to see in the paper, on TV and online? Send an email to editor@kansan.com and let us know. After all, that's why we're here.
Another change will debut on Friday, Sept. 2 before Kansas takes on McNees State at Memorial Stadium. Friday games before home football games will have an expanded sports section sponsored by The Wave, our sports magazine, and will include game predictions and analysis. The paper will be tabloid-style like Jayplay, our weekly lifestyle magazine, and don't worry, we'll still have our regular news, opinion and entertainment content.
Stroda is editor-in-chief of The University Daily Kansan. She is a senior from Salina.
Today is the first day of classes. Don't forget to go to yours or you could fail.
Today's Weather
Forecasts done by University students. For a more detailed forecast, see page 24.
HI: 92
LQ: 71
at least it's not 100