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In the world of sports media, Tim Wheatley was an anachronism.
In a time when shouting the loudest on cable TV and writing the most outrageously in blogs is often rewarded, Tim Wheatley preferred to toil quietly and behind the scenes.
In an era when there’s a premium on building individual personalities and brands in sports departments, Tim Wheatley subsumed his ego for the good of the team and the institution he worked for.
In a period when the 24-hour news cycle devours sports editors and their time, Tim Wheatley always found a way to successfully balance his work and family life, simultaneously excelling as editor, husband and father even amid the competitive chaos.
I believed so much in Tim’s talent and character that I hired him twice to run my sports departments, first at The Indianapolis Star in 2000 and then again at The Baltimore Sun in 2006.
In Indianapolis, he took a solid sports section and instantly helped make it one of the best in the nation, according to the Associated Press Sports Editors’ annual rankings.
In Baltimore, he inherited a very talented sports staff from the superb Randy Harvey (now associate editor at the Los Angeles Times), and he helped earn more national honors, build a multi-media sports powerhouse and lead bold redesigns of the print edition twice – all while dealing with unrelenting financial pressures and the distractions of new ownership. In recent months, he was demonstrating his editing talent beyond sports as the paper’s business editor.
He proved that one can succeed in sports journalism – even thrive – with a quiet, unflappable, confident manner that leads by example. He surrounded himself with talented editors and reporters, and gave them credit for the section’s success. The Sun’s sports readers would see the eye-popping visuals, the in-depth coverage, the gee-whiz information boxes, the thought-provoking columns and the terrific enterprise stories. What The Sun’s readers didn’t see was the person whose exceptional planning, creativity and organizational skills were the driving force behind those sections – Tim Wheatley.
There are other sports editors like Tim who come to work and diligently and humbly do outstanding work every day for readers and their news organizations, in spite of the most daunting challenges in the history of the industry. I salute all of them.
But this week is about saluting Tim Wheatley, who was killed Monday at an apparently all-too-dangerous intersection in Baltimore’s northern suburbs.
For Tim, doing even routine things with his three children – David, Will and Sarah — was time to be cherished. Tim died while engaged in the simple act of a loving father: driving 9-year-old Sarah to school on a bright, autumn Monday morning. Mercifully, Sarah is recovering from the severe injuries she suffered in the crash.
Tim had his priorities straight. He always put his kids and his wife, Beth, first. He excelled in his job, but his job wasn’t his life. He was active in his church. He was dedicated to his friends.
I consider myself fortunate, indeed, to have been among them.
That’s why the events of this week are excruciating. In the last couple of days, I’ve received dozens of phone calls and emails from friends of Tim. Virtually all of them recite the same five words in describing him: great journalist, even better person.
When Wheatley’s sports department would break a big story or produce a great section – a regular occurrence — I’d tell him that he did great.
Now that his short but well-lived life is over, I have just five parting words for him: So long. You did great.
