Adam Rose of the Los Angeles Times' USC blog revisits the paper's decision to stop its sports writers from participating in polls and awards voting. He also finds a dissenter in the Times' former sports editor, Bill Dwyre:

A few years ago, the Los Angeles Times implemented a policy that prohibits the paper's staff from participating in the type of media votes that you've been hearing about all season. Per Sports Editor Randy Harvey, "The reason is simple: We are here to report news, not make it."

The policy is in line with other major papers like the New York Times, Washington Post, and Baltimore Sun. The voting-neutral movement at the LA Times started under editor John Carroll. It casts a wide net, meaning the Times avoids other polls and awards commonly associated with Hollywood or Washington. In the sports world, the policy extends to obvious situations like the AP poll and Heisman balloting, and less obvious ones like naming an official player of the game.

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Bill Dwyre, who preceded Harvey as Sports Editor and currently writes two columns per week, believes sports writers are well qualified and bring valuable expertise to the table. "Any voting system in sports is imperfect, but the least imperfect system is sports writers who get paid to know this better than anybody."

Read the whole thing over there.