Sad day. Something near and dear to my heart, Purple & Gold is not printing a magazine this week and will likely have to close shop for good. I'll pray for Scott. The business was his life in many ways as it was for most of the people that were involved with P&G over the years. It was a great run though!

From the Baton Rouge Business Report:

Bleeding Purple & Gold is in red
Purple and Gold Magazine, the pro-LSU sports tabloid, has hit a cash crunch and will not be published this week, says Scott McKay, the magazine's editor and publisher. Meanwhile, some former employees are complaining that they didn't get paid and that some paychecks bounced. "My message to them," McKay says, "is this is an on-going process and we're trying to work it out. Purple and Gold is going through some cash flow problems and we're working to resolve those," said McKay, who founded the publication seven years ago.

Former employees, who asked to remain anonymous, say Purple and Gold hit hard times when the LSU Tiger Athletic Foundation ended a lucrative arrangement for the publication, which is published 36 times a year. TAF formerly bought subscriptions to Purple and Gold for its members, but that arrangement ended this year. Herb Vincent of TAF said today that the foundation has no affiliation with Purple and Gold.

Purple and Gold has struggled in the months since TAF ended its arrangement, employees say. The magazine has bounced some paychecks, and is carrying a significant debt to a printer in Florida. McKay refused to comment on the details. "At this time it probably would be premature to make any comment on Purple and Gold's future," he said. (Tom Guarisco)