A Vancouver newspaper has fired one of its sports columnists after he admitted that he copied parts of a Sports Illustrated article and used them in his own piece.
The decision came after David Pratt admitted he plagiarized material from a Sept. 12, 2000, article written by Rick Reilly, a basketball commentator, the Province announced Wednesday.
Pratt, a long-time sports journalist, wrote about Canadian Hockey broadcaster Bob Cole in his column on Tuesday.
A reader contacted the newspaper after noticing three separate spots where phrases used in Pratt's piece were almost identical to Reilly's column.
Pratt explained that he wrote the offending column on a Saturday and that he "wanted to get out of (the office) before noon."
Pratt doesn't find himself in completely dire straits. The Team 1040 radio station will be keeping him on as a show host.