The All-time Best Sports Writer
Mates,
One of my old gang buddies who still lives in LA sent me this article today. It's about Jim Murray who is widely considered the best sports writer of all time. I was in LA back in day, and was an avid LA Times reader, sports section most importantly. Jim Murray really was the best. He had an amazing mix of insight, wit, and humility that made his stories a must-read on any given day.
Around that time the Freep's best sportswriter, Mike Downey got hired by the LA Times, too. He was pretty great in his own right. Before the internet, yes, when actual paper papers were the order of the day, these guys wrote. Some of the quotes in the article:
There was never anybody like Murray. Never will be. He was part sports columnist, part Don Rickles and part Socrates. He wrote for The Times for 37 years and won his Pulitzer for commentary in his 30th year. The general reaction to that, at the paper, and around Los Angeles, was: What took the Pulitzer people so long? The problem was, sports writers didn’t win Pulitzers except if they worked for the New York Times. Still don’t. Only a writer the caliber of Murray could break the East Coast stranglehold. Now, the New York Times doesn’t even have a sports section. Ponder that, Pulitzer people.
and another here:
Vin Scully, about whom Murray wrote: “Vincent Edward Scully meant as much or more to the Dodgers than any .300 hitter they ever signed, any 20-game winner they ever fielded. True, he didn’t limp to home plate and deliver the home run that turned a season into a miracle — but he knew what to do with it so it would echo through the ages.” At Murray’s death, Scully said, “Every day, he faced the same challenge, the same blank piece of paper, tauntingly unfurled and hanging out of the typewriter like a mocking tongue, daring him to be different, fresh, funny and incisive. And every day, for more than 35 years, Murray not only accepted that challenge, but triumphed.”
They include a handful of his written quips in the article. Link to article here: https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2023-08-16/jim-murray-appreciation-los-angeles-times-sports
Hopefully you will think it's worth the 2-3 minutes to read. Jim Murray really was a great writer.
XM
August 16th, 2023 at 11:45 PM ^
Bill Reynolds of the Providence Journal.
Sadly, he died recently. RIP
August 16th, 2023 at 11:49 PM ^
He didn't write in our lifetimes, but it's Ring Lardner, no question about it.
As an undergrad, I found a collection of his works in the General Library and spent hours there reading it in awe. My favorite was a piece called "Obituary," a mock eulogy of Christy Mathewson written when Matty met his demise by being named manager of the lowly Cincinnati Reds.
You can read it here: https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/obituary-by-ring-lardner-fe4eb3e45e53.
I can still recall the closing poem (it helps to know that the final word in the poem was the name of the pitch that Mathewson made famous):
O my eyes are very misty
As I pen these lines to Christy,
O my heart is full of heaviness today.
May the flowers ne'er wither Matty
On your grave at Cincinnati,
Which you've chosen for your final fadeaway.
August 17th, 2023 at 12:46 AM ^
It's hard to beat the old guys who wrote before tv, radio for some.
Grantland Rice, loved college football. Of course it was before pro.
"For when The One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name,
He writes -not that you won or lost- but how you played the Game."
Then the bastard wrote about the Four Horsemen.
August 17th, 2023 at 9:56 AM ^
I think around here Grantland Rice is best known for "The Rolling Years":
I remember the stand at Thermopylae
The Greek Guard made one day;
I remember the legions that Caesar used
To shatter the Gallic sway;
And I remember across the years,
Two banners that crowned the crest,
When Yale was king of the conquered East,
And Michigan ruled the West.
At night in my humble den I dream
Of the glories that used to be--
Of Hannibal taking the Alpine trail,
Of Drake on the open sea.
And then I wander the ancient ways
To a dream that I love best,
When Yale was king of the conquered East,
And Michigan ruled the West.
(Edited to add the whole poem)
August 17th, 2023 at 10:29 PM ^
A great poem by Grantland Rice is "He Never Heard of Casey," which he wrote after he received a letter from a reader who said he'd seen a reference to a poem called, "Casey at the Bat" and wanted to know more about it. Here's how it starts (note that "cove" was a word for what we'd call a "guy"):
I knew a cove who'd never heard of Washington and Lee,
Of Caesar and Napoleon from the ancient jamboree,
But, bli'me, there are queerer things than anything like that,
For here's a cove who never heard of "Casey at the Bat"!
Some highlights:
Ten million never heard of Keats, or Shelley, Burns, or Poe;
But they know "the air was shattered by the force of Casey's blow";
They never heard of Shakespeare, nor of Dickens, like as not,
But they know the somber drama from old Mudville's haunted lot.
He never heard of Casey! Am I dreaming? Is it true?
Is fame but wind-blown ashes when the summer day is through?
Does greatness fade so quickly and is grandeur doomed to die
That bloomed in early morning, ere the dusk rides down the sky?
Read the whole thing here: https://www.baseball-almanac.com/poetry/po_case4.shtml
I've read this a jillion times and still can't stop laughing at "they know 'the air was shattered by the force of Casey's blow.'"
August 17th, 2023 at 9:53 AM ^
I clicked the link just to make sure Lardner was mentioned. Also--real Michigan content! Ring Lardner was from Niles.
August 17th, 2023 at 2:04 AM ^
Thanks for sharing this, definitely worth a read. Personally I enjoyed the work of Shelby Strother most of all. Just wish he had been granted more time here, died way too young.
August 17th, 2023 at 8:26 AM ^
One current voice I appreciate is Brendan Quinn, now with The Athletic. The story he did about John Beilein a few years back for MLive was fantastic.
https://www.mlive.com/wolverines/2013/01/um_post.html
I don't have a sub to The Athletic. If he was still covering Michigan sports, I'd definitely get one just to read his writing and his take on things. He's now covering golf, of which I have very little interest beyond playing it, and college basketball in general. His hoops takes are often quite prescient.
August 17th, 2023 at 10:04 AM ^
Yes, The Athletic realized how talented he was and he's now taking on a more "national" role writing about PGA golf and NCAA basketball. He still writes the occasional UM basketball article, but he's no longer the beat writer for them.
The best was when both he and Nick Baumgartner were covering UM football and basketball for MLive. While Nick isn't as talented a writer as Quinn, he's still very good. The Athletic has also shifted Nick away from covering UM football and the Lions. He's now covering the NFL and was heavily involved in their NFL draft articles.
August 17th, 2023 at 8:31 AM ^
Frank Deford…not only a wonderful writer, but also the founder of The National, which was the best newspaper of all time.
August 17th, 2023 at 10:00 AM ^
Agreed on both.
I realize that the first stirrings of the internet made The National obsolete, but that was the greatest thing ever while it lasted.
August 17th, 2023 at 8:34 AM ^
Best writer today in my opinion is Joe Posnanski, especially about baseball.
August 17th, 2023 at 9:03 AM ^
He is great...totally agree. The Top 100 series he did for them, which was then released as a book, is a spectacular read.
August 17th, 2023 at 8:39 AM ^
My nod goes to Herbert Warren Wind, the fabulous golf writer for the New Yorker magazine.
August 17th, 2023 at 8:42 AM ^
Interesting topic as it's not ever been on my family's radar. My father had no interest in pro sports or the AJC. I couldn't name a single sports writer if my life depended on it.
August 17th, 2023 at 9:09 AM ^
That reminds me of the story of former Georgia governor Lester Maddox, whose disdain for the Atlanta Constitution was so profound that he included a dead fish wrapped in the newspaper in his official governor’s portrait.
August 17th, 2023 at 8:50 AM ^
Not the greatest, but solid:
I'll put in a sentimental vote for Jerry Green. His "Year of the Tiger" about the '68 team was the first sports book I ever read, and I have fond memories. I would still recommend it to any Tigers fan.
August 17th, 2023 at 9:00 AM ^
I really enjoyed Furman Bisher’s columns, especially his Master’s coverage for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, until he hung it up around 2008-09.
August 17th, 2023 at 9:02 AM ^
Growing up there was never a sportswriter I felt like I had to read. I read Albom, Wojo,etc. All good writers. But none really touched me.
David Maraniss’ “When Pride Still Mattered” is an absolute brilliant book about a legend of our pastime, Vince Lombardi. It’s rare that a figure comes out looking better in a biography than in the mythology that develops after their death but that is precisely what happens in Maraniss’ masterpiece.
As an Italian American I have always had a soft spot towards Lombardi. But Maraniss’ book gave me a deeper knowledge and appreciation of the man. Fantastic writer and researcher.
August 17th, 2023 at 9:09 AM ^
This is more of an FYI about a good sports writer. Chip Mundy, retired sports writer for the Jackson Citizen Patriot, died Monday in a car crash. I worked with Chip for about a year just after I graduated from Michigan. He was one of those hometown guys who had many opportunities to move on but instead chose to stay and give back to the community he loved. It was also the community that loved him.
“When he was interviewing me, it always seemed like he wanted to tell this story to people back in Jackson,” (Tony) Dungy said.
He graduated with with Dungy, interviewed him many times starting with his time on the HS paper, and remained tight with him through the years.
I was fresh out of college, wet behind the ears but knowing everything, and he mentored me in such a gentle way. He will be missed.
August 17th, 2023 at 9:09 AM ^
Dickie Dunn of the Charleston News / Federal Hockey League beat writer, he always tried to capture the spirit of the game!
August 17th, 2023 at 10:03 AM ^
Yeah… Albom was until he wasn’t.
A guy I loved, though I doubt he’ll be on any lists, is old S.I. Writer E.M. Swift.
He turned games, spots, and pastimes into epic literary events. Great stuff always.
August 17th, 2023 at 10:43 AM ^
Grantland Rice and Ring Lardner
August 17th, 2023 at 11:16 AM ^
Dan Jenkins was also very good. And funny. I used to read him in Sports Illustrated. He also wrote books; Semi Tough was one of my favorites. A friend of mine loaned me a collection of his works while I was in the hospital. It was difficult to read with broken ribs! I thought I would die laughing!
August 17th, 2023 at 12:23 PM ^
Jim Hanson our announcer, it was my shot in the booth that flatlined him.
August 17th, 2023 at 12:24 PM ^
Used to read Paul Zimmerman in SI as a kid and it changed the way I watched football. His TV spots could be a little ornery but his bread-and-butter was writing about the NFL, and he cut through a lot of the BS narratives in the media to focus on what was really happening on the field.
He was also the first guy I knew that charted every game until a young whippersnapper named Brian Cook started doing UFRs.
August 17th, 2023 at 2:29 PM ^
Dr Z. was great.
Another SI legend (there were quite a few) was Gary Smith. He won the National Magazine award 4 different times.
He did not write short pieces, but you didn't mind, because the dude was a capital "W" Writer.
https://www.si.com/longform/cotton-bowl/index.html#full (this, about TCU before the 1957 Cotton Bowl, won in 2000)
August 17th, 2023 at 6:03 PM ^
Hal Lebovitz
August 17th, 2023 at 7:47 PM ^
John Feinstein wrote “Season on the Brink” and “The Civil War: Army vs.Navy”, and these still are my favorite sports books.
August 17th, 2023 at 9:35 PM ^
I'm a big Wojo fan. His columns and radio bits are usually a lot of fun.
I remember, not fondly, Joe Falls and Pete Waldmeier. It's much more fun to read columns that feature humor (as with the MGOBLOG writers).
As with others, I liked the early Albom. My opinion changed and I now think of him as not very intelligent, which is bad when the person is pretentious.
August 21st, 2023 at 3:14 AM ^
I lived in Los Angeles for over 30 years. I bought the LA Times just to read Murray’s column. I think Plascke came along hoping to carry the torch, but who could. I agree with you 100%, Jim Murray was the best.