Wright Thompson on Urban Meyer

Thompson wrote about Miles juggling football and family last year. Maybe Miles does it better than Meyer. At some point, though, wouldn't it make sense to write a more substantial piece actually connecting the stories about the pressures these coaches--and many other successful people--face rather than writing isolated profiles looking at each through the same lens? Again, maybe I'm cold-hearted, but it is somewhat irrelevant to me whether any given coach is a "good" or "bad" parent (especially since I'm skeptical about whether profiling someone like this can actually reveal it). Instead, I care more about what this says about society and its relation to sports, family, and work (which these profiles reveal only a sliver of). Thompson possesses considerable writing and reporting talent, and crafts beautiful, descriptive stories. But I'm not sure journalistic resources are best devoted to trotting out profile after profile like this. (But, of course, as I've probably demonstrated on many other threads, I have a different view of the goals of journalism than most people, I think).

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=111103/LesMiles

 

Results are different, but the story is the same. He grew up with a hard-ass father. He works hard. He struggles to deal with his family. The only thing that differentiated Meyer as far as the story goes is the results, and we never really learn why. And, without context, we won't.

 

Just finished reading this.

What an excellent piece.

 

only issue i had was questioning whether meyer was pretending to be a good father because there was a reporter in the car and if wright should've been more skeptical about that.

yes, every coach's story i'm sure contains the same elements of ignoring family/ working too much, but meyer certainly has taken it to an extreme (as evidenced by his championships and brief stops as a head coach)

 

Too long and slow paced.

 

From the story: "As a 22-year-old graduate assistant for the Buckeyes, right up the road from his hometown of Ashtabula, Ohio ..."

It's 200 miles. Lake Erie is up the road from Ashtabula. Nitpicking, I know, but it's such a simple detail.

 

Pacing can't be taught, or fixed with the right amount of editing.
You either have a feel for it or don't.
This is a common impediment in Thompson pieces.

 

I have not even got to Meyer story yet, but in general that is a great issue of ESPN. Good story from Rick Bragg ( I wondered what became of him) on the SEC and southern football. Many would say the genre is overdone but I guess I'm a sucker for them. No mention of train whistles though. All southern stories should make mention of distant train whistles.

Also a very insightful story by Kevin Van Valkenburg on "Honey Bear".

 

Mrs. Meyer, and deservedly so, still seems a bit skeptical about how her husband will be once the season starts.

Hope he can find some balance this time.

 

Yeah, she knows better. You can't change those guys.

 

Just finished the Meyer story. Really liked it. Please help with one item.
Towards the end of story when Meyer is having a team meeting and gets angry at a player who is laughing. Meyer screams "Giggle- f---s" ( as written by Wright) For the life of me I can figure what "f--- s" stands for.

 

Driving me nuts. Anybody?

"Giggle- f---s" ( as written by Wright) For the life of me I can figure what "f--- s" stands for