First Person in ESPN the Mag

I was reading the Joey Votto profile in ESPN the Mag the other day. Is it just me or is the magazine incorporating a lot of first-person stuff in their stories? Guess what Buster Olney, I don't care what you noticed or did in a story about Joey Votto? If it's an important enough detail find a way to include it that doesn't insert yourself into the story. And you don't have to say Votto told you something. I'm going to assume that Joey Votto was talking to you unless I'm told otherwise (quote came from another source than your interview).

 

It was used heavily in the Miguel Cabrera story we have a thread on, too. I thought it worked there. I'll have to read the Votto story and see how it compares.

 

I'll check out the Miguel Cabrera story and that thread. I'm not opposed to the idea of it, but sort of feel like its the old cliche with ledes. You can only start a story with a question once in your career. Do you want this to be that time?

 

A number of ESPN writers have been doing that for quite some time.

 

I've noticed it in magazine writing more and more. Even in Sports Illustrated there is often a passing first-person reference where the writer saw something or had some other thought. A lot of times it's just a brief passage and doesn't happen again. I always wonder why the writer thought something like that was necessary. So that we know he or she was there or talked to someone famous?