Story of the year so far?

Eli Saslow's gut-wrenching WaPost piece on Redskins assistant Stan Hixon's son Drew:

(Warning: Long!)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/25/AR2006102501523.html

 

Um, it's Halloween in twenty minutes. Story of the Year is running out of time if it's only 'so far'

 

Damn, that was a really good story.

 

I thought for sure this would be a thread started by Whitlock.

 

no offense. i think it's a nice profile, pretty solid writing. but best profile of the year? not especially close.

 

So, then, what might be near the top since you have such discriminating taste?

 

That was well worth the 40 minutes or so. There were a few style mistakes I saw, but the writing and the subject more than made up for it. Very well done.

 

Eli, it's a nice story. I just think it's sort of lame to call your own story "story of the year."

 

I WISH I had written it. But alas no. I had never even heard of Eli Saslow until I read the story. Just happened to be in town.

 

Saslow also did the profile on the coach rolling up the yardage for his HS kid going for a rushing record.

Maybe it's not the story of the year, but this gentleman is rolling up quite a body of work in 2006.

 

Eli's really good. And he's a really good guy. There are people who succeed in this business, and you admit they're talented but you can't stand to be around them, and then there are people like Eli, who you root for. He's done a lot of great stuff for the Post, including going to Africa to write about basketball. He really gets "IT" when it comes to writing. He doesn't over-write, he doesn't slip into cliches, and he always shapes stories really well. It's awfully impressive for someone four years out of college. I'd like to see him at a magazine, because he writes great profiles.

I liked this story. Liked it a lot. I wouldn't say it was the best story of the year, but it was very well done.

 

I agree about the writing style. I thought there was a lot to learn from it for a younger writer - more that would be relevant than even reading, say, Gary Smith.