Best Columnist Ever...

As read on another board....
A fellow colleague of mine and Mitch's once observed that, "...(Albom) practically owns the national sports writer of the year award, but he can't buy a nomination for the local award. What does that tell you?" The point being that only those who don't know the person are comfortable heaping praise on the writer.


And while he's won many awards in the past, he hasn't won a league MVP wince 2000....

 

Then you can say that Albom is great at writing columns that win contests.

Which are still a ludicrous way to judge writing, IMHO.

 

Well, I'm not a fan of the way they judge it, but there's no practical way to do it.

The real mark of a columnist is how consistently he brings it. Three or four cherry-picked columns from a year doesn't measure that. But you can't have each columnist submitting 50 pieces a year. You may not agree with everybody who places in the top 10 in column writing, but it's usually a pretty credible list.

 

Are they judged locally? Most aren't; they get shipped out of state. My paper was looking for volunteers to help judge a state from the Deep South.

 

No argument from me. It's like saying college football has a ridiculous way of playing OT. Same rules for everyone, though, and Mitchie wins it all the time.

Thing is, he does have those few columns per year that stand out. It's not like he can plan it, say I'll mail it in all year but today, April 27 and June 6, I'm gonna run the table.

Personally, I would take someone approximating Whicker, who is a freak of nature in his consistency. But I have to give Albom his due.

 

All you need to know about contests and judging: Look back at this thread (and previous threads) at how many mentions Whicker got, and he never even bags honorable mention in the contests.

 

best post of this thread.

 

I did nt write the post, but I can guess the translation would be that while he was voted the best in the nation at one time, there are others in the area and at his own paper who, when their work is stacked up against each other in a blind taste test from coffee drinkers in another state, are judged to be better. But the Freep only pushes Albom.

 

Jimmy Cannon. He set the stage for scoops and had style.
Red Smith. He was steady and a pro.

 

Best non-sports: John Osborne in the New Republic's "White House Watch." Yes, I know I'm dating myself.

 

Yes but we asked for the best and Osborne should be there.

 

Leonard Pitts

I know he has been mentioned before. Just had to reiterate the point.

A buddy turned me on to Pitts several years ago, and I'm constantly amazed by his writing and his takes on everything political, social and sports. Great, great, great columnist.