Best writers to read for a young writer

I just wanted to get opinions on who young writers, like myself should be reading everyday. I personally am a huge fan of Mike Vaccaro and Mike lupica

 

It depends what type of writer you want to be: columnist, college beat guy, pro beat guy, etc. If you could give us an idea what you aspire to be, we could probably name quite a few people.

If you look through the APSE archives, there are links to pretty much every award-winning story. That should keep you busy for a while.

 

I want to read a little bit of everything. I want to keep an open mind. Of course one day I aspire to become a columnist at a paper, but I know that comes with a lot of work. Thanks for the response!

 

Great advice about reading the APSE winners.

 

There is nothing wrong with reading columnists, but as a young writer it's best to read examples of what is a good gamer or what is a good enterprise story or a good feature. You'll get that with the APSE stuff.

 

Want to explain why they have failed me

 

This.
Also, don't be afraid to branch out and read features in Esquire, New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Texas Monthly.
Don't limit yourself strictly to sports.

 

Besides columns and gamers you should read long form. There are some top notch
writers that are a must.

You might start with the patron saint of long form writing WC Heinz and his
influential "Death of A Racehorse" story.

 

Because the newspaper business is shrinking rapidly and could well be virtually nonexistent by the time you hit mid-career.

 

Go pull up the NYT and count how many sports columnist
they have on staff

 

If you're not reading Wright Thompson you are doing yourself a disservice. Also, take intiative and go find good writing. Grantland has plenty of good stuff in its archive as does Deadspin.