Gary Smith to retire

I'm not getting back into that argument. You want me to cite the names so the hyenas can mock them.

Even more than they already have been here. Their achievements speak for themselves.

 

You got back into the argument by saying they enhanced the genre.

I couldn't care less about hyenas or whatever. I'm up for a craft discussion and I asked two honest questions.

Who are they and what did they do to enhance the genre? Let's hear it.

 

With regard to an earlier comment about the overuse of long form ... I think SI over-cooked this one.
The Bucs' botched 1982 draft.
No need for it to be long form.

This really isn't that fascinating to be this long. There's not that much detail, muchless new detail. And it's hardly new news or uncovered news.


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/longform/nfl-draft-82/

 

It's the great elementary school insult of "If you don't know it, I'm not going to tell you."

 

One might say that Alma is jonesing for an answer.

 

Well, it isn't about Chris Jones for me. Jones as a longform writer/reporter for Esquire, is excellent, one of the best. Jones as a blogger, tweeter, occasional ESPN opinion-maker, is not. But those things aren't longform. Those things are hard to do well, actually.

 

Jones the social pundit is the least skilled of all his functions.

 

This discussion has the depth of a mud puddle.

 

Doesn't have to. I'll talk longform. I feel like I have a pretty measured opinion on it.

 

Alma, how would you describe longform to someone who had no knowledge
of what it is? Say you were at a cocktail party and told someone
that you were a longform journalist and they wanted to know what that was?

 

There is no such thing as a "longform journalist," so I wouldn't tell anyone that's what I was if I had been that, and I doubt any "longform" writers use those words when they're at cocktail parties.

"Longform" is a sucky word, honestly. I don't care for it. I use "profile" or "investigation" or "takeout" or "essay" or "magazine feature" or "in-depth analysis" or something that actually points more accurately to what it is.

Longform is a handy reference word on Internet message boards, though. If I had practiced that kind of journalism or were now, I would try to drum out of existence, because it's a buzzword currently doing the craft few favors.

 

A while back in this thread, someone mentioned that they wished Smith had done more beyond sports.

If you haven't read The Little Girl In Grave 1565, you should check it out. It's Smith at his best, IMO. A haunting story.

http://gangrey.com/?p=4