Jake Scott piece

Right on, 21.

Let the reader make those assessments, not some preachy wrtier. If Hyde had done that in his piece, it would have been a huge turnoff for me.

 

I'm pretty sure he was at the UGA-GT game.

 

doesn't have to be preachy, or manipulative, or heavy-handed. one question would have done it.

you can't write from a moral vacuum. newspaper are losing readership because of this "neutered" voice.

 

Very nice thread going on here, folks. And yeah, definitely a great story.

I wanted to include the section front JPG from the Sun-Sentinel off of NPD, just to show how the paper wisely made room to play it up with a 2-story cover (due in part to that monster 6x3 ad), and made up for a lack of fresh art with an engaging presentation. A story this good deserved to be strong visually, and it was in this case. Andrea Vigil designed this cover.

 

For you "young uns" who don't know, Henry had the unenviable task of being the moral conscience for Billy Martin in the early 80's. He speaks from experience and its an honor that he has joined us.

Henry please share with us some of your dilema in reporting Billy's moral failings.

 

boom - wish i was henry - greatest sportswriter in history - a true man of letters - but i can only borrow his name - not his talent.

 

i appreciate the homage to henry, but that's just wrong to use his name.

 

Here's what I really liked about this story: I felt like I was in the bar with Dave and Jake, listening to the music, feeling the vibe of tourist versus outsider. I understood why Jake Scott wanted to be there, and I got a window into his personality. Reclusive? Yes. Bitter? Not entirely. Does he have a long memory? Certainly. But that's who he wants to be. He doesn't want to be in the public eye, donating to charity at every turn, etc. And that's fine.

I'm 30, so I never saw Jake Scott play. But damn if I don't have a mental picture of what kind of person he is and how things deteriorated with the Dolphins. The story accomplishes that very well. I think it's a tremendous piece of visual writing, which is what I'd expect from someone who actually went out to Hawaii and found him. All of those cues are paramount to representing Scott in his setting.

I think it's an excellent piece, and I think some of the criticism is healthy and warranted. The only reason really left for me to visit this site is to every once in a while engage in a healthy discussion of the craft, and I've really enjoyed reading this thread. Kudos to Dave, who proves you can write an unbelievable piece without having it fall in your lap. It's easy to write an APSE winner about the kid with leukemia who fights off the disease to play college football. It's not so easy when the "tearjerker" template isn't set out there for you. Good get, Dave.

 

Scott was at the uga-tech game Saturday as the honorary captain, which meant he got to address the uga players in the locker room before the game.

 

well buck, since you're the final arbiter, i guess that's settled.

 

Seriously, it's not like Henry is dead, he could easily post here using his own name....is it fair of you to make people think your posts are his?

 

are you sure? i thought he was dead.