Jones/ESPNMAG

Longtime listener, first time caller. I just finished Jones' The Things We Forget in ESPN Magazine. Did anyone know he was working on this? It's herculean. The best piece of sportswriting I've read in a long time. It has reporting. It has original thought. It has, like, 15,000 words. SI used to be able to do this. How come nobody's mentioned this yet? Or did I miss it? Damn.

 

What issue? The current one?

 

It's the one with Michael Phelps on the front and Matt Ryan on the back.

 

That word - herculean - came to my mind as well. I enjoyed it.

 

Makes me feel like a hack.

 

link?

 

Haven't read it yet, but I'm very much looking forward to it.

His piece last month on cutmen was fan-fucking-tastic.

 

My sweet baby Jones is the only person who could make me -- maybe -- get an ESPN The Mag subscription. Maybe.

 

Hmm. I'm disappointed that I chucked mine as soon as I pulled it from the mailbox.

 

People who don't provide links should feel like hacks.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/package?id=3748409

And while I won't presume to speak for my good friend The Jones, I'd wager a guess that he'd rather you felt inspired instead of discouraged. The anacdote of him asking the cop about Wade Boggs' horse is a great example going the extra little bit for a great detail.

Do that. Even in times of journalism despair. For the sake of your own soul.

 

I've actually warmed up to it over the last year. Between Jones, Keown,
Thompson and their NFL stories, it's pretty solid. Much less of that hip-hop crap and fluff, though there's still traces.