S.L. Price on Mike Coolbaugh

I was just about to type that, Moddy.

I, too, wasn't a huge fan of the Gary smith piece. Just a little convoluted for me. Prce's wa s excellent though

 

just read it. an excellent piece. 8) 8) 8)

 

I love Price's tennis stuff too. He always gets great details in his pieces. I'm guessing most of the best stuff in his Coolbaugh piece wsa a byproduct of his efforts.

I was living in San Antonio when Coolbaugh got hit by the clipboard from the coach. I'd forgotten all about it. But it explains why he went the baseball route. He weaved that bit of info seamlessly into the story too.

 

so much humility on this board.
"I could never write like that"
"I want to give up after reading a piece like that"


too much.

a great story like that almost writes itself. a coach killed during a game, c'mon, how could anybody screw it up - just get out of the way and it tells itself -

the writing was fine - he did a solid job
the real genius was getting the assignment - must have been a lot of elbows thrown - lots of good writers at SI -

 

henry is sorta right. It's a subject that a gifted writer could make a gifted piece of work with.

That doesn't take away from the fact that Price hit a tape-measure home run with it.

 

I don't know if that was a rip on Reilly or not, but I will vouch that Reilly could most certainly write features on par with this one.

His feature on Bryant Gumbel back in the late 80s was amazing.

 

Really? Think so?
I think there are -- maybe -- a half-a-dozen sports journalists in the country that could create the author-to-reader-connection as effective as S.L. Price did in that piece. The transition from life to life was seemless.
To say "that story almost writes itself" is a gross oversimplification of story structure and the power of words melding with raw emotion.

 

This type of thread is why I love coming to SportsJournalists.com so often. I had no intentions of reading the Coolbaugh story, since I had read the solid one written by Elizabeth Merrill back in July. But the discussion here compelled me to give it a chance. Glad I did. And mad, too. I flat-out can't write as well as S.L. Price. I don't care how much help he made have had gathering the info, someone still had to write it. I love it when Sports Illustrated gets it right. As much trouble as the mag has had these past few years, I still can't stop myself from renewing my subscription.

 

The special prosecutor for Watergate?

 

Shag - I'd like to see Reilly do more than his columns that read like they were tossed off on the way into work. I know he has space limitations, but he can do more than take shots at people most of the public doesn't like anyway, give comfort to grieving families or make his column into a Mad Magazine sketch. I can't remember the last time he had a column that really seemed to make me say whoa, did he really write that? His piece on Marge Schott was great, but it doesn't seem he's flexing many muscles these days.

 

Double: I am reading it right now. I wanted to finish it before I recommended it. Great stuff.

 

I loved price's coolbaugh piece and I disagree that just about any writer could 1) get the level of detail Price did from his sources and 2) tell the story with masterly patience.

it's not just how much great material price got—but the way he doles it out and rewards you for reading every paragraph. this isn't just thework ofa very good writer, but the work of an elite writer.

p.s. i also read price's Far Afield, and loved it