Seven Sportswriters Who

[raises hand]
I mentioned Whitlock only in stating her would get comsideration over Simmons. Thats not to elevate Whitlock’s stature, but to demean Simmons.

Neither would be near consideration. Jesus Christ.


PS I also jokingly mentiomed Scoop Jackson.

 

I thought about him. He certainly influenced sports writing by introducing analytics. I am not sure he makes the top seven.

But I don't think any sportswriter we have brought up influenced the sport(s) they cover. James did. A lot. In that sense he is probably the most influential sportswriter ever.

 

Christina Kahrl.

 

Which gets us to Michael Lewis.

But also to the guys like Dan Okrent and Rob Fleder and Glen Waggoner who invented Rotisserie Baseball.

 

When I think of sportswriters, I think of people who wrote about sports regularly, though maybe that's too narrow of a definition. Lewis, for sure, knew how to find and flesh out the game-changing ways we think about sports with "Moneyball" and "The Blind Side."

 

You have inspired me to start a future thread. Best sportswriter who was more famous for non-sports work.

Damon Runyon, Ring Lardner, David Halberstam and Lewis have been mentioned. And I will now add David Maraniss in for his biography of Lombardi.

 

I may start another thread entitled: The Moment I Decided to Refuse to Read Anything Written by Jason Whitlock.

My moment was when he wrote in a 2011 playoff game between the 49'ers and Saints that he was going to tell his readers something the white television announcers would not about Drew Brees. Brees threw to many interceptions in the playoffs to win. At the moment that column was written Brees had the record for most passes thrown in the playoffs without and interception. And it was an ongoing record.

 

Behind me in my home office is my sports journalism collection that must number 600 volumes. Almost all the writers mentioned are in it. I would have to list Grantland Rice, Red Smith, Frank Deford, Dan Jenkins, Jim Murray, Dick Young and Jimmy Cannon as having the most impact. As for some of the ones who wrote about sports who I like the most, I would start with W.C. Heinz and include John Schulian, Rick Telander, George Plimpton, Gay Talese, Gary Smith and Chris Jones. And I presently am reading Wright Thompson's collection, The Cost of Dreams, and his work is outstanding. While they won't make any US list, Canadians Roy MacGregor and Earl McRae are worth hunting down and reading.

 

My moment was when he joined the K.C. Star in the early 1990s and could barely write a coherent sentence. The worst “famous” writer going — and maybe ever. A total fucking hack.

 

Help me out. What did Roy McGregor and Earl McRae do? I am surprised because I thought the preeminent Canadian sportswriter was Red Fisher.

 

Whitlock was excellent on the Chiefs at the Star. Must reading. Teamed with posnanski to dominate the conversation with different styles. Since leaving the Star, Whitlock is undoubtedly much wealthier. I don’t think he’s had the same kind of influence now that he’s one of many national talking heads. I would not put him near a top seven. As a writer, strong on football. Average or worse on many other topics.

 

Red Fisher was a great reporter who became the ultimate authority on the Canadiens with an ego to match. But his writing was ordinary. Not so Roy MacGregor and the late Earl McRae. Although McRae descended into hackdom at the Ottawa Sun in the latter part of his career he was a great magazine writer. If you can find the collection of his best magazine features, The Victors and the Vanquished, you will see what I mean. McRae also had an off-beat sense of humour, which helped make him a successful broadcaster for a time in the late 1970s and early 80s. MacGregor, who just took a buyout at The Globe and Mail along with two other sportswriters, is a wonderful writer not just on hockey but a whole spectrum of topics, from art to the outdoors to anything related to being Canadian. Google his many books and you'll see.