WMTPG, Vol. 5: Rick Reilly on Patrick Ewing (AKA, the art of the write around)

Curious, was filtering quotes in that way considered OK? And now, what is your view on it with recorders and transcription? I've always been told it needs to be an exact quote.

 

You would have to think he did some of that filtering. All those people could not have spoken completely coherent sentences for a minute each as it seemed in the story.

 

Plenty of threads on that subject around here, HookEm. Let's not get this sidetracked with this argument again. And DD, I am going to read this ... I'm sure I did when it was published but don't recall, but do you think Reilly didn't use the names to keep the focus on Ewing, or because many of the subjects asked him to or Reilly thought Patrick might be pissed that they contributed to this profile that he would not participate in? Just thinking out loud.

 

It's a good question, BDC99. It reads to me like a stylistic choice but it may have started out as granting anonymity and then realizing it would work much better if every source was anonymous. Quoting sports writers is almost always dumb, but if you frame it like this, I think adds to the "searching" theme of the piece.

 

That's what I was thinking too. Some of the guys didn't want to talk, so he made them all anonymous. And I finally had time to read it, and it was just OK for me. I like the approach he took, but I just wasn't that blown away. Really seemed like just a bunch of quote tied together, but I guess it is a good approach considering the subject was not eager to cooperate. I have read much better from Reilly.

 

I don't feel like I got to know Ewing by reading this. The anonymity of everyone contributes to that sense, which I don't like.

The only ones whose quotes really felt genuinely knowledgeable to me were the long-time friend from Ewing's youth, the boxer, and the high school basketball coach.

I do think the use of the anonymity was a stylistic choice. I agree it reads and feels that way, but I found the actual pseudo-anonymity most interesting. Let's face it, most of us, if we were inclined to do so, could know or research out or figure out who gave each of the quotes. And Ewing certainly would be able to identify the sources.

I was pulled along through the story most by the threading of Reilly's efforts, through the team PR rep, to line up an interview with Ewing. It didn't have much to do with great writing or fantastic quotes.

And the tag just made me wonder if, when Reilly finally go ahold of Ewing, they were on the road. It also made me wonder if Reilly got anything out of him, and if so, what?

I'm guessing no, and nothing.

 

Honestly!

 

Tried to read it. Every time I clicked on the link, got to the story and started scrolling, the page would go blank. And it was still on si.com. The header was there. But no words. Just white space.

 

I think this one works.
It's no "Sinatra has a cold," but it's not the SI "Lost Soul" piece on Bison Dele that was done a few years ago either. In that case, there was a LOT of speculation. I speculate the writer hoodwinked SI into giving him a free vacation to Tahiti.

I had to think about the end to...
So RR felt like he got everything he needed - or was going to get - and didn't need Ewing?

 

That's the way I took it.

 

I think you can read the ending a couple ways:

1. He had been getting the run around from the PR folk for quite awhile and felt like it was just another misleading thread being dangled that was never going to work out.

2. At that point, he wasn't going to get any insight into Ewing from Ewing that he didn't already have. He was under no obligation to talk to Ewing at that point, frankly. His only responsibility was telling a story, and while this may not be one of Reilly's ten best or even fifty best pieces, it's still interesting because it demonstrates there are ways around the PR hoops we often have to jump through at the professional level.

 

While reading it, what struck me most was the no-name quotes. I found it distracting, especially in the instances where it was intentionally obvious, which made avoiding the name just awkward (the red-headed star, a line after referencing Bird). It also seemed to pull more punches than one where the subject cooperates, with drive-by references to his disappointing defense and performances in the clutch used only to set up full throated defenses of Ewing. Maybe because he didn't speak to him he bent over backward to avoid appearing like a hit-job. Good enough piece, interestingly constructed.