S.L. Price on Mike Coolbaugh

[beardpuller]

This kind of story is why I still subscribe to SI. I just wish I felt the people running the place got that, and would stop trying to imitate ESPN The Magazine (or the Ransom Note, if you're trying to follow the layout). I really don't need a chart about what four different utility infielders think of Britney Spears and whether they prefer Escalades or Hummers.
Stories like the Coolbaugh piece are what made Sports Illustrated what it is.

 

[jgmacg]

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 -

Sorry, Henry - and I mean no offense - but this is one of the most ridiculous comments I've ever seen here.

 

[Jones]

I mean offense: Henry, that's forking retarded.

 

[DanOregon]

There are great stories, and there are stories that are extremely well-written. The Price piece was both.

 

[Pulitzer Wannabe]

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 -

I respect your opinion, but that's just not true. Maybe it feels that way because Price made it look easy, because he made the story the focus, not himself.

But as someone who has studied the art of storytelling to a great degree, let me tell you that Price's piece was a forking clinic in narrative journalism. Every word was gold, and that doesn't happen my accident. Trust me, he worked his ass off on it. The writing, as well as the reporting.

 

[pressboxramblings07]

Brilliant. Makes me wonder how long he spent writing it.

 

[gingerbread]

Beautiful story.

And henryhecht, the REAL Henry Hecht would like you to stop posting under his name.
Really.
It's not only misleading, it's ethically wrong.

 

[henryhenry]

Beautiful story.

And henryhecht, the REAL Henry Hecht would like you to stop posting under his name.
Really.
It's not only misleading, it's ethically wrong.

slobodan henryhecht was a 16th century croatian composer.

you've ripped off the name of a classic baked confection. did you get permission? what a hypocrite.

 

[Kaylee]

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;

Ever had to handle a "easy" story such as this?

Genuinely curious.

 

[BYH]

Given the snarkiness of his comments here, I'm confident in betting Henry's never handled a gosh darn thing.

 

[imjustagirl2]

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 -

Does this story have so many things that make it an amazing story? Yes. Does not in any way make it easy.

The interviews alone are hard, even two months later, let alone the next day like the papers that were there had to do. Writing this story, whether in a 20-inch next-day story or a multiple-page magazine article months later, is the hardest thing to do, because you can't overwrite it, you can't underreport it, you have to nail it.

He did. And to make it sound like he did it with no effort is not only ignorant, but insulting.

 

[Double Down]

The ones that read like they took little effort are the hardest ones to write. The beauty of this story is the pacing, the intimacy, the emotional build-up that happens throughout the piece. That's hard to do, harder to do well, and very hard to nail. Only a fool would suggest otherwise.

And just so everyone understands, our very own henryhecht started out by claiming his handle was a tribute to the real HH, then started spinning like a dradel when confronted about it, and proceeded to make up his laughable claim that it was to honor an otherwise forgotten croatian composer whose work he has never been able to cite.

Boom exposed his ridiculousness on the Bill Rhoden thread from February.

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/posts/1042087/