Best of the best: APSE features

I enjoyed Matthew Peaslee's story on little Luke Holko and former minor-leaguer Ben Carlson.

The first paragraph hooks the reader in, but...the story never really explains that first paragraph -- certainly not nearly enough.

What's the anti-spastic medicine for that Holko has to take multiple times a day? Why does he have to take it? Does he have seizures? What is the tube in his head for? What does Botox in the knee have to do with a brain injury? Why does the kid have to sleep with his foot up at a 90-degree angle? And what do doctors hope the brace that he'll have to wear until he's 21 will do for him?

Really, other than that, the story's a good read and covers most of the bases and is well written. So it's too bad. For me, not explaining/answering that first paragraph adequately is a big problem.

I'd also have liked to have heard a little bit more about that 10-second delay in speech and writing that Holko has to struggle with since he was hit in the had by the line-drive foul ball off Carlson's bat. I wonder if Holko speaks clearly, even if slowly.

 

I liked the story of ex-NBA star Ken Sears' hospital visits to former San Francisco State College (now University) basketball star John Burton very much.

It struck a very human chord, and seemed totally relatable -- probably because the two men related well to each other, and that could be felt through the writing, about two old guys who are talking about a mutual interest from long ago. It felt a lot like a Bill Plaschke piece (and I'm a Plaschke fan when it comes to these kinds of subjects).

The background and backstory on Burton was great, interesting information, and stuff I'd not ever heard of before. It helped draw the story together, and connect the two protagonists as basketball players. An excellent effort was made in getting in touch with Pete Newell Jr., too.

This was one of my favorites of the bunch so far.

My only quibble arises from what I think may be an unrealized error. This story was about John Joseph Burton, and the article mentions that Sears found an article that he thought mentioned his hospitalized friend. But, based on information in the story, and a little online searching, I think that may not have been this Burton.

The story says John J. Burton excelled for San Francisco State from 1947-49. But the clip Sears brought in supposedly showing that the two had once played against each other was from a 1951 newspaper. I wondered about this, and tried to do some research.

John J. Burton was elected to the SFSU athletics hall of fame for basketball in 2007. But there was also a John L. Burton who attended SFSU and played basketball there in the early 1950s and also was inducted into the school's athletics hall of fame, in 1987.

John L. Burton, a former politician, was a more well-known alumnus, and I think the player mentioned in the clip Sears brought in to John J. Burton actually may have been him.

My compliments to Jim Seimas of the Santa Cruz Sentinel on an excellent story, though.

One last postscript: In the course of my research, I found that John J. Burton passed away a month ago to the day, on March 7. I wonder if Sears attended his funeral. I wouldn't be surprised if he did.

 

Matthew Stanmyre's story on Quai Jefferson and his MS-stricken mother is wonderful. Worth every minute, and if I would have had to pay to get onto the Star-Ledger's web site to read it, as I did Matthew Peaslee's story on Luke Holko, it would have been worth every penny, too.

Didn't there used to be an applause icon on here?

This was a terrific story. And it was great to even see a pronunciation of Quai's name given, at right around the time I was wishing there would be one so that I didn't destroy it in my head or think of it all different ways to myself throughout the whole thing.

My only questions, mostly because they came up in a quote in the story, is how much does it cost for a student to attend Jefferson's school each year, and how much tuition financial aid does Quai Jefferson, in fact, receive in order to go there?

 

The story of Johnny Jones' track exploits and the impact that sport had on his life despite the fact he went on to an NFL career was set up well. You can almost see/feel yourself sitting in the stands, watching that state championship race along with everybody else, and also going crazy, along with everybody else.

So, the writing was good, and Jones has a interesting story. I guess I'm just not "a real track guy," though, because it just didn't hit me or stay with me as much or feel as good as some of the other stories in the bunch.

It's about a middle-of-the-pack pick for me.

 

OK, here are my top picks, in order:

1). Matthew Stanmyre's story on Quai Jefferson and his mother.

2). Jim Seimas' story on Ken Sears and John Burton.

3). Perryn Keys' story on Steve Gleason and his battle with ALS.

4). Dirk Chatelain's work on the demise of small-town Nebraska football.

5). Jeff Passan's Coast Guard/Yasiel Puig story.

For comments, see posts above.

Keep in mind, though, that even though I had to pick my top selections, a common phrase is very applicable to the whole bunch: It's all good.

Your opinions may vary.

 

So, didn't, or doesn't, anybody else have any thoughts or comments about any of these stories (or writers)?

It's kind of disappointing if not. I appreciated Alma getting them all together in one place for easy reading. They're all worthy of a look and your consideration.

 

I will. I'm in the process of reading them.