Deford's confessions in SI

Sidd Finch was fiction, not enterprise.

 

Went in prepared to not like it, came away loving it.

Maybe the detractors don't understand how radically this business has changed since 1960, and I'm not just talking about the Internet. The steady encroachment of television and almost-constant coverage of live events had a huge impact in a different way.

Deford's piece put that all in perspective from the viewpoint of someone who was on the front lines. If I were teaching any kind of media or mass communications class, this would be required reading.

 

WHAT !?!?!?!!?!

 

Ditto. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not sure why there's so many people who dislike it so much.

 

Reading Deford long pieces was never easy. It was analogous to driving on a busy interstate in a heavy rain storm. A white knuckle ride that required total concentration. Deford packed a lot into each sentence and from a reader perspective it never seemed to flow easily. That said, upon completion you came away knowing that you had read something of substance and uniqueness.

I still keep a copy of the SI with his "Toughest Coach There Ever Was" on my desk and from time to time read a paragraph or two. By far my favorite all time sports story.

 

One of my (non-journalism) friends told me in college he didn't like Sports Illustrated because he felt every story was the same. I told him to read "The Boxer and the Blonde" and "True to his Words" (the "Hurricane" Carter story by William Nack).

Two of my favorites I've ever read by two legends, as far as I'm concerned. And each was written entirely different, yet each was about a former boxer.

He came back saying, "OK, so Sports Illustrated <i>used</i> to be good."

 

Deford's writing "never seemed to flow easily"? If you mean that it's unpredictable and lively and that almost every phrase is spot-on, yeah, I guess I'd have to agree.

 

Just my observation, but you put it in a much clearer way. Deford stories are unpredictable and dynamic. You have to concentrate and stay on every word.

 

A guy (one of the select few, I know) who
actually likes my work put it a different way: "With your stuff, the reader has to to run under the pass".

Feel the same way about Deford. Love how
the guy writes, and I'll read his non-fiction
about topics I don't particularly care about,
for that reason.

 

If this was mentioned already and I missed it or skimmed over it, I apologize, but it seemed clear to me reading this that it was an excerpt from Deford's memoirs, which I suspect he's writing, being in the autumn of his life and all. I think that's probably why it was interesting, but felt a bit off in tone. It lacked context. If this appears in a book in a year or two, it will make much more sense. And I suspect that's what will happen.

 

I thought it was fine...his best work? No. But I'll agree with the earlier post...I'll take Deford off his game a bit over most other writers out there.

 

Good point, and I do hope he is writing a memoir. Would love to read it. That, and Kindred's book about his days at the Post would be must-reads.