elizabeth merrill

I liked her Nebraska stuff... She seems to be doing quite well at ESPN.com...

 

"WICHITA, Kan. -- If there had been more time, Mike Coolbaugh and Tino Sanchez might have known how much they were alike. How they'd worry about their pregnant wives. How they spent so much time in buses and half-empty ballparks that their dreams flickered by like a dying scoreboard light.
The phone rings in San Antonio, and Mandy Coolbaugh is torn. If she talks about her husband, she will inevitably dab her raw eyes again and open up the questions: Why a man could die in a place he loved so much? How one in a million could land on two lives that were just really starting? "

Please, fans, explain those last two sentences. If she dabs her raw eyes it will open up questions? Will we need a Band-Aid lest they fall on the floor?

I sprained my ankle on the syntax in the second.

 

good call. never pass up the opportunity to bash an excellent writer who's (I'm guessing) better than you.

 

I'm sure Elizabeth is a great person, and I enjoyed her story immensely. But to say we can't question something that is somewhat clumsy at the beginning is a little weird.

 

I'm an infrequent visitor here, so I have no say to begin with.

I just question the joy people bring to bashing the work of others. To me, that's a little weird. Woman writes a fantastic piece and someone feels the need to point out that the wording in the second graph is slightly awkward?

But I'm overreacting. Not my intent.

 

No opinion of Ms. Merrill, but you are so woefully off base here, SS, all I can do is chuckle and shake my head.

 

The second graf is awkward. I blame her editor.

 

Which of course is completely irrelevant.

 

Double Down, your comments evoke memories of Dane Iorg.

 

I love when people 'guess' the stature of anonymous message board posters.

Happy to see a fresh name get some props around here, and if someone wants to flag a questionable line, so what? What better way to learn?

 

To be fair, Fen, the grammar doesn't confuse the bit about "dabbing the eyes" causing something. It says that if she talks about her husband, her tears will start AND the questions will come up. It's a little clumsily written (and a "why" where there should be a "how").

Shea, bark up some other tree. Seriously.

 

It's not that you can't question someone. It's the tone and instance in which the questioning occurred.

"Please, fans, explain those last two sentences?"

It's like responding to Phil Simms' Super Bowl performance with, "Please, fans, explain those two consecutive incomplete passes he threw in the second quarter."