Favorite Sports writer(s)?

Ben_Hecht · Nov 26, 2011

Versatile said:

Frank_Ridgeway said:

Another wow moment was the first time editing Mark Whicker. He was just stringing a Monday Night Football game for us while the Philly papers were on strike. His running was unlike any running I'd ever seen -- so smooth -- and then a quick turnaround with a complete writethru. Freak ... of ... nature. And, as I later learned, just so consistently good four times a week, like the Tony Gwynn of sports columnists.
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Whicker was sullied by one of the worst columns ever and generally has not appealed to me as a columnist, but he was an excellent reporter in Philadelphia based on what I've read of his work. Still, that one column was something completely unacceptable and abhorrent ... and lazy.
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My God.

That's akin to JoePa's "isolated lapse".

Double J · Nov 26, 2011

SoCalDude said:

Dickie Dunn
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It's gotta be true!!

UNCGrad · Nov 26, 2011

Obviously, there are many.

Gary Smith and Dan Jenkins. And someone who I read every single time, no matter what, and a guy I don't think ever gets enough credit -- Michael Farber of SI.

Ben_Hecht · Nov 26, 2011

The rarest are those guys who ware/are good, 98% of the time. A lot of the great old names were wildly uneven . . . it's understandable when you're called upon to pitch 4/5/6 times a week, but it is what it is. A goodly number of the old guys were great early, then hit "coast". Sad. Also true.

Then there are guys like Jones, who is unGodly in his consistency.

Versatile · Nov 26, 2011

Ben_Hecht said:

The rarest are those guys who ware/are good, 98% of the time. A lot of the great old names were wildly uneven . . . it's understandable when you're called upon to pitch 4/5/6 times a week, but it is what it is. A goodly number of the old guys were great early, then hit "coast". Sad. Also true.

Then there are guys like Jones, who is unGodly in his consistency.
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Consistency, as with quality, is in the eye of the beholder. I find Chris Jones to be wildly inconsistent. I love his best work -- some of the most affecting features written in recent years -- but his sports writing in particular is uneven.

For consistency and versatility, I don't think it gets better than Dan Wetzel. But I know others say Wetzel should be a college football guy because they don't like his other stuff.

Ben_Hecht · Nov 26, 2011

Versatile said:

Ben_Hecht said:

The rarest are those guys who ware/are good, 98% of the time. A lot of the great old names were wildly uneven . . . it's understandable when you're called upon to pitch 4/5/6 times a week, but it is what it is. A goodly number of the old guys were great early, then hit "coast". Sad. Also true.

Then there are guys like Jones, who is unGodly in his consistency.
Click to expand...

Consistency, as with quality, is in the eye of the beholder. I find Chris Jones to be wildly inconsistent. I love his best work -- some of the most affecting features written in recent years -- but his sports writing in particularly is uneven.

For consistency and versatility, I don't think it gets better than Dan Wetzel. But I know others say Wetzel should be a college football guy because they don't like his other stuff.
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Agree that Wetzel's terrific . . .

CHETtheJET · Nov 27, 2011

Dick young.

Ben_Hecht · Nov 27, 2011

CHETtheJET said:

Dick young.
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Indeed great, early . . . before he went off the rails . . .

playthrough · Nov 27, 2011

UNCGrad said:

Obviously, there are many.

Gary Smith and Dan Jenkins. And someone who I read every single time, no matter what, and a guy I don't think ever gets enough credit -- Michael Farber of SI.
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Good call there. I'm not a huge hockey guy but I read all of Farber's stuff.

SF_Express · Nov 27, 2011

Versatile said:

Ben_Hecht said:

The rarest are those guys who ware/are good, 98% of the time. A lot of the great old names were wildly uneven . . . it's understandable when you're called upon to pitch 4/5/6 times a week, but it is what it is. A goodly number of the old guys were great early, then hit "coast". Sad. Also true.

Then there are guys like Jones, who is unGodly in his consistency.
Click to expand...

Consistency, as with quality, is in the eye of the beholder. I find Chris Jones to be wildly inconsistent. I love his best work -- some of the most affecting features written in recent years -- but his sports writing in particular is uneven.

For consistency and versatility, I don't think it gets better than Dan Wetzel. But I know others say Wetzel should be a college football guy because they don't like his other stuff.
Click to expand...

Odd, since he came up as a college basketball guy.

Versatile · Nov 27, 2011

SF_Express said:

Versatile said:

Ben_Hecht said:

The rarest are those guys who ware/are good, 98% of the time. A lot of the great old names were wildly uneven . . . it's understandable when you're called upon to pitch 4/5/6 times a week, but it is what it is. A goodly number of the old guys were great early, then hit "coast". Sad. Also true.

Then there are guys like Jones, who is unGodly in his consistency.
Click to expand...

Consistency, as with quality, is in the eye of the beholder. I find Chris Jones to be wildly inconsistent. I love his best work -- some of the most affecting features written in recent years -- but his sports writing in particular is uneven.

For consistency and versatility, I don't think it gets better than Dan Wetzel. But I know others say Wetzel should be a college football guy because they don't like his other stuff.
Click to expand...

Odd, since he came up as a college basketball guy.
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I think he's become perhaps the college football voice since Death to the BCS, but I really meant all college sports, I suppose.

Ben_Hecht · Nov 27, 2011

Versatile said:

SF_Express said:

Versatile said:

Ben_Hecht said:

The rarest are those guys who ware/are good, 98% of the time. A lot of the great old names were wildly uneven . . . it's understandable when you're called upon to pitch 4/5/6 times a week, but it is what it is. A goodly number of the old guys were great early, then hit "coast". Sad. Also true.

Then there are guys like Jones, who is unGodly in his consistency.
Click to expand...

Consistency, as with quality, is in the eye of the beholder. I find Chris Jones to be wildly inconsistent. I love his best work -- some of the most affecting features written in recent years -- but his sports writing in particular is uneven.

For consistency and versatility, I don't think it gets better than Dan Wetzel. But I know others say Wetzel should be a college football guy because they don't like his other stuff.
Click to expand...

Odd, since he came up as a college basketball guy.
Click to expand...

I think he's become perhaps the college football voice since Death to the BCS, but I really meant all college sports, I suppose.
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Read Death to the BCS, and admired the structure and the passion, but he didn't move me.

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