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Furman Bisher's final column

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by John, Oct 11, 2009.

  1. Paper Guy

    Paper Guy Member

    ugh...am i the only one who hated this guy? maybe it's because he only came into my life in the past year or so (and admittedly, I've only paid attention when he wrote about the braves) but he always seemed to have *the.worst* columns.
     
  2. trifectarich

    trifectarich Well-Known Member

    When you were in the press box with Furman, you knew you were in the right place. Lots of good memories.
     
  3. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    The night of the 1998 NFC championship game when the Falcons beat the Vikings, it was my astonishing privilege to go to post-game dinner with Furman and Edwin Pope. The two of them told stories about old-time (1940s-50s) southern newspapering and sportswriting that had me helpless with laughter. They may just have been glad to have a new audience for old yarns, but it was supreme storytelling by two great storytellers and I will never forget that evening.
    I can't believe Furman actually retired.
     
  4. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    You've only been reading this guy for the last year? Yeah, get some perspective on his work first. (He's been writing for 60 years, not one.) Then form an educated opinion. If you hate it after that, so be it.
     
  5. SoCalDude

    SoCalDude Active Member

    I will NEVER say I hate someone and I respect his longevity and his ability. I respect what he has done in this business.

    I happened to be in Atlanta the day before Hank Aaron was going to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Bisher's lead-in column to this huge event for Atlanta was how it is impossible to get from Atlanta to Cooperstown.
    No, it wasn't about a black man from the South making his way in a sometimes racist sport and society into a shrine.
    It was about how many airline connections and delays he endured, and the final drive to the small town where they have the Hall of Fame. It was classic sportswriter-whining ... and the readers don't care.
     
  6. John

    John Well-Known Member

  7. YGBFKM

    YGBFKM Guest

  8. doctorx

    doctorx Member

    An honor to have shared a press box with him at a few Florida-Georgia games.
     
  9. Steak Snabler

    Steak Snabler Well-Known Member

    Well, he's not the only one. Lots of old-time Alabama fans hate Bisher due to some perceived hit pieces he did on Bear Bryant back in the early 60s (apparently at the behest of Bobby Dodd).

    Bisher wrote a story basically calling Bryant a dirty coach who taught dirty play (most due to the Darwin Holt-Chick Graning cheap shot incident in the 1961 Alabama-Georgia Tech game). He also contributed heavily to the infamous SEP story on the 1962 Georgia-Alabama "fix." (Frank Graham Jr.'s byline was on the story, but Bisher's fingerprints were all over it).

    Bryant sued the Saturday Evening Post for defamation of character and won a six-figure judgment.
     
  10. dixiehack

    dixiehack Well-Known Member

    So you're the one who bought the other copy of James Kirby's "Fumble."
     
  11. Steak Snabler

    Steak Snabler Well-Known Member

    Yes, great book. Notable for not fawning over Bryant, unlike all the other books about that era of Southern college football.
     
  12. hondo

    hondo Well-Known Member

    If that's all you had to offer on the subject, you should have just shut the hell up.
     
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