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new s.i. -- gary smith on agassi

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by shockey, Jul 12, 2006.

  1. shockey

    shockey Active Member

    WOW.

    simply brilliant.
     
  2. PopeDirkBenedict

    PopeDirkBenedict Active Member

    Brilliant is an understatement. This is brilliant, even by Gary Smith standards.
     
  3. 85bears

    85bears Member

    Bump. About to sit down with it and am hoping to return to some discussion on here later tonight.
     
  4. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Just read it. At first I thought it was going to be one of his middling efforts. And then it built. This was an outstanding piece of writing. You said it correctly. Brilliant, even by Gary Smith standards, which is saying a lot. It totally made my night. I will read hundreds of things over the next few months and nothing will come close to that piece.
     
  5. John

    John Well-Known Member

    My SI usually comes on Thursdays so I'm looking forward to reading it tomorrow.
     
  6. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Same here. I went to CNNSI.com. If you click on the "magazine" tab, you can enter your name and address, and it verifies that you are subscriber and gives you access to the content.
     
  7. 85bears

    85bears Member

    Maybe someone could come on here and lecture us about how Gary Smith doesn't know how to write because he doesn't put all the good stuff up top, the way he/she did about Jeff Pearlman and his Rocker piece!
     
  8. tonysoprano

    tonysoprano Member

    Um, yeah. Read the brilliance, and I agree. I marvel at his stuff.

    Now, just to stir the pot, where would you rank it among his all-time best stories?

    I would rank it high, but just outside my personal top five favs - 1.) Man who taught Sammy Sosa baseball, 2.) Black basketball coach in Amish country, 3.) Ali and His Entourage, 4.) Jimmy Valvano, 5.) Damned Yankee.
     
  9. Needles

    Needles Member

    I recently read the Amish basketball story, and it floored me with how it was constructed. I was almost bored through some of the first half, and when the climax came -- I won't ruin it for those who have not read it -- I finished the story with a sick feeling in my stomach. Smith made me care about this man. Loved it.

    My favorite is the Richie Parker story from some years ago. It was like a good movie, complete with a surprise ending. It was so smart and well written. There is no other writer I look more forward to reading than Gary Smith.

    needles
     
  10. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    The Perry Reese Jr. story is easily number one for me. It is probably the best magazine story I have ever read.
     
  11. tonysoprano

    tonysoprano Member

    Right up there for me. But best mag story ever? I just read one about the Beslan Terror Siege in Russia that was very impressive, and I still love "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold" and "What Do You Think of Ted Williams Now?"
     
  12. Trey Beamon

    Trey Beamon Active Member

    I always loved the Pat Tillman story, something Smith apparently put togther in a week or so (I could be wrong, though).
     
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