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Plaschke nails the spirit of Thanksgiving without even trying . . . . .

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Piotr Rasputin, Nov 22, 2007.

  1. jaredk

    jaredk Member

    Last time I read a warm-and-fuzzy that wasn't a cliche was when I read my first.
     
  2. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

    yeah, it's just you getting old. ;D
     
  3. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    Of course you've read this piece. They made a movie out of it -- it's called "Radio".

    How many teams do you know that have a kid like Ricky hanging around? I know quite a few, including just about every high school I've ever been around (my own, too.)

    Everyone had a "mascot" (in the old-fashioned use of the term). Often someone who was physically or mentally handicapped, always someone who just wanted to feel like part of the team. We had a kid named Jamie, who had Down syndrome. He rode his bike to our baseball practice every afternoon and unlocked the equipment shed for the coach and helped pick the rocks out of the infield. He ran out of the locker room with us and sometimes rode the bus to away games. He didn't get that type of interaction in school, and we liked having him around.

    But it wasn't unique. Every school seemed to take to a kid like that.

    I don't know how unique it is for USC, other than the fact that the Trojans are a high-profile team and Los Angeles is a high-profile town and Bill Plaschke took the time to find out Ricky's story.

    That said, it doesn't take away from Plaschke's story. It's pretty powerful.
     
  4. jaredk

    jaredk Member

    Radio in LaLa Land.
    Rudy in Garnet and Gold.
    A hundred years ago, Lee Corso had a guy in a pith helmet on his sidelines at Indiana.
     
  5. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

    BP simply told the story as it was intended to be told.

    if it made me hate SC any less, he did a magical job.
     
  6. jakewriter82

    jakewriter82 Active Member

    Would it be just as powerful if instead of Bill Plaschke writing the story about USC it was Joe Columnist writing about Billy, the special coach's assistant at NAIA Hickwoods University?
     
  7. jakewriter82

    jakewriter82 Active Member

    Fair enough.
     
  8. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

    i liked radio, too.

    believe it or not, i like to read something that makes me feel good every now and then ... i mean other than penthouse forum, of course.
     
  9. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

    but, buck, i think that's why i appreciated the story so much. i have read the story before, so i think it's harder to actually make me feel that good again.

    you know, kinda like coke.
     
  10. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

    buck - if you ever need bottom-lined, you know where to go. ;)
     
  11. jgmacg

    jgmacg Guest

    So: it's a technically proficient rendering of a very familiar story - as many sports features are. Why does this one make the reader feel good?
     
  12. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

    you're kidding, right?
     
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