prep athlete suicide ... column worth reading

Shoulda posted more context for this piece.

This column was published in western North Carolina, where there are a lot of small towns and in this case, people generally knew already about the circumstances of this kid's death.

The story was passed along to me by a acquaintance in that community, a retired schoolteacher who isn't that involved in sports; she's more into writing, and she keeps up with the paper so she knows when a story or column stands out (good or bad).

She recognized the risk that Jeremy took to write the column the way he did. It clearly didn't work for many SportsJournalists.com readers. But for her it did, to the point that she clipped it and gave it to an outsider (me).

Every day brings pitiful news of disaffected readers and newspapers dying. For me, her action was a small gleam of light that writing that takes a chance, can (still) connect powerfully with readers.

 

Like I said, Michelle, I think we're too hard around here sometimes.

And I appreciate the context. Newspapers are like a stock that's been absolutely battered so hard, and so long, that people don't see how much value remains. Hopefully that changes at some point.

 

Context or not, I thought the column sucked. Self-indulgent and boring.

 

Posted this thought before but seeing I in a story is just a turnoff. Takes me out of a story before I get into it.

 

Especially when it's used as much as this column.

Take out all the I's, somehow, and it would be better. It would capture me, and keep me there.

 

Sure, Hendersonville had probably already published a story about the kid, but for Trantham to wait so long to get to his point? Big problem right there.

The lede wasn't so air-tight that his name couldn't have been placed a little higher in the story.

 

You think about it though, and death is all around sports. Sudden-death. Do or die. Blow the guy up. We shouldn't wonder why some people equate losing with a fate equal to death. Pathetic really.

 

The sentiment is great and the guy's heart is in the right place, but it really smacks of something I've read or heard before, not an original idea and not the most clever or "in the face" way to hit this. It's also hard for anyone to presume that they know what was bothering this 17 year old, or that his older self might tell him good things.

 

Sorry, but a swing and a miss.