SI story on Darrent Williams murder (by Thomas Lake)

Re: SI story on Darent Williams murder (by Thomas Lake)

I would give SI credit for giving it the proper treatment, too. In lesser hands, the story easily could've been written in a really tawdry, sensationalized fashion. By the same token, SI could've tried to sell it to the readers by using a bunch of cheap True Crime display effects, and they didn't. They recognized their gem, and chose not to put it on a pewter chain.

 

Re: SI story on Darent Williams murder (by Thomas Lake)

Great piece of writing and what a tragedy (in the true sene of the word).

Any reason why they didn't identify Little Willie's friend?

 

Re: SI story on Darent Williams murder (by Thomas Lake)

I agree with any "best story in SI in a while" sentiment. The ending gave me goosebumps. Really awesome stuff.

 

Re: SI story on Darent Williams murder (by Thomas Lake)

I was wondering about that, too.

 

Re: SI story on Darent Williams murder (by Thomas Lake)

The correct spelling of Mr. Williams' first name is "Darrent." Please consider for editing purposes, Dick.

 

Credit to SI for going with this story even though its cast of characters is long and inherently confusing. There's no way to make it any less confusing. They resisted the 21st-century urge to scrap it or dumb it down out of fear that an attention-deficient demographic might not hang in there with it.

 

You know how it is when you are coming up in the biz - there are writers you really admire and aspire to be in their league some day? Lake was the first one who was younger than me and it made me kind of sick.

 

Dick, I didn't read your post till after reading the piece.
About 25% in, the same thought struck me. (The Get Shorty "chronology"/plot line.)
Not bothered by it. Pretty damn interesting, even.

 

SPOILER HERE:

Didn't the jewelry fit the Chekov rule perfectly? Unless I read it wrong, after they tried to squash the fight, they kept the limo idling while they looked for the chain under the seat, giving the shooter time to catch up to them.

 

The jewelry was used as a metaphor for the vanity that created this whole mess.

As an aside: Am I the only one who pretty much reads Sports Illustrated from the back forward these days?

The best story in any issue is almost assuredly the last, and that -- whether it's Wertheim or Lake or Smith or Price or even Michael Farber had a good one on hockey in Belfast -- coupled with the rejuvenated Point After basically makes the SI subscription worth the cost.

 

I guess my greater point is that these days, SI is struggling with those opening acts more often than in the past, but the quality of the final feature is usually still very high, and the Point After is as good as ever, at least with Posnanski in the driver's seat. I actually like Taylor, too.