Texas Monthly on the death of sportswriting

Somebody mentioned this a month or so ago, the article by Gary Cartwright is now out ...

http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-06-01/cartwright-1.php

 

Well, the author certainly didn't hold back. Called out multiple columnists by name and really likes to read his own writing.

Not sure what the point of that was, except the old days were better. A tired refrain.

 

Yeah, that basically was a "You new guys suck! The old days were better!"

 

Blah, blah, blah.
That's a few minutes of my life I won't get back.

 

He didn't exactly take the piss out of anyone I've ever heard of.

 

Jesus Christ. What a douchebag. Living in this state, I can say, without equivocation, that there still ARE people here worth reading. (Hint: Cowlishaw, often, isn't one of them).

Captain Douchebag, however, apparently just doesn't like anyone born after 1937.

EDIT: I re-read that entire column in the "Grumpy Old Man" voice that Dana Carvey used on SNL. At least it made me laugh.

 

Another "look at me" piece of crap. Next.

 

Time to revisit the Alan Richman piece in GQ, circa 1991.

 

Yep. Probably couldn't say it any better. And to think I was gonna go buy this issue just for this.

And what's the point in attacking Golden and Bohls? I actually like some of their stuff. Guess I'm just stupid sometimes. Does Cartwright realize that the slow death of the newspaper industry might have something to do with the modern guys having a completely different writing style from Sherrod and the others?

When I was little, I read Blackie Sherrod, enjoying every word of it even though I was too young to know what most of his jokes meant. I've been beaten over the head by so many Sherrod worshipers during the past 10 years that it's hard for me to enjoy his old stuff, even though I like a lot of it, particularly his description of Earl Campbell during his John Tyler days. The sad thing it's not his fault. It's people like this.

Like y'all said. The "good ole days" thing gets really old, and I'm not saying that just because I'm somewhat young.

 

I'm old enough to remember sportswriting from when Cartwright (who was a good one, I bought his novel when I was in high school) practiced the trade. Yes, there were great ones, maybe better than anyone today, certainly as good. But there were a large number of really shitty ones, too, many more than there are today. The overall standard for sportswriting in the '60s was WAY lower than today, because the bad ones really messed up the grade curve.
One reason the Sherrods, Jenkins, Murrays, etc. stood out so much to this young reader was the level of their professional competition.