1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

What's been the better hire Patrick at SI or Reilly at ESPN?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Mizzougrad96, Jan 21, 2009.

  1. micke77

    micke77 Member

    Lame jokes, yep that sums it up with RR. Very well said. Every time I hear him or see him, that's what I expect. Maybe some of the anticipation of that happening is keeping me from having more of an open mind on what he's contributing.
     
  2. jfs1000

    jfs1000 Member

    Reilly seems like he doesn't watch sports. He doesn't have that passion in him. ESPN has ruined him. But, I would love to be ruined too for that $$$$$$.

    The Beer Pong Story was funny and I was semi amused. But, is that all he's got? Is Beer Pong really worthy of this guys considerable talents? That's a long way from challenging Sammy Sosa to pee in a cup.

    Enough, Life of Reilly, more crafting of columns that have impact. It's like ESPN wants him just to be a grown-up kid.
     
  3. micke77

    micke77 Member

    I got his "Life of Reilly" book and I really liked it. I think ESPN has lowered his passion and standards. It's their fault more than his, I believe. Some good talent being wasted.
    The "Beer Pong" column? Geez.
     
  4. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    His passion was gone long before he got to ESPN. I think the difference is now he knows he'll never be called out on it, while there are some at SI who were very happy when he left.
     
  5. Rhody31

    Rhody31 Well-Known Member

    First, he sounded like Andy Rooney when he did that piece.
    Second, he did no research. He harped on the Yankees being a team that bought their championships, whereas in reality that never happened because when NY started spending top dollar, it stopped winning titles.
     
  6. awriter

    awriter Active Member

    Me too. Reilly was one of the best takeout writers ever. I wish he would go back to that. Who can forget the Marge Schott profile?
     
  7. DirtyDeeds

    DirtyDeeds Guest

    I saw that, too, unfortunately. Just a bunch of stupid cliches and pop culture references. Completely lame. I also was inspired by Reilly's earlier work in SI and agree that he should go back to doing takeouts. He was great in that role, but like others have said, he just doesn't seem to have a passion for it anymore.
     
  8. DirtyDeeds

    DirtyDeeds Guest

    And Patrick's "Just My Type" is absolutely a complete waste of space. There's a funny line in there now and then, but it's mostly awful. Not a big fan of his radio show, either, although he gets good guests and does pretty good interviews. Just all the patting himself on the back is too much. But it seems all the big radio guys do that these days. Maybe he's better than a lot of others, but I still don't listen.
    I guess I'd say Patrick is contributing more, but I don't think SI or ESPN is getting what it's paying for.
     
  9. Small Town Guy

    Small Town Guy Well-Known Member

    That happened to a lot of great SI writers, though. Jenkins's work declined toward the end of his time there, Deford, Kirkpatrick, they all sort of burned out.
     
  10. DirtyDeeds

    DirtyDeeds Guest

    Yeah, most of the better writers put a lot of pressure on themselves and agonize over every word, which is what makes them so good. We have one or two at my shop like that. I can definitely see how it would burn you out. I don't really fault Reilly for taking his foot off the gas a little bit. I'm just disappointed because I really loved reading his stuff when he was on his game.
     
  11. Ben_Hecht

    Ben_Hecht Active Member


    Only time it worked under George's direct influence was when they were first to go full-bore, with Reggie.
     
  12. micke77

    micke77 Member

    DirtyDeeds expresses my evaluation of Patrick perfectly: it's too much about me. Numerous times when he was on ESPN, he would go on endlessly about attending a recital for, I wanna say, his daughter? Anyway, this went on for what seemed like 10 minutes. In detail. Great. I am glad he loves his children. That's fine and he should. But hell, I wanna hear about sports on a sports radio show, not what a dad relates about family.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page