Wright Thompson's finest work ever

[Jack_Kerouac]

His "Love Letter to Southern Football" is tremendous.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=southernfootball&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1

 

[Jersey_Guy]

Ah, yes, football in the South ... dressed up in sentimentality, yet again, with no mention of academic fraud at Auburn, Alabama paying for recruits in Memphis, and the SEC's absolute inability to follow NCAA rules, as extensively laid out by the AJC within the last few years.

Wright Thompson can do so much better.

(edited to remove over-the-top jerkiness)

 

[Jack_Kerouac]

Ah, yes, football in the South ... dressed up in sentimentality, yet again, with no mention of academic fraud at Auburn, Alabama paying for recruits in Memphis, and the SEC's absolute inability to follow NCAA rules, as extensively laid out by the AJC within the last few years.

What self-indulgent tripe. Wright Thompson can do so much better.

I didn't say it was "fair and balanced" -- just well-written. (And that coming from someone who wouldn't give Wright a reach-around for sneezing random words onto a sheet of paper like Mizzou would)

 

[Jersey_Guy]

Technically well-written? I guess, but it just didn't hold me, and I'm a guy who generally reads every word Wright Thompson writes.

You know what I'd much rather have read from Wright? A real hard look at why Alabama is comfortable paying Nick Saban tens of million to coach football when its secondary education system is one of the worst in the country?

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

Man... he is straight from the antebellums in The Lords of Discipline.

A little creepy to me.

 

[slappy4428]

As someone who grew up on the Big Ten, I find it appropriate that the photo ESPN chose to accompany this story is someone with a long instrument in their mouth... much like the prose...
Who the **** cares how Georgia came up and beat a 4-6 Michigan team before a half full stadium 42 years ago... the Civil War is over, deal with it.

 

[Beach_Bum]

Couldn't get through the first five graphs. Then forced myself to. Resisted the urge to vomit from all the sugary syrup.

Wright, who could be one of the best ever, needs an editor with the guts to tell him when to stop, just stop, highlight it all, hit delete, and start over.

 

[slappy4428]

Ah, yes, football in the South ... dressed up in sentimentality, yet again, with no mention of academic fraud at Auburn, Alabama paying for recruits in Memphis, and the SEC's absolute inability to follow NCAA rules, as extensively laid out by the AJC within the last few years.

What self-indulgent tripe. Wright Thompson can do so much better.

I didn't say it was "fair and balanced" -- just well-written. (And that coming from someone who wouldn't give Wright a reach-around for sneezing random words onto a sheet of paper like Mizzou would)

Mizzou wouldn't dream of doing it with this story; it praises the south, dontcha know...

 

[Blue_Water]

Boring.

 

[Joe Williams]

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing writers that an editor shouldn't exist.
Didn't Verbal Kint say that?

 

[spnited]

I got as far as "I missed football season." Even to that point it was typical Thompson overwritten tripe.
The guy has talent but when the hell is some editor going to tell him to dial it back three notches ...
Everything of his that gets posted here is lots of pretty words and turns of phrases that take you nowhere.

 

[spinning27]

I am one of Wright's biggest defenders on the board, but this one was too much. Too many cliches. Too much prose.

 

[dooley_womack1]

The ode to Southern football column is about the biggest cliche in journalism. Almost as big as the Wright Thompson is god cliche. Think of this: Stephen King, or any big-time book writer, for that matter, has to rewrite several times before his work is publishable. That being the case, Wright Thompson certainly can be edited.

 

[spnited]

Wright certainly NEEDS to be edited

 

[SuperflySnuka]

It's one of those places that seems as if it has been there forever, like the planets, or Styrofoam. I order a pimento cheeseburger. The Kingsman's famous for these gobs of cholesterol-laden goodness. They're messier than a small-town divorce.

Can't say that's not a good line though...

 

[imjustagirl2]

Wright always has good lines, as spnited said earlier. This one just happened to not lead you anywhere.

And anyone who could post this and say it was better than his father's day piece is off his rocker.

 

[Chi City 81]

What's the over/under on someone coming on here and ripping all of you as Podunkville no-talent ass-clowns who couldn't hold Wright's jock?

Personally, I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

It's one of those places that seems as if it has been there forever, like the planets, or Styrofoam. I order a pimento cheeseburger. The Kingsman's famous for these gobs of cholesterol-laden goodness. They're messier than a small-town divorce.

Can't say that's not a good line though...

I disagree.

It's homeless-man's Rick Reilly.

I've read so many incarnations of that sort of crap.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

What's the over/under on someone coming on here and ripping all of you as Podunkville no-talent ass-clowns who couldn't hold Wright's jock?

Personally, I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet.

Ahhh yes... a Canzano-ization.

 

[bp6316]

I'm not usually a huge Wright Thompson fan myself. Usually kind of just bores me after a while, so I can understand how many wouldn't enjoy this piece.

But I'd wager that those of us that have been directly involved with being a passionate fan of Southern college football would be the ones that would enjoy this piece more. Yes it was a little heavy on the sap, but I smiled through the whole thing and remembered my own similar stories. I think that's what a writer like Thompson is all about: Putting you in the story with his prose. It's not enough for me to just want to read a long piece like this, I need to FEEL it too. That's why, I'd think, most outside of the football south just wouldn't enjoy this as much.

Interesting debate over audience and how to impact them though.

Oh, and you're right, this doesn't come anywhere near that Father's Day piece. Not sure much of anything could...