Nonetheless I wanted to take a small poll of who people thought were good sports columnists, commentators, reporters, etc. Here in Cleveland I'm partial to one of local sports columnists Bill Livingston. I think he does what a great local sports writer is supposed to do: mix and match between understanding and covering his/her city and commenting on national level sports news. He can be critical but at the same even handed. A small excerpt of a recent column on Bonds:
Hall of Fame voters need to take a stand on Bonds, who yet might return from knee surgery to threaten Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron on the career homers list. Personally, I can't wait for him to retire. I can't reject him for the Hall of Fame soon enough. Not for being a racist. For making a mockery of the greatest records in sports.
Opinionated and writing something to spark debate. I approve. So who does everyone else actually like?As always this week's Risers and Fallers:
Rising
Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies -
They keep winning. Nobody had either of these two teams at the top. But thats where they are (at least at the moment). Frankly I'm not sure who's on either of these teams except Bobby Abreu is a home run hitting machine in Philly and I think Joe Biden plays for the Nats or the Senators. One or the other. Either way my hat has to go off to Frank Robinson, truly a classy and amazingly patient man. I have no idea what medication he's on that allowed him to withstand the trials and tribulations of the Montreal/Puerto Rico Expos but I'd like to buy some.
Falling
Boxing. Once a top tier sport today its last headliner (Iron Mike) moved into retirement. Say what you will about Mike's boxing skills but he was the last of the big names. Cassius Clay (his momma called him Cassius so I'm calling him Cassius) was at one time the most recognizable athlete in the planet. Today I have no clue who is the heavyweight champion. Just goes to show that if a sport doesn't manage itself correctly it can go the way of the Dodo.
5 comments:
Good topic. My favorite local sports columnist is Selena Roberts of the New York Times. She's a great writer and she takes interesting angles on her stories. I respect her creativity and her viewpoint. I don't always agree with her but she's earned my trust. I'd paste a link but I'm too lazy to do that right now (it's hot as hell here). Go to the web and do a search for her stuff, you won't be sorry.
Side comment on boxing -- the sport is corrupt and disorganized. It's now a niche sport for those few of us that really enjoy watching the art of a fight. The heavyweight ranks are a mess but the middleweight and welterweight levels are full of great fighters. I'd recommend watching the lighter fighters.
Sportswriters - for comedic purposes, I still like Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy. Granted, for actual analysis he's terrible. For analysis, nothing beats Dr. Z of Sports Illustrated. The guy actually tapes and watches half of the games each week, and quickly points out the flaw in any defense.
The Nationals still have Jose Vidro. He's been injured since they've been on the winning streak of course though. They also have Livan Hernandez. Imagine if they were able to spend money and were able to keep Guerrero, M. Barrett, O. Cabrera, and Pedro Martinez. They'd be amazing!
Gutsy, I agree with you that Simmons is the best out there for pure comedy. I've never been a big fan of Dr. Z as a writer or analyst but I agree that he's meticulous in his preparation.
Also, with respect to the Expos/Nationals, don't forget to add Larry Walker, Cliff Floyd, Rondell White, Moises Alou, Bartolo Colon, Randy Johnson and Mark Grudzielanek to the list. Those are the other active former All-Star players that have played for the franchise. There are countless others but those are the ones that come to mind right now.
I'd have to go with the inimitable Peter Gammons. Just kidding. At the risk of jumping on the sports guy bandwagon I'm throwing my vote in for Bill Simmons too. Not only is he funny but he doesn't take himself so seriously. He's not preachy (like Gammons) or self-righteous (like Steven A. Smith). The fact that a die-hard Red Sox fan can get me to read what he has to say says a lot about his talent as a writer (even if you don't think his analysis is that great). I also like Buster Olney. Although I'm basing that more on his book than his columns since most of them are posted on espn.com's rip-off subscription insider service.
I used to like Buster Olney. Then Gammons got to him and made him a Yankee hater in that reflexive, French sort of way. F Buster Olney. He made his bones in the Yankee clubhouse and now he's crapping all over them on ESPN.
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