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Who’s Out There Worth Reading?

Reading the morning’s local Sports Pages remains one of life’s simple pleasures, one still not matched by watching the various TV highlight shows or searching the internet. We make a quick scan for a favorite writer or columnist, to confirm or challenge our opinion or cast new light on a familiar subject. We remember gentleman Jim Murray fondly. Local sportswriters provide a distinctive flavor and context to their fans’ teams. Old standbys in Sports Illustrated or former beat writers like Peter Gammons serve the greater good. What does Peter think about Albert Pujols’ recent comments that legitimate MVP candidates must have put their teams into the playoffs?

I’d like to solicit suggestions from NLT readers about their favorite local/national sports writers or journalists, to be followed over time. Here are the first nominations from NLT’s outpost in Maine: Gordon Edes, Boston Globe, on baseball. Bob Ryan, the Globe, on whatever the hell strikes his fancy. Peter King and Paul Zimmerman, SI, on football. Wilbon & Kornheiser in the Washington Post, if Tony the K ever bothers to write anymore.

Discussions - 7 Comments

I like Kornheiser and Wilbon. I actually think Peter King is extremely overrated. He is a fine writer, but his knowledge of football is actually very bad. He makes a lot of silly errors and comes off as a name-dropper to me. I think his opinions on the game tend to be formed by what seems popular, not through any deep thought of his own.

One of my favorites from days past was Hal Lebovitz who must have been syndicated in the northern Ohio area when I was growing up. He wrote a column on Cleveland sports and really was the first sports columnist I ever read regularly. There is a point as a kid watching sports where you realize that sports isn’t simply about the points on the scoreboard at the end of the game. It’s about good coaching, good drafting/recuiting, intelligent roster moves, etc. Reading Lebovitz opened that portion of sports up to me at a young age. Hal died a few years ago (here’s his obit in the Plain Dealer), but he will always be my favorite.

Woody Paige.

Rick Reilly and Steve Rushin of Sports Illustrated. Both do an outstanding job of reporting on topical sports events, although Reilly has of late climbed on his soapbox a little too much.

Locally, growing up in Chicago, I always enjoyed the sharp wit of Bernie Lincicome of the Chicago Tribuen (now Denver Post-I believe), and Sam Smith covering the Chicago Bulls.

Suzanne Halliburton, Cedric Golden and Kirk Bohls, of Austin (Texas) American-Statesman, on Longhorns football.

I echo Mr. Roark’s comments, regarding Lebovitz. Top notch coverage of the local beats, and indeed, a fan first, before a journalist.


Greg Easterbrook, noted more for his other writings than sports coverage, writes his weekly column, "Tuesday Morning Quarterback, for ESPN. Without equal, although also without the nitty-gritty statistical analysis we might otherwise expect from our sports writers.

Jimmy Cannon in the New York Journal-American. Oh, wait. That was forty years ago.

Bernie Lincicome wites for the Rocky Mountain News--the other Denver paper.

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