I added the “news” caveat to create a distinction between novelists (although there is some cross-over.) I’m asking about your favorite reporter or columnist from an actual newspaper (!), website or blog.
My favorite is probably Mike Lupica (who is one of the cross-overs, but I’m talking about his columnist work here) even though I don’t always agree with him.
I hated Lupica from Day One, and he’s only gotten worse.
I’ll vote for Joe Posnanski.
This is a good topic, because people’s favorites will frequently be a local guy that none of the rest of us have heard of. For instance, I love the writing of Jim Ingraham, who covers the Cleveland Indians for the Willoughby News Herald and Lorain Morning Journal. His writing is both smart AND funny, which is a tough combination to beat. For example, here’s his story for yesterday’s Indians/Royals game: Link
Good stuff. With almost all writers available online now it would be great to find out about some we may not be reading.
We have Mitch Albom in Detroit. He is very good. Also wrote a couple best sellers one which became a movie. He writes about other things than sports too.
Posnanski is my current favorite sportswriter. His books are quite solid too (Soul of Baseball in particular).
I, too, enjoy Posnanski quite a bit.
I loved Paul “Dr. Z” Zimmerman from SI, but it seems unlikely that he’ll be returning to writing after suffering several strokes nearly two years ago.
Except his entire world is in Boston. ESPN is supposed to be national but he warps it all into Beantown and the Celtics, Patriots and Red Sox.
That’s not entirely accurate. He does talk about Boston teams a lot (he got his start as “The Boston Sports Guy”) but he does a lot of NBA/NFL stuff that encompasses the whole sport.
Put me into the anti-Simmons column too. His five favorite topics are 1. Bill Simmons, 2. Bill Simmons, 3. Bill Simmons, and 4th (tie) Red Sox/Celtics. That, and I think he gets paid by the word.
I would say Gregg Easterbrook at ESPN, though I am admittedly tired of the Christmas Creep items. Yeah, some stores put out Christmas stuff absurdly early. It was funny the first time, but now it’s kind of stale.
I have to say that I’ve also always liked Len Pasquarelli’s writing, even though I disagree with a lot of what he says and he is, by many accounts, an old, cranky jackass.
I don’t like Bill Simmons either. He writes from the perspective of an immature 24 year old fanboy, which I am most decidedly not.
Denver has some well known sportswriters, but I mostly can’t stand their schtick. Exhibit A, Woody Paige. Rick Reilly is from and lives in Denver and graduated from CU, and I used to really like him. Now I can’t stand him. His columns all read like retreaded material, and his bizarre references to decades-old pop culture are jarring.
The one guy that I make it a habit to read regularly is Mark Titus of the Club Trillion blog. He was a walk-on basketball player at Ohio State University and wrote his columns about life on the end of the bench on a very good team (As a Wisconsin alum it hurts me to write that.) Club Trillion refers to the stat line in the box score when a bench player plays one minute, but scores zero points, assists, steals, etc. A one follwed by nine zeroes.
He graduated last year, but has continued the blog, and his many followers are eagerly awaiting his column describing his tryout for the Harlem Globetrotters. (Titus is extremely white.)
I used to love to read Albom, But now that he is the king of Schmaltz I just can;t take him seriously.
Love me some Club Trillion, but my vote is and will forever be Rick Reilly.
“News” is pushing it, but Grant Brisbee of McCovey Chronicles is consistently hilarious and insightful. I don’t know how he does it.
Local I vote for Jeff Schultz at that Atlanta Journal Constitution… When I was growing up in Chicago it was Rick Telander.
Lupica and Albom blew it with me with that godawful ESPN show…
National I enjoy Peter King… I think he uses his ability as an insider and even has the temerity to admit when he was wrong about a player… Ask yourself… when has Lupica or Mariotti admitted when they were wrong?
I also liked Mike Downey before he moved downward to LA and Chicago.
He has written some solid columns lately but not about sports.