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writesdave's review
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Frank Deford was a brilliant writer, the sportswriter I and my peers wanted to be, but the look back was jarring. Not surprisingly, the takes of a middle-aged sportswriter from an Ivy League college do not hold up well, owing to a blindingly unenlightened viewpoint generally. Seriously, I found myself cringing over some of the NPR scripts and wondering how NPR felt about these opinions emanating through their airwaves.
By the way, this book would have come out just before his soft-core profile of Anna Kournikova for Sports Illustrated (ca. 2002), though I will consider his editors gave him marching orders for the kind of story he was to report and write. The story just oozed with something, knowing who wrote it, and I doubt Deford considered it among his best.
Again, though, the man could turn a phrase. Highlights include the profile of a 40-year-old Bobby Knight, and the closing feature on sports' immortal barriers coming down.
By the way, this book would have come out just before his soft-core profile of Anna Kournikova for Sports Illustrated (ca. 2002), though I will consider his editors gave him marching orders for the kind of story he was to report and write. The story just oozed with something, knowing who wrote it, and I doubt Deford considered it among his best.
Again, though, the man could turn a phrase. Highlights include the profile of a 40-year-old Bobby Knight, and the closing feature on sports' immortal barriers coming down.
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