Who's your favorite sportswriter?

December 13, 2006 9:12 AM

I'm looking for some new reading. Specifically about sports. There's

I'm not necessarily looking for national columnists. The recommendations can also be of people who write for your local paper. As long as the articles can be accessed on the Web, I'm good to go. I'd ideally like to read columnists like Gary Smith, who write well and are insightful.

I've already seen this earlier thread, and I do like Bill Simmons and can tolerate Easterbrook. I just want to be able to go beyond the current mediocrities like Stephen A. Smith and Scoop Jackson.

Thanks to all for the help.

posted by reenum to Media & Arts (18 answers total)

Best answer: As far as columnists with national appeal go, I like Salon's King Kaufman. If you're into football, you should definitely check out Pro Football Talk. They're pretty obnoxious, but it's the best place to go for inside information.

My favorite columnist, however, is the Philadelphia Inquirer's Phil Sheridan, but he sticks pretty much with the Philly sports scene most of the time, so if you're not interested in that, he may not be the best choice.
posted by dseaton at 9:44 AM on December 13, 2006

Chuck Klosterman does the occasional column for Page 2 (most are now behind the Insider paywall, but I just check an RSS feed of his archive every once in a while so I don't miss the new stuff.

You probably know about Bob Ryan and Dan Shaughnessy, but I like the Globe's 3rd columnist, Jackie MacMullan.

PS. I think Simmons is trying to get fired. He recently did an entire column on the sad state of NFL announcers, and he threw an ex-Page 2er (Alysse Minkoff) under the bus recently.
posted by Rock Steady at 9:49 AM on December 13, 2006

Response by poster: Local sportswriters are A-OK. For example, I really like reading Ray Ratto's SF-centric articles, even though I'm from the Midwest.

Thanks for the suggestion dseaton! Please keep 'em coming, folks.
posted by reenum at 9:49 AM on December 13, 2006

Pro and top college sports are all about the money, so I enjoy reading the economists at The Sports Economist.

I also enjoy literate (meaning "able to read and write") discussions about sports, so I visit SportsFilter.
posted by letitrain at 9:49 AM on December 13, 2006

Gladwell writes about sports a lot.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 9:56 AM on December 13, 2006

Best answer: In Chicago, Bob Verdi is excellent. Sam Smith's NBA columns are generally very informative. And I love Steve Rosenbloom's blog.

Nationally, I like Michael Wilbon a lot.
posted by SisterHavana at 9:56 AM on December 13, 2006

I grew up reading Mike Lupica, he's more of a "big picture" columnist than a beat writer and is mostly NYC focused.
posted by lovejones at 9:58 AM on December 13, 2006

Please Please for the love of God ignore Mike Lupica. A total blowhard. There is always Deadspin for the irreverant side of things. It is a good source for links to sports writing outside the norm.
posted by spicynuts at 10:11 AM on December 13, 2006

For baseball content, Baseball Think Factory can't be beat.
posted by escabeche at 10:53 AM on December 13, 2006

The best sportswriter in the land is Michael Lewis. He famously wrote the books Liar's Poker, Moneyball and The Blind Side, but he is also a regular contributor to the NYTimes, so you can definitely find lots of his stuff in there.

Why the aversion to real books? You could go read Paper Tiger, Levels of The Game, David Foster Wallace's pieces on tennis...
posted by jtajta at 11:13 AM on December 13, 2006

Best answer: SportsFilter
posted by kirkaracha at 12:13 PM on December 13, 2006

Response by poster: I don't have an aversion to books at all. It's just that daily columns are a bit more palatable.
posted by reenum at 2:15 PM on December 13, 2006

I really enjoy reading King Kaufman over at Salon. He writes in a self-deprecating style, and he brings an impressive sense of the history of sports. He isn't just looking to tout the flavor of the month. I especially like the way that he'll occasionally take a look at some hard numbers in order to deflate the hyperbolic comments of the folks at ESPN and their ilk.
posted by oddman at 2:37 PM on December 13, 2006

Best answer: If you're interested in a highly statistical/analytical take on college basketball, I'd suggest this site/blog:

Ken Pomeroy

He's also an occasional coumnist for espn.com.
posted by tallthinone at 2:59 PM on December 13, 2006

For women's basketball, the gold standard is Mechelle Voepel in her columns on ESPN.com.
posted by Carol Anne at 4:50 PM on December 13, 2006

MetaTalk thread on my shameful self-link. Includes mea culpa!
posted by kirkaracha at 4:55 PM on December 13, 2006

BMac's Blog: The Rants of a Basketball Maven
posted by callmejay at 8:50 PM on December 13, 2006

Read the articles and essays in Best American Sports Writing and see which authors you like.
posted by stuart_s at 1:38 AM on December 14, 2006