In Episode 5 of the podcast, I speak with award-winning sportswriter and author Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe. In a wide-ranging interview, we discuss:
- the three greatest sports moments he covered in person;
- why reporting was the “necessary evil” that led to writing;
- the conflict he feels about watching the NFL;
- the changes TMZ and Deadspin have caused in the sports media;
- the best story in his new book SCRIBE: MY LIFE IN SPORTS (hint: it’s about Larry Bird).
Plus, on “This Week in Writing”—the Loma Prieta Earthquake, 25 years later. And, on “This Week in NOT Writing,” music from The Looking.
About Bob Ryan:
Ever since he joined the sports department of the Boston Globe in 1968, sports enthusiasts have been blessed with the writing and reporting of Bob Ryan. Tony Kornheiser calls him the “quintessential American sportswriter.” For the past twenty-five years, he has also been a regular on various ESPN shows, especially The Sports Reporters, spreading his knowledge and enthusiasm for sports of all kinds.
Born in 1946 in Trenton, New Jersey, Ryan cut his teeth going with his father to the Polo Grounds and Connie Mack Stadium, and to college basketball games at the Palestra in Philadelphia when it was the epicenter of the college game. As a young man, he became sports editor of his high school paper-and at age twenty-three, a year into his Boston Globeexperience, he was handed the Boston Celtics beat as the Bill Russell era ended and the Dave Cowens one began. His all-star career was launched. Ever since, his insight as a reporter and skills as a writer have been matched by an ability to connect with people-players, management, the reading public-probably because, at heart, he has always been as much a fan as a reporter.You can find Bob on the ESPN shows Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption, as well as in his columns in the Boston Globe. SCRIBE is available wherever books are sold.
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