I think it sounds more like a forced McCarver pun, the last straw that finally forces me to watch the rest of the game in silence."a Fleetwood Mac change-up that would go its own way."
Just an awesome description. Tremendously beautiful in its simplicity.
I think it sounds more like a forced McCarver pun, the last straw that finally forces me to watch the rest of the game in silence.
The big difference is that a bad pun is lost in the brillance of Joe's repertoire, while the same thing is the peak of McCarver's performance even on a good day.I think it sounds more like a forced McCarver pun, the last straw that finally forces me to watch the rest of the game in silence.
I think Tom Boswell still has a longer sustained run of excellence. I'll never forget his pieces after the Sox' 2004 run.Ya know, I was lucky enough to be exposed relatively early on to Pos before he was a national writer due to going to college in Missouri. The link he threw up going back to a 2003 column about Tony Pena got me thinking about how his run of sustained excellence goes back longer than I consciously recognized. Sportswriters, like comedians, have a limited shelf life - there's too much "back in my day" built into sports for writers to stay cutting-edge forever. When I think about sportswriters who I have considered "must-read" in my life, Pos has held that status longer than any of them.
There's always a lot of talk in here about Pos being the best in the biz right now. To wit I reply, it's time to wonder if that isn't going far enough.
Joe Posnanski - best of all time?
He might not be the GOAT as of today, but I feel he is definitely the best sportswriter working right now, his volume is really out of this world, especially considering most of what he writes is between amazing and incredible. It's 3-5 really awesome pieces every single week. He's got more amazing columns written in the last 6 weeks than Simmons has had since 2008.I think Tom Boswell still has a longer sustained run of excellence. I'll never forget his pieces after the Sox' 2004 run.
Posnanski has many lyrical writers of the past 100 years to compete with for any historical title. But for right now, he "gets" modern statistics, he understands the themes of the game, and he turns a phrase, all as well as anyone. That ought to be enough. Don't you think Poz, of all people, would agree we're far too over-eager to label something the "greatest ever", as if it validates our choice to spend time watching or thinking about it? Let Posnanski be Posnanski, the historians will debate the rest later.
<BR><BR>He's by far the best sportswriter working today, and he's mastered the internet era in a way that nobody else really has. Pos actually maintains an open, running dialogue with his blog readers and responds to some of the more critical/insightful comments. He's figured out that sportswriting can't just be a monologue anymore and I think his readers respect him all the more for it. I know I do.<BR><BR>He might not be the GOAT as of today, but I feel he is definitely the best sportswriter working right now, his volume is really out of this world, especially considering most of what he writes is between amazing and incredible. It's 3-5 really awesome pieces every single week. He's got more amazing columns written in the last 6 weeks than Simmons has had since 2008.<BR><BR>He's late 90's Pedro, to be sure, and now we'll see if he can keep it going.<BR>
He's playing in a different league than everybody else who writes about sports for a living.
Great column, Pos is beyond ridiculously good. I learned in the column that Matt Cain didn't allow an earned run in the Post Season. WOW! That's pretty effin' good Mr. Cain.He really knows how to make you feel like you missed out on something big if you haven't really been watching the series
http://sportsillustr...me.5/index.html
That was remarkable. Simply a must-read if you care about Springsteen, or music, or fathers and sons, or the working class, or just great writing. Bravo, Joe.I can honestly say that I think Posnanski has now entered my Pantheon of best-writers that I have come across...
http://joeposnanski.blogspot.com/2010/11/promise.html
And his run at GOAT continues apace. Joe just isn't a great sportswriter, he's a great writer period. In my opinion, he is the best of all time,(or he ultimately will be) even if I've only been reading him for 3 years. He has scores of columns that I remember and still make me think and feel. Nobody else has 5. And many of those columns have nothing to do with sports.He is, quite simply, the best that I've ever read. He's humble and genuine, two traits that are generally lacking amongst sportswriters, which makes him so wonderfully refreshing.
Thanks for that - haven't had time to keep up with him for a while. This hit home on many levels, and I agree, the writing is superb.I can honestly say that I think Posnanski has now entered my Pantheon of best-writers that I have come across...
http://joeposnanski.blogspot.com/2010/11/promise.html
It really was one of the best reads I have ever had the pleasure to come across... everything about it was just incredible, no one writes with that much heart. I don't know what else to say - he is growing into one of my favorites writers of all time. Period.That was remarkable. Simply a must-read if you care about Springsteen, or music, or fathers and sons, or the working class, or just great writing. Bravo, Joe.
I'm curious what non-Springsteen fans think of posts like "The Promise." For a fan such as myself, it's great. But do people who are indifferent, or even hostile, to Springsteen find themselves enjoying them as much, or even re-thinking their stance on The Boss?
I am not a Springsteen fan at all, I mean I understand why people love him and I'm impressed with his workmanship, but I never really connected with him at all. However, I thought that this was an awesome piece. Probably the best that I've read (by any author) all year. It was tremendous, and when I saw his tweet earlier yesterday that he was writing about Springsteen I rolled my eyes.I'm curious what non-Springsteen fans think of posts like "The Promise." For a fan such as myself, it's great. But do people who are indifferent, or even hostile, to Springsteen find themselves enjoying them as much, or even re-thinking their stance on The Boss?
Going to second the sentiment behind JMOH's post.Writing about music is hard. Writing about life and family without sounding like a self-obsessed ass is hard. Writing about sports is hard. He does all three well.
I'm curious what non-Springsteen fans think of posts like "The Promise." For a fan such as myself, it's great. But do people who are indifferent, or even hostile, to Springsteen find themselves enjoying them as much, or even re-thinking their stance on The Boss?
I was driving there in the rain and Bill drove home as it flurried snow and we were just talking about stuff and none of the conversation was meant for the record.
3:30 p.m.: It is snowing just outside of Pittsburgh, though the roads are not too slick yet. I am talking to my wife, Margo, and I do not mention the snow because she will have a panic attack. In the background, the woman is talking on her phone in Chinese. She is undoubtedly telling someone that she is 85% certain that I am not an axe murderer. Or she could be telling someone that she have found her next axe-murder victim. I do not speak Chinese.
His retro diary of a trip to NYC:
http://joeposnanski....travel-day.html
Couldn't agree more.[font="Arial][b]Anonymous said...[/b][/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="Arial]Why couldn't this have happened to Peter King? You deserve so much better, Joe.[/font]
Awesome column. He is right about Pennsylvania, it is the never ending east to west state.
I know it's just a blog and not an article, so it's not a big deal, but this entry was like a giant Peter King Preferred Guest episode. Not trying to piss on the cornflakes, but I thought it was cliched.Great stuff as usual, but as someone who has driven east to west across Nebraska (and back again) I cannot agree with his choice for "longest bleeping state in America." And is the Holland Tunnel seriously $8? Wow.
It's not something he normally does, and it seems like it was odd enough that it was actually entertaining. Sort of like a sportswriter version of Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Not to long, and entertaining. And fine as long as it doesn't happen to often.I know it's just a blog and not an article, so it's not a big deal, but this entry was like a giant Peter King Preferred Guest episode. Not trying to piss on the cornflakes, but I thought it was cliched.
Also, PA is worse to drive across than Nebraska because the traffic and highways are worse. All those plains states may be dull, but the driving is really easy.
Matt over at Fangraphs pointed this out, but it’s worth pointing out again. The three least valuable players by FanGraphs WAR from 2008 through 2010 are Jose Guillen, Yuniesky Betancourt and Jeff Francoeur. Dayton Moore signed the first to the richest everyday player contract in Royals history, traded for the second when the Mariners were at their wits’ end and just signed the third to a $2.5 million contract.* The man knows how to acquire ludicrously bad hitters.
*Interesting, I think, that the three worst in Baseball Reference WAR are Jeff Francoeur, Mark Teahen and Jose Guillen — also three Royals, though it’s not quite the same because Moore inherited Teahen. Francoeur is actually sixth on the worst list, ahead of Ryan Spillborghs and Wes Helms.
http://www.murraychass.com/?page_id=23This is a site for baseball columns, not for baseball blogs. The proprietor of the site is not a fan of blogs. He made that abundantly clear on a radio show with Charley Steiner when Steiner asked him what he thought of blogs and he replied, “I hate blogs.” He later heartily applauded Buzz Bissinger when the best-selling author denounced bloggers on a Bob Costas HBO show
This is *extremely* well said.When I read Joe I always get the feeling that I'm reading the work of somebody who believes he has something to learn from every person he meets and every experience he encounters. There seems to be a fundamental humility that informs all of his writing. Today's piece on Bob Feller is a good example. Here's a guy that so many people - including me at one time - have been quick to dismiss as a curmudgeon, a blowhard, or worse a flat-out racist, and yet Joe is able to go deeper to find the things that are honorable without whitewashing the disagreeable things that others focus on.
So many prominent sportswriters seem to work from a fundamental premise that they know better. They always have a quick opinion or a snide comment; everyone else is an idiot; they're always right. Pos seems like the one guy in the business who is always coming from a premise that maybe he doesn't know better, maybe his preconceptions are wrong, and that approach seems to always take him to places that are more intersting and more true than the places where lesser writers end up. He just seems like a guy who has never stopped trying to figure life out, and that sets him apart from other people who have become successful by telling you as loudly as possible that they know it all already. I will tell you in all honesty that reading Pos every day for the last several years has made me try to be less presumptive and more open-minded about the way I approach certain situations. While he's undoubtedly a great craftsman, I think it's that fundamental humility and searching nature that make him by far the best in the business.
One Blyleven Internet supporter is such a zealot that he has guessed as to the motives for the non-support, and even on occasion taken to outing non-supporters or ridiculing them, perhaps in an attempt at persuasion.