04/23/24
June 04, 2009
Was the 1970's Boston Globe Sports Page the Greatest of All Time?: "Ryan would write about umpires,Gammons would write about wars and symphonies, and you'd need a third f----- guy for game talk."
Quite a collection of All-Prose at one paper. I bet it was a great sprts page.
posted by mjkredliner at 11:03 AM on June 04, 2009
Nice to know there are still people who love to read and write. You're a badass, H_T.
posted by outonleave at 08:59 PM on June 05, 2009
I grew up in Connecticut and because I was between Boston and NY I chose to cheer for teams that were not in those cities because all my friends did. I liked the Tigers, Blackhawks, 49ers and Pistons. I moved to Boston in 1975, and because of the Globe writers, came to become a fan of all Boston teams, you could not help it. It was just amazing everyday to read what those guys wrote. The greatest sports section ever and nice to read about the men behind it.
posted by gfinsf at 07:14 AM on June 09, 2009
Fatty, this is a great post for a Boston guy like me. I grew up with the Globe (and the Boston Post before its demise), and I was regularly into the sports pages before I was 10. I spent most of the 70s in Japan, so I was not around for most of those glory days, but I still got enough of a sniff to appreciate the good writing and excellent reporting.
I would posit that the reason for the Globe's success was the success of the local teams during the decade. The Celtics and Bruins won championships, The Patriots had a few good years, and the Red Sox were in the World Series once and had the near miss (courtesy of Mr. B. F. Dent) as well. Even before the 70s the Boston teams were at least perennial contenders, if not champions. Boston is a "sports town" to begin with, so it is no surprise that bright young talent would be attracted to sports writing. I'm sure it's a lot easier to write about success.
The Globe's sports pages are still pretty strong. As the article points out, Bob Ryan is still there. I don't think there is a better sports writer in the US. Shaughnessy is still there as well, but, to use a baseball metaphor, I think he's lost a few mph off his fast ball, and he can't seem to get the curve ball over as often. There are some "rising stars" in the current lineup. Marc Spears on basketball, while not a great writer, is an excellent reporter. He knows the game, finds out a lot of information, and presents it without seeking to sensationalize. Amalie Benjamin is a work in progress on the Red Sox beat, but she shows some talent. Mike Reiss does top quality work on the Patriots. He's another who has developed his sources and is able to report with accuracy much that would otherwise go unnoticed. He does 2 things that stand out. First, he responds to nearly all questions and comments about his writings. Second, and most important, he will not write anything he does not know for sure. The Globe's bloggers are a pretty good bunch too, especially Chad Finn and Eric Wilbur.
If this sounds like a paid advertisement for the Globe, it is not meant to be. As I said, I have been a life-long reader of the sports pages (the rest of the paper isn't worth use as a bird cage liner), and I have always enjoyed them. They add a lot to my daily routine. I don't think there are too many sports writers like Leigh Montville whose column once steered me to one of my favorite restaurants, now sadly out of business.