04/20/24
May 29, 2017
Legendary Sportswriter Frank Deford Dies: Frank Deford died Sunday in his Key West, Florida, home at age 78. He wrote for Sports Illustrated from 1962 to 2017 and in the first two decades at that job defined the word "sportswriter" for many of our younger selves. Some of us also recall him for The National, a glorious, short-lived attempt at a national newspaper of sport. He also contributed to Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO and NPR. In recent years he became known for his hatred of soccer, a lamentable old-man crankypants posture unworthy of his reputation.
Ultimately I will remember Deford for the great years and how he looked like the epitome of dadcool for decades.
I wonder what he thought his anti-soccer trolling accomplished. He even ended his writing career with an NPR goodbye column that took a final shot at the sport. It's not like he's dumb enough to be stuck in the past, like the sports radio yahoos around Jacksonville.
NPR has Deford commentaries going back to 1999.
posted by rcade at 12:08 AM on May 30, 2017
Thanks for that rcade, I've been hearing his voice all weekend in my head. Bryan Curtis' piece has links to a couple of good DeFord stories.
posted by yerfatma at 09:38 AM on May 30, 2017
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posted by BornIcon at 02:00 PM on May 30, 2017
He always looked like he had already had a fabulous film noir career before he got interested in sports.
Toward the end of his career, he grew to admire the sound of his own voice a bit too much in audio segments. The flourishes and the pauses, where he would let us bask in the splendor of his dulcet tone and incisive authority...it became a bit overdone. But no matter, the whole of his work far outshines those sorts of late chapter concerns.
posted by beaverboard at 04:15 PM on May 30, 2017
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posted by tommybiden at 01:26 PM on May 31, 2017
Yep, late period crankiness aside, I always looked forward to his NPR segments and loved running into a piece by him online.
And, boy, The National, what a great publication that was.