Chris Jones doesn't read Gary Smith ... and then he does

First, Chris Jones writes about why he had never read Gary Smith, considered by many to be the greatest "sports writer," (consider the quote marks bold) of the era. And then he writes about how he finally DID read read him in Gary Smith and Me, the Sequel. The whole notion of one writer not reading another so as not to be influenced by him is an interesting one, and being debated at length at sj.com. Some people say they don't understand it. Some say they don't believe it. I personally both understand AND believe it. Left unsaid: The idea that one great writer simply must read another as a matter of course. I'm not sure I understand that thinking.

Writers and 'Brand'

Gene Weingarten writes a great column about the whole concept of writers as brands, and this has generated a lively discussion on a sj.com thread: Weingarten: "Brand this!". Take a look, the different points of view are interesting.

The Finger and Offending

I could see why this would be offensive to some readers, but some days, a photo that pushes the envelope tells the story best. So I think the Toronto Star did the right thing here: Newseum | Today's Front Pages | Toronto Star

Yep, I'm still here

Visual evidence that I left back in 2009 to the contrary, I'm still around. This blog hasn't gotten the attention it deserves, and the thing is, I've been getting email interest in this blog, including one a couple of days ago. So I'm going to start trying to reactivate this page and seeing if I can make it worthwhile to read. Stay tuned to see if I can pull it off.