newspaper Page 5 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Night For Joe Louis: Red Smith On Rocky Marciano's Knockout
Red Smith is the most respected sports columnist we've ever had. In his prime, Jimmy Cannon, Smith's friendly rival, was certainly as well-known. Cannon, the Voice of New York, was an emotional, colloquial writer whose reputation, unfortunately, has faded. But Smith endures. What is it about his wri...
Gentlemen, Start Your Coffins
Another good one—Rick Reilly's 1986 SI tribute to the columnist Jim Murray—"King of the Sports Page":...
Miracle Of Coogan's Bluff: Red Smith On The Shot Heard ‘Round The World
Red Smith is the most respected sports columnist we've ever had. In his prime, Jimmy Cannon, Smith's friendly rival, was certainly as well-known. Cannon, the Voice of New York, was an emotional, colloquial writer whose reputation, unfortunately, has faded. But Smith endures. What is it about his wri...
Maloof Family Thanks Sacramento In Newspaper Ad
Years of prayers were finally and officially answered: as of Friday, the Maloofs are no longer NBA owners. Sure, they drove the team into the ground, and sure, they did everything possible to sell the franchise to an owner who would move it from Sacramento, and sure, just two weeks ago George Maloof...
Hold that Tiger
From Stanley Woodward's great memoir, Paper Tiger, here's how the legendary newspaper editor lured Red Smith and Joe Palmer to the New York Herald Tribune:...
The Best-Kept Secret
Another sure-shot for you—David Owen's 1982 Esquire piece on the late, great Murray Kempton: ...
H-U-S-T-L-E-R, Huster
Dig this 1958 Jimmy Cannon column, "Broadway Sportsman":...
New Year's Baby
Check out this 1951 column by Red Smith on Mickey Mantle:...
The Don
From the Phoenix New Times, here's Deborah Laake's 1993 profile of Jerry Colangelo:...
Let it Bleed
Head on over to the Columbia Journalism Review for this appreciation of Red Smith by his son, Terence Smith:...
Cuba Libre
Check out "Kids Not Poor in Spirit," a story about pickup baseball in Havana written by Bonnie DeSimone for the Chicago Tribune back in 1998:...
Three Times Dope
Here's Shirley Povich's column on Don Larsen's perfect game:...
Cobb-Holmes '82: A Violent Game Of Tag
Here's the last of four Pete Dexter columns about Randall "Tex" Cobb's heavyweight title fight against Larry Holmes. Originally published Nov. 29, 1982, as "An Advanced Game of Tag" in the Philadelphia Daily News, the column was Dexter's account of the aftermath of the fight, which was so bloody and...
Grand Master
Spring brings with it a bum's rush of new sports books. This year, one of the most prized titles comes from the distinguished Library of America—American Pastimes: The Very Best of Red Smith (edited by Dan Okrent). Smith is our most venerated sports columnist and we'll have much more on him and this...
Cobb-Holmes '82: Spies, Thieves, And Other Serious Business
Here's the third of four Pete Dexter columns about Randall "Tex" Cobb's heavyweight title fight against Larry Holmes. Click here for part one and here for part two. Originally published in the Nov. 26, 1982, edition of the Philadelphia Daily News as "Randall's Serious," this column appears here wit...
The Goon Show
It'll come as no surprise that my favorite series at Grantland is the "Director's Cut" feature curated by Michael MacCambridge. He does a beautiful job and I'm always eager to see what gift he gives us next. Here's an especially good one—"The Making of a Goon," by Johnette Howard, which originally ...
The Weight Of Tex Cobb's Belief
Here's the second of four Pete Dexter columns about Randall "Tex" Cobb's heavyweight title fight against Larry Holmes. Click here for part one. Originally published Nov. 24, 1982, as "Gifts Aren't Everything" in the Philadelphia Daily News, this column appears here with the author's permission. ...
More Than Somewhat
Damon Runyon was a big shot sports writer in the 1920s and he became an even bigger deal as a chronicler of life on Broadway. Here is a good introduction to his work, including the short story, "Romance in the Roaring Forties." ...
Pete Dexter: A Writer Who Makes Writers Want To Give Up
Pete Dexter was a columnist at the Philadelphia Daily News for close to ten years, from the late Seventies through the mid-Eighties. He wasn't just any old columnist but one of the most original we've ever had. His columns often read like short stories so it's no surprise that he went on to write no...