“Every day there [are] winners and losers and there’s drama and there’s joy and there’s glamour. And the guys playing it are young, and so lots of times they say all the wrong things.”
– Frank Deford
I had the pleasure of listening to Frank Deford speak at Bradley University last night… the man is a natural, a wordsmith of so much more than sports. Even though his primary gig has been writing about bats, balls and rackets for Sports Illustrated, I overheard a man next to me call him “a Renaissance man.” It’s a true statement, a compliment to his intense interest in all things around him. He’s been awarded National Sportswriter of the Year six times, an Emmy and a Peabody. His thin mustache and lanky stature reminded me of John Waters.
The room was full and attentive; mostly journalists and wannabes, students and faculty. The Journal Star covered the event, with reporter Wes Huett writing a story for today’s edition:
“Think sports are not important? Deford says success and popularity merge more in sports than any other medium. The best films and music? Far from the most popular. Only in sports are the best celebrated universally.”
Now that’s an incredible observation. The competitive spirit of sports is so naked, so central to the rules. Personal bests only go so far; how can an athlete be THE best without pitting himself or herself against another warrior? An artist, though, can see criticism as subjective, something measured against the metric of creativity.
Deford also touched on the decline of reading, the widening gap between those who do and those who don’t. He predicted newspapers would one day be as elite as opera or Shakespeare, making special note that players of a certain baseball team early in the 20th century gave a complete set of Shakespeare to their departing teammate. The irony didn’t escape him as he bemoaned the rise of television despite contributing to HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. He also had sour things to say about his current employer, Sports Illustrated, belittling their decisions to cover the popular, boring athletes instead of bringing mind-boggling stories of the athlete down the street to light.
Afterwards he signed books, including his latest novel about baseball, “The Entitled.” I waited in line, marveling at how gracious he was to each person. Not only did he sign and write something in every book, he was also the guy sitting next to you in the bar, debating and jabbing with anyone who wanted. He never flaunted his decades of experience, always showing a genuine interest in others’ opinions.
Inspiring, even for a sports neophyte.
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