Dwight Garner gets the award for his review of Shooting Stars, the recently published memoir by LeBron James with Buzz Bissinger. No one deserves to be compared to Michael Jordon. But what about being compared to Walt Whitman?
September 10, 2009
April 28, 2009
June 17, 2008
Tiger the Zeitgeist
Posted by Henry on June 17, 2008 at 10:39 am
New York Times political columnist David Brooks offers his own take on Tiger Woods today — Tiger the zeitgeist:
The ancients were familiar with physical courage and the priests with moral courage, but in this over-communicated age when mortals feel perpetually addled, Woods is the symbol of mental willpower. He is, in addition, competitive, ruthless, unsatisfied by success and honest about his own failings. (Twice, he risked his career to retool his swing.)
During the broadcast of Monday’s playoff round, Nike ran an ad that had Earl Woods’s voice running over images of his son: “I’d say, ‘Tiger, I promise you that you’ll never meet another person as mentally tough as you in your entire life.’ And he hasn’t. And he never will.”
The most interesting phase of Woods’ career is yet to come. That is the point at which he gets old. And then, like the ancients – Jack Nicklaus at the 1986 Masters, or Beowulf against the dragon – he’ll need mental toughness not to augment his physical gifts, but to overcome his physical decline.
May 9, 2008
Great Moments in Color Commentary
Posted by Henry on May 9, 2008 at 10:52 am
I was listening to the WEEI radio broadcast of the Celtics-Cavaliers game last night and heard the following exchange between color commentator Cedric Maxwell and play-by-play host Sean Grande. It starts with Maxwell explaining Ray Allen’s shooting woes:
Maxwell: It’s like he has the whole weight of the world on his shoulders. It’s like Damocles over his head.
Grande: You mean the Sword of Damocles, right? It’s not like Damocles himself is over his head.
Maxwell: I mean like there’s a moon pie, up high in the rafters, going to hit him in the face.
Grande: A moon pie?
Maxwell: You know what a moon pie is, don’t you?
I’m writing this from memory, but I swear it’s close to verbatim.
