A Sports Writer to Motivate the Reluctant "Jock" Students

Published April 18, 2009 @ 12:26PM PT

Federer's moves

I'm sure I'm not the only writing teacher who struggles to find examples of excellent prose that might appeal to the class athletes who don't like English class, and turn them on to that beauty that happens when a good wordsmith applies his skills to a good ball-player. It's stll a long-shot, sure, but maybe reading such a work will flip a switch in minds of the basketball or football players, and create a new appreciation for writing and, hope against hope, motivate them to try their own hand at it.

If you're one of those teachers, and in search such an exemplar, be sure to check out this week's Newsweek article by Joseph Epstein on Roger Federer: "The Federer Fade: How a Tennis God Lost His Topspin." From the alliteration of the title to the "tennis god" metaphor of the tagline to the Greco-Roman mythology motifs that play throughout the article, it's as good a piece of sports-writing as I've ever seen. Great rhythms, great voice, great sentence fluency and diction, just great all around.

Any sports writers you care to share? Drop 'em in comments.

Image by Lajabrac

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Comments (3)

I've always enjoyed Norman Mailer's "The Death of Benny Paret," which made an appearance on an AP English exam question once.

Posted by Jodi Rice on 04/18/2009 @ 02:12PM PT
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It's not written by a sports writer as such, but David Foster Wallace's article in the NY Times is outstanding prose. A long piece, but well worth the read, and some wonderfully descriptive passages.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/sports/playmagazine/20federer.html?_r=3&pagewanted=all

Oddly enough - it's about Roger Federer as well. He is an incredible athlete.

Posted by Tim Kong on 05/06/2009 @ 11:22PM PT
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I should pay more attention to the original article - Epstein actually references that Wallace story.

Davis Miller's two books: "The Zen of Muhammed Ali - and other Obsessions" and "The Tao of Bruce Lee" are both quality reads. The first is a collection of his essays, in particular "My Dinner with Ali" - which is excellent.

Posted by Tim Kong on 05/06/2009 @ 11:41PM PT
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Clay is an American high school Humanities teacher, technology coach, and Apple Distinguished Educator who has taught for the last eight years in Asian international schools. According to law, he's married to his wife. According to his wife, he's married to his Mac.