Joe Posnanski: Lord of Lists
- Thread starter John Marzano Olympic Hero
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its a dream job for a guy who is 40 or older, but the reality is that SI is at best becoming irrelevent and at worst going away. If he wants more $$, he goes to ESPN, who can make him a godfather offer if they so choose. Basically he would be replacing Neyer...and Reilley, who has been a total failure at ESPN
Possibility he's getting Simmons' box on ESPN.com once Simmons migrates to his new website? Or possibly going to Simmons' new website?
Unrelated to that speculation...
http://joeposnanski.si.com/2011/03/18/my-mothers-basement/
A wonderful, and far classier response to Bruce Jenkins than I ever would have given.
http://joeposnanski.si.com/2011/03/18/my-mothers-basement/
A wonderful, and far classier response to Bruce Jenkins than I ever would have given.
Very eager to hear what the announcement is because although there's no bigger Poz fan/apologist than me, I think his blog quality has dropped a bit this year. Which I guess means he's gone from posting spectacular stuff almost daily to posting stuff that's still pretty damn interesting 2 or 3 times a week. I have wondered lately if there's something going on in his world that we don't know about.
Hopefully SI has backed up a Brinks truck worth of money to his house to get him to stay and is planning to build a significant web presence around his work. I believe we will be better off as consumers with Joe remaining separate from ESPN and even Simmons’ new venture and maybe providing a little competition on the sports front.
Pleased that he's staying independent of ESPNco, but also mildly disappointed. JoePa was never overly interesting to me (I don't think he'd honestly be nearly as bookworthy if it weren't for obscene longevity, and longevity has never been a primary reason to read something for me), and writing a book is likely to detract from the amount and/or quality of material he puts out currently. However, it might turn a nice profit for him, and if anyone deserves it, it's Pos. Also, if anyone can write a book about JoePa I'd be interested in, it's likely JoePos.
zzzzzzzzz...so at a time when his profile is highest he is going to disappear for long periods of time to write a book about an 84-year old football coach? I'm sure SI is really pumped about this. I'm sure the book will be great, but I'm not sure the subject matter is really all that compelling
Yeah, pretty bummed out this is his huge project - I would rather read a book about Cleveland in the wake of LeBron, or the 70s/80s Royals, or a Bob Feller biography, or a Stan Musial biography, or dozens of other projects he could tackle. I suppose Penn State's huge fanbase means this is likely to sell pretty widely, and I will probably get around to it eventually just because I love Pos that much, but selfishly I would prefer to see him keep blogging at his usual pace rather than write this book.
I doubt his output on his blog will suffer much, as he's written tons on the blog when he's been involved in "breaking news" -- he just can't stay away.
Didn't notice if this is authorized or not by JoePa.
Didn't notice if this is authorized or not by JoePa.
Certainly a surprising announcement. Paterno has never been all that compelling to me, and football has never been Poz's strong suit.
At the same time, college football is fertile ground for someone as perceptive as Joe and Paterno is a good vehicle for telling a larger story about how the game and the business of college sports have changed over the decades. To whatever degree Joe is going to delve into recruiting practices, booster clubs, player compensation - basically the whole awkward marraige of big-time sports and publicly-funded higher learning - sure, I'm absolutely excited to read Posnanski on all of the above. He's obviously demonstrated an ability to be critical of Major League Baseball while maintaining a clearly-stated passion for the game. If he brings that balance to college football this will be a great read.
At the same time, college football is fertile ground for someone as perceptive as Joe and Paterno is a good vehicle for telling a larger story about how the game and the business of college sports have changed over the decades. To whatever degree Joe is going to delve into recruiting practices, booster clubs, player compensation - basically the whole awkward marraige of big-time sports and publicly-funded higher learning - sure, I'm absolutely excited to read Posnanski on all of the above. He's obviously demonstrated an ability to be critical of Major League Baseball while maintaining a clearly-stated passion for the game. If he brings that balance to college football this will be a great read.
Damn. Disappointing. Not because he's writing a book on an old football coach, its a subject I don't care about but am sure he will write a fine book about that I will read, but because the teases had me thinking bigger.
Exactly. The great ones can use a seemingly minor or uninteresting person or story as an opening for a much wider and more interesting exploration. I'm sure many people responded with a collective yawn when they learned that Michael Lewis was going to write a book about the Oakland A's, or Buzz Bissinger was doing a book about a high-school football team in a Texas backwater town. Joe is really psyched about doing this, so I see no reason not to expect a great read.
Count me in as intrigued. Given Paterno's age this has the chance to be a "tell-all-deathbed-confession" type of work that would be dynamite, and makes the relatively boring angle of longevity work in his favor with all he's seen. If it's Joe Pa sitting on his porch sipping lemonade pulling a Grandpa Simpson for 300 pages, well, Poz can probably make it an interesting read at any rate.
MUCH bigger. This announcement has a "big whoop" feeling to it. So he's writing a book about Joe Pa. He wrote a book about Buck O'Neil and the Cincinnati Reds. Didn't need announcements for them. I agree with Lose, he can't stay away from the blog completely, but he probably won't write 4-5 columns a week, either. And that is a shame.
But I don't think he will be like Simmons, who completely walks away from putting up columns for months at a time if he is writing a grocery list.
I really hope he doesn't drop off the face of the earth with this JoPa book. I'll miss finding random articles in the middle of the day that are just damn good.
http://joeposnanski.si.com/2011/03/22/the-biggest-winner/?eref=sihp
http://joeposnanski.si.com/2011/03/22/the-biggest-winner/?eref=sihp
It's not just that we'll miss out on some posts (we will, though I agree he can't stay away), or that Paterno is a weak topic (he is). I wonder whether Joe's gifts lie in writing full length books. The Machine was a fine baseball book, but I found it to be pretty disappointing compared to Joe's daily posts. Soul of Baseball was great, but it was Buck's book. Joe's great strengths - the melding of personal memoir with sports, the odd questions and observations that open up a new angle of inquiry, the obsessive need to answer a trivial question, the sharply realized portrait or vignette with the kicker ending - don't really translate to book length. I'd hate to see him devote a couple years to a mediocre book when he is the best at what he does right now.
I will happily take all this back if he writes a book that measures up to his best posts. But I'm dubious.
I will happily take all this back if he writes a book that measures up to his best posts. But I'm dubious.
From Joe's twitter today: "When I think N.Y. based blogger Murray Chass has hit rock bottom, he manages to sink lower. Sad. He was once a fine reporter."
Maybe the best thing about Joe is that he never seems TOO good. He can kick a guy in the shins every once in a while, too.
Maybe the best thing about Joe is that he never seems TOO good. He can kick a guy in the shins every once in a while, too.
That's not really true at all, or, at least, it's no more true than saying that a painter doesn't deserve credit for a portrait because he's not the subject of the portrait. "I Was Right On Time" was Buck's book. "Soul of Baseball" was Joe's portrait of Buck - Joe takes a compelling character in Buck and shows how he interacts with people and the effect he has on them. There's also quite a bit about what Joe learns from Buck, which is something that probably wouldn't have come through as clearly with another writer. Buck is a fascinating person, sure, but lots of people are fascinating people.
I'm pumped for this book.
I think you underestimate how fascinating (I'd say charismatic) Buck was. I'd have listened to Buck O'Neal talk about anything. Can't say the same for Paterno. That said, my saying Soul was "Buck's book" was too simple. Joe had a close relationship with Buck, and that, combined with Buck's personality, made the book. Joe's clear affection for Buck was part of what made the book compelling. Now Joe clearly felt some sort of connection with the Reds, but it never came through all the strongly in the book. Unlike the countless blog posts, he never really made me care much about the Big Red Machine. I worry about the same thing here, though I'd be happy to be proved wrong.
Look, I understand the reasons a writer would want to write a book. I just wonder whether Joe's great strengths as a writer aren't better suited to the blog than to the full length book.
Look, I understand the reasons a writer would want to write a book. I just wonder whether Joe's great strengths as a writer aren't better suited to the blog than to the full length book.
Before reading the Soul of Baseball, I had heard of Buck O'Neill but I had no idea of his life story and what kind of person he was. Posnanski painted a glowing portrait of a man that I probably would never have encountered without his book. I don't know all that much about Joe Paterno except for his records and longevity. But, based on my sense of what Posnanski finds worth writiing about, I am confident that this book is going to provide a window into a compelling persona and life history, amid the history of the last 50 years of college athletics. At this point, I trust Posnanski to deliver.
The beauty of S of B was that, in the first few pages, Pos said that if you met Buck 1 time, you felt as if you were best friends. After reading the book, I felt that I was good friends with Buck.
Bought the Big Red Machine book in the airport because of this thread and am halfway through it. To call it a nice little baseball book is selling it short. They don't make baseball books like this, really. Joe is very good. I've never felt like I knew Pete Rose before this, but I totally get him now. Johnny Bench, too. Even Joe Morgan a little bit (although he still kind of doesn't make any sense). Joe is a great, great writer.
Because I don't care at all about college football or Joe Paterno, I'm a little disappointed that's his next book, for sure, but I have no doubt it will be eminently readable. I just wish he'd tackle the Impossible Dream...
Because I don't care at all about college football or Joe Paterno, I'm a little disappointed that's his next book, for sure, but I have no doubt it will be eminently readable. I just wish he'd tackle the Impossible Dream...
I can confirm that (note the avatar). My wife used to travel to KC for business a few times/year, and every time Buck saw her he knew exactly who she was and made her feel like an old friend.
To all the "meh" surrounding Posnakski's announcement that he's doing a Joe Paterno book: I don't know shit about Joe Paterno other than his team, and that he's ancient. Does anyone here know more than a Wikipedia's dose on JoePa?
I can't already declare that this book will be boring the way some of you have done. Because Pos is such a great writer, I can't dismiss anything he chooses to write about, and 18 months is a lot of time for him to shape something interesting and creative out of virtually anything.
I can't already declare that this book will be boring the way some of you have done. Because Pos is such a great writer, I can't dismiss anything he chooses to write about, and 18 months is a lot of time for him to shape something interesting and creative out of virtually anything.
I am also not a huge college football guy, but I can not wait to read this.
One thing that intrigues me (I may be off though) is that I do know PSU graduates almost all of their players, but isn't it also a model on how to run an absolutely "clean" program?
One thing that intrigues me (I may be off though) is that I do know PSU graduates almost all of their players, but isn't it also a model on how to run an absolutely "clean" program?
Joe, naturally, expands on his tweet about the Posnanski award
My favorite part:
My favorite part:
I know plenty of people espouse this sort of humility and not really mean it, but I choose to believe Joe is genuine.
The differences between Simmons and Pos keep growing every day. I would also bet he's being genuine and his humility is evident in his writing as well as his apparent actions.
If Posnanski wrote on the history of suppositories I'm sure I'd enjoy it, so no matter how little interest I have in Penn State football (which is zero) I bet it will be a good book. I wish he'd write a book on Stan Musial now, though. Can't say how much I loved his going after Chass.
His first podcast with our very own Ken Tremendous is now up. Maybe this will make you Paterno haters happy...
http://joeposnanski.si.com/2011/03/28/the-first-sports-poscast/
http://joeposnanski.si.com/2011/03/28/the-first-sports-poscast/
This podcast - or Pozcast, I guess - is the first thing I've ever seen from Posnanski that I would call a failure. It just didn't seem like much thought or care went into it at all, which is surprising because if there's one word you would never use to describe Joe Pos it's lazy. Even by the lax standards of podcasting it was really undercooked.
You've got a potentially interesting guest there in Michael Schur/Ken Tremendous but Joe didn't ask him about any of the things that make him interesting. About 40 minutes was spent on a general 2011 season preview, a subject on which Ken T. doesn't seem to have much more to say than the average SOSH poster or Posnanski blog reader.
By his own pre-emptive admission Pos is not great on the radio but I thought he'd put a little more into his podcast. Hopefully in the future he will. This really wasn't anything more than a college radio sports show.
You've got a potentially interesting guest there in Michael Schur/Ken Tremendous but Joe didn't ask him about any of the things that make him interesting. About 40 minutes was spent on a general 2011 season preview, a subject on which Ken T. doesn't seem to have much more to say than the average SOSH poster or Posnanski blog reader.
By his own pre-emptive admission Pos is not great on the radio but I thought he'd put a little more into his podcast. Hopefully in the future he will. This really wasn't anything more than a college radio sports show.
Pretty much completely disagree. The sound wasn't the greatest and I'm sure someone is working on that but it was two guys talking baseball and that's what I want out of a baseball podcast.
I had trouble telling Pos and Mose apart, but I guess as I listen to more podcasts it'll be easier.
I disagree as well. Two very knowledgeable and passionate baseball guys talking about baseball? What a novel idea.
If Posnanski and Schur only talked about baseball then good. KT was on Jonah Keri's podcast two weeks ago, so there's really nothing he could say on a Pozcast that he wouldn't have already said this month.
Joe interviews UZR. Don't want to spoil too much, but it starts like this and gets better:
He's the best.
He's the best.
Posnanski has just named Robinson Cano as the 8th best player in baseball. I assume the honeymoon is officially over?