Sports Media Guide

Encore for a Storyteller

smarantz — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 02:43:35 +0000

Leigh Montville, in his biography of Manute Bol, wrote in the foreword:

The figure stands on a hill and looks across the African landscape. The sun is round and bright and red behind him. The figure is tall, tall, very tall. He could be a Giacometti sculpture. He could be Gumby.

The figure walks a great distance, past the giraffes and hippos of his native village, straight ahead, from one world to another.

He stands again, in the center of a polished wooden floor inside a large arena. A spotlight focused on his black face. A purple mascot with HOOPS written across his chest comes up to the figure, putting his right hand high. The figure answers, slapping the mascot’s purple fur hand.

This is a fable.

This is the truth.

That was in 1993. Since then, Montville has written five more books, including bios of Dale Earnhardt, Ted Williams and Babe Ruth. He combines an eye for character and plot with a narrative touch that is anecdotal, empathetic, whimsical and ironic – a style that was distinctive in the 1970s, and is even more iconic today, in an age when commentary has trumped storytelling.

Montville’s seventh book is due out in May: “The High-Flying Life of Evel Knievel: American Showman, Daredevil, and Legend.”

The former Boston Globe columnist and Sports Illustrated feature writer took time out from the final two chapters to talk to SMG.

Read the Interview with Leigh Montville

An Interview with Leigh Montville

smarantz — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 23:27:27 +0000

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What Consumers Want

smarantz — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 18:04:25 +0000

What Consumers Want

A commenter wrote this on Boston Sports Media Watch:

Does anyone still read the Globe sports? I check Mike Reiss every day, and get the rest of my sports from national web sites. Why would anyone want to read these entertainment reporters who think they are Woodward and Bernstein investigating Watergate? Breer wasn’t contrarian – he was negative. There’s a difference. When did lowly sports reporters decide that they were muckraking journalists? They write about a game. They’re no different from the people who cover Paris Hilton and Mel Gibson, yet you’d think they were covering the Viet Nam war or the BP oil spill.

Makes me wonder – what do consumers of sports media want?

E:60 Roundtable: Not a Con

smarantz — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 03:01:15 +0000

The reality of E:60′s roundtable

The Prime of E:60

smarantz — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 03:00:25 +0000

Cutting-edge technical news at E:60 Production Notes: prime lens moves television toward a digital cinema look.