Week 3 Reading Response
Sports Writing in America: Myths, Memories, Heroes and Villains
Part One
Two of the articles we read this week — “The Chosen One” by Gary Smith and “The Rabbit Hunter” by Frank Deford — felt less like sports articles and more like profiles or glimpses into the personal lives of Tiger Woods and Bobby Knight. One element of writing that seemed to enhance the success of these two unique articles is the use of quotations.
The inclusion of quotes in the two pieces allowed various perspectives of the subjects to mesh together in an analysis of the two subjects, that as fans we may not have had access to before.
For example, in the piece about Bobby Knight, Deford includes quotes from his wife, people who played for him and people who were colleagues of his. These quotes enlightened the reader with insight from people who really knew him on a personal level; thus, humanizing the outrageous infamous character that we see presented in the media. So, not only did the quotes make the piece more captivating, it allowed fans access into Bobby Knight’s personal life and understand the context of his actions and thought processes.
Gary Smith used quotes in a similar manner to Deford in that the quotations of Tiger and his father, Earl, give the reader more detail of why Tiger is the way he is and why he acts the way he does. However, instead of just using quotes to humanize and describe Tiger’s mentality — like Deford did with the Bobby Knight piece — Smith used the quotes as a catalyst to describe Tiger’s actions and to stimulate discourse about the struggles Tiger is faced with.
Additionally, the way Smith integrated quotes in the article created an almost eerie tone; making the reader feel somewhat sympathetic towards Tiger as we read about the pressure placed on him by his father and the professional golfing community.
Part Two
Aside from the use of quotes, the issue of the role of the writer seemed to be at the forefront of “The Chosen One” and “The Rabbit Hunter”.
For instance, in Deford’s piece, I struggled to figure out what the main purpose of the article was.
Was Deford defending Bobby Knight?
Was it all sarcasm?
In my opinion, it felt as though Deford was dismissing his behavior since Knight grew up with strict conservative values and deemed it as Bobby just being Bobby.
Given that Bobby became more of an outlandish character in the media, was Deford just catering to his audience? Bobby Knight seems to be the type of man we don’t really want to like but find his brutal honesty somewhat likeable, maybe. Perhaps Deford was just playing into his audience and ignoring his moral compass.
Nevertheless, in sports it seems as though coaches and players get away with acting poorly to others. Is it because their, and the team’s, success is the most important thing? At what point do we draw the line? When should an author step in?
