This post was written by Vanguard sports writer Allison Whited.
Peter King is a writer for Sports Illustrated. Though he writes most of the time about the NFL, he is always insightful about other sports.
This week, in his weekly online column he recounts a great story about the NCAA baseball tournament game pitting University of Texas against Boston College.
It's an incredible story about athleticism and the desire to compete. I don't watch that much baseball, but this short account really drew me in.
King has a way of making anything sports related arresting. He's not a great writer, but he is an honest writer and I find that much more appealing. He seems to ask all of the pertinent questions and addresses all of the things you really want to know about the mental side of sports.
I don't think I'm the only person to feel this way about his work. Whenever he talks to athletes, they seem to give him the real answers, not just the canned ones. It's like he's human sodium pentathol.
For example, after Peyton Manning struggled with his post-surgery knee last year, he answered all reporters who asked about it with the usual I'm-fine-the-team-is-fine garbage. Towards the end of the season, King got Manning to open up about how he really felt about the knee. Manning divulged that when he finally saw his knee several weeks post-op, it scared him because it looked like “a quilt” from all of the incisions.
For my money, when I want to know about the NFL goings on and learn a bit about other sports, I go with King. Anybody who is uninitiated should give him a whirl.
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