Leading into the Olympic games, I found myself reading an in-depth article on Simone Biles. As she’s risen to the world stage, her behind-the-scenes story was rumored about, but I found Loanne O’Neal’s story about her family life and how she’s dealt with the new found fame to be insightful and the most clear representation of Biles’ life. The lede into the story helps to get the feel of what life as Simone is like everyday. I think the article gives great points of view from the coach, grandmother, her mother, Aly Raisman, and Simone, herself. I think the parts about her struggle of being lonely.

Another one of O’Neal’s articles is when she profiles Marshawn Lynch. The article starts off with her experience of trying to meet with him in a crowd. It helps to characterize Lynch from O’Neal’s experience. I think something that O’Neal does really well is sources. She accumulates a wide variety of sources that really get the full story and insights that wouldn’t normally be considered, like Draymond Green in Marshawn Lynch’s story.

Pat Forde is a bit of a jack of all trades. I really admire his ability to transition from one sport to the next, from one writing style to the next. He writes columns, features, and deadline-type stories — often all in one sitting at an event. He understands the moment and is very adept at understanding what angles to take and how to approach them.

I have really enjoyed his coverage from Rio, and even saw him say it’s some of the most fun hes had at his job. This column on USA Swimming has some killer quotes and a great lede, and is the story that most needed to be written.

Often the best written pieces are the most personal, and this one from Forde got a lot of attention. He talks about his kids and swimming, and how their dreams are about to be realized. He puts it through the lens of him as a writer and as a father, and it is a really great a touching read.

It wasn’t until Sports Illustrated Senior Writer Tim Layden did a profile on Michael Phelps that I was truly captivated by what he wrote. I then realized how diverse his portfolio is and I thouroughly enjoy reading his work.

In my opinion, it’s hard to write about Layden without discussing the brilliance of this Phelps story. We all know Phelps and his life has always been particularly public, but this story dug deeper than any other piece I have read on Phelps. Phelps’ father has always been a somewhat ominous and mysterious character, so for Layden to include direct quotes from him in this story shows reporting and trust above and beyond any previous profiles. The timing of the piece was perfect; less than one week before the announcement that Phelps and fiancee Nicole Johnson were expected. It turned a new leaf for the previously troubled swimmer and opened the eyes of the world to a Michael Phelps that had never been seen before.

Another stellar piece by Layden is this backgrounder on Aries Merritt. Merritt, an Olympic hurdler, underwent a kidney transplant before the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials. An otherwise quiet story, Layden again, dug deeper to show compelling details to the reader. The scene setting in this article is second-to-none and Layden does a phenomenal job telling the story of overcoming. Although Merritt did not qualify for the 2016 Olympic Team, the story is still strong enough to stand on its own. I amazed by Layden’s attention to detail that is weaved within the story telling. It is easy to tell that he spent significant time with not only Merritt himself, but also his family.

Dana O’Neil is an ESPN college basketball writer and Penn State graduate. I have always really enjoyed her feature stories, because I think she does a great job finding the human element in sports and writing a story that appeals to a broader audience. There are some incredible stories in college basketball, and I feel that O’Neil has a knack for seeking them out and giving each project its due diligence during her reporting.

My favorite Dana O’Neil story, and one of my favorite features of all time, is this piece on Michigan’s Austin Hatch. (Seriously, this story is unbelievable.) Hatch survived TWO plane crashes during his childhood and lost almost every member of his immediate family in these accidents. Prior to the second crash, Hatch committed to play basketball for the University of Michigan. Despite severe injuries and cognitive delays, the Wolverines honored their commitment to Hatch and he overcame incredible obstacles to play.

This feature is long, and at times it is difficult to read. But, I think that’s how it should be. O’Neil clearly spent weeks with Hatch and his loved ones, listening and learning about the family he lost. This story is about basketball on the surface, but it is much more than that and shows me Dana O’Neil is a beautiful writer and dedicated journalist.

 

I also loved this piece on NBA prospect Thon Maker. I like O’Neil opens this feature and explains Maker’s unconventional and controversial path to the NBA Draft. With a coach/guardian moving him across borders and to various schools and academies, Maker is largely unknown to NBA scouts because he is skipping collegiate and developmental basketball before declaring for the draft, thanks to a loophole in the age rules.

Once again, I think this story shows the reader how much time O’Neil spends researching and talking to every source she can find before writing. She contacted someone who was ‘formerly involved with an obscure Australian youth basketball academy.’ I admire the tenacity she has to go out and find these people to get the opinions of every relevant party. I also think O’Neil does a nice job of protecting her sources’ privacy without sacrificing the credibility of their word. Although one coach requested to remain unnamed, his quote combined with the words of other coaches and O’Neil’s description of a person create a very complete image of an important character. This is a balance I’m hoping to one day find in my writing, as well.

Sports Illustrated’s Andy Staples is a writer I admire for a number of reasons. I really became a fan of Staples last fall when he took time out of his day during the football season to talk to me for our Grady Sports social media class. I also really admired his tact during SEC meetings this summer concerning the story below.

 

Jeffery Simmons: Mississippi St.’s punishment too light

Staples was one of the main writers who went after Mississippi State athletic director Scott Stricklin for the Bulldogs’ decision to only suspend defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons for one game.

His thinking to compare this suspension for beating a woman to the same suspension given for targeting was simply genius. He also did a good job of fairly comparing Simmons’ situation to that of Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon, who was suspended for the entire 2014 season.

Staples also gave Stricklin credit for answering questions when most A.D.s would have cowered behind their desks.

 

FSU football: Jimbo Fisher urges to help West Virginia flood victims

This was a short but well-done story on Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher helping high school football squads who were flood victims back in his home state.

The part that really jumped out at me was included information about a flood that happened in Fisher’s hometown in 1985. That fact is followed up brilliantly by the quote from Fisher that, “They said that was a once-in-a-hundred-year flood. Well, we just had another one.

This story is informative, but I also think it’s helpful that it ends with a way for readers to help these flood victims by providing an address in case any high school coaches want to donate equipment.

Wright Thompson is one of my favorite sports journalists largely due to how he uses sports as a lens to write about broader world issues. His writing has pushed me to be a better reporter and to relentlessly pursue more sources, more anecdotes and more details. I enjoy how frequently he uses dialogue and describes scenes with characters interacting with people and objects in the space. His writing is exceptional, but I am particularly amazed by his ability to essentially force readers to connect with the emotion experienced by the story’s subject. Thompson writes about humans. Sports is just a lens. And to me, that’s why his work his powerful.

This story from 2013 on Johnny Manziel showed me who Manziel is a person, rather than who he is on the field. The reporting in this story clearly shows the benefits of having great access. How many people would get to spend a day with Johnny Manziel and his dad on a golf course to report a story? Thompson uses that access to find specific details that showcase what Manziel is struggling with. To me, this isn’t about Manziel the football player. This is about Manziel the college student who can’t figure out who he is or who he wants to be.

This story is heavy on dialogue, and I love that. Again, this shows how helpful it is to spend significant time with sources and see them interacting in their environment. It also proves that Thompson pays constant attention while reporting in order to pick out the conversations that best tell the story. I think the ending of this story is one of the strongest endings I’ve ever read. Manziel is no longer the person he was a few years prior, and it’s clear that the pressure and spotlight is becoming detrimental.

One of my other favorite Wright Thompson stories is also about the destructive tendencies of fame. Thompson’s story on Tiger Woods written this spring is the epitome of unyielding reporting. I remember in the ESPN The Mag podcast Thompson said he worked on this for at least 14 months, and that is evident in the final product. He never talked to Woods, and this story could possibly be a more comprehensive look at Woods’ struggles than Woods could have even articulated himself. On top of that, one of the key pieces of Woods’ story was his involvement with the Navy SEALs, perhaps one of the world’s most secretive communities. The number of sources needed to make this story work was insane. But that type of reporting is what brought this so far above just a typical, well-written feature.

Thompson clearly pulled on every thread that even had the potential to lead to more pieces of the story. I feel like this all stems from him simply wanting to get the story right. It would have been easy to run a story about how Woods spent significant time with Navy SEALs, but that’s not the full story. Thompson explores how this obsession comes from Woods’ deeply rooted grief after the death of his father. The detail throughout the story is unreal. Just as one example, Thompson identifies the book about physics in Woods’ car after the wreck. Later in the story, he connects a piece of that book to a struggle in Woods’ life. That’s great reporting, and that’s certainly the type of reporter I aspire to be.

Frank Isola,  Knicks beat writer for the NY Daily News, is hand-down my favorite sports journalist. Like Grantland’s Shea Soranno (more an author than journalist) and Bill Simmons (more sports-entity than journalist), Isola’s got the best blend of sports breakdown and wit in his writing. Frank Isola started on the Knicks beat for the New York Daily News in the fall of 1996, when he was 29 years old. Now, at 48, he has been covering the team longer than anyone else. He keeps his reporting straight-up, and doesn’t pull punches on his Twitter either.

In his article declaring the ’96 Bulls would beat the ’16 Warriors, Isola calls out a whole generation of basketball weighing in a debate they weren’t even alive to watch — in the first sentence. As for his actual analysis, he breaks down the match up, from starters, to bench, playing time, travel and rule differences between the two teams. He’s got quotes from players on both sides of the debate (like Steve Kerr, who is literally on both sides of the debate). The article ends with Isola pointing out that if LeBron, by himself, took the Warriors to six games, the Warrior wouldn’t stand a chance.

Isola is also known for his trademark sneak-disses towards Knicks management in his writing. When addressing the NBA trend towards resting star players  , Isola point out how Knicks president Phil Jackson took a break during the middle of the season to visit Woodstock for a few days. Over his time covering the Knicks, he got on the team’s bad side.  Isola has said the Knicks will not allow his or anyone else from the News to conduct one-on-one interviews with players or coaches. Still, Isola finds a away to deliver fair, balance and in-depth coverage of the team, all year.