Sunday, February 21, 2010

Sports Ilustrated Pieces: Olympic Spirit & Bob Costas/Al Michaels

Two different stories that struck me from the Feb 22 issue of Sports Illustrated.



Starting off in this first SI issue since the Vancouver Olympics began was the Tim Layden piece "The Spirit Is Back" with an overview of the Games thus far. Really, though, it was Layden's first section about (for lack of a better phrase) the Olympic Spirit that got me good. I'm quite the sap for genuine Olympic human interest stuff.

The second story (and the one of the two which I really liked in it's totality) was "It's Not As Easy As It Looks" by Joe Posnanski (who I recently posted about as the frequent writer of his voluminous "Joe Blog"). This SI article is about the Olympic co-hosts Bob Costas and Al Michaels and is a really good look at two guys doing what they love and always wanted to do, but doing it in different ways. Posnanski writes of the hard work and study that Michaels brings and the different approach that Costas brings of sheer brilliance with language on the air.

Regardless of how they go about the job, Costas and Michaels are titans of Sports Broadcasting and it's impressive to me to think of how well (and for how long) they practice their craft.