There were two Sports Illustrated features from the past few weeks that stood out for their impact.
From the Feb 27 issue was "The Way We Play The Game" around the paralyzing injury suffered by Minnesota high school hockey player Jack Jablonski. The story was written by Karen Schneider, the mom of a fellow player, and is a profound tale that's also solid writing. I've previously noted writing on high school football injuries with this post including a Patrick Hruby written piece and this post a story by San Jose Mercury News writer Mark Purdy and (while I feel it much safer than football), hockey a sport with the potential for life altering injuries.
From the Mar 12 issue of SI David Epstein and L. Jon Wertheim wrote "Distance Runner Rhiannon Hull was always eager to push the limits of her endurance, then the pacific ocean put her to the ultimate test." The piece fairly early on includes the sentence "Rhiannon Hull was in the homestretch of the most important race she would ever win. And lose." Probably quite a few different emotions that could be evoked from reading the story, but the overriding thing is it's powerful writing on love, life and death.
