A Sports Writer to Motivate the Reluctant "Jock" Students

by Clay Burell · 2009-04-18 12:26:00 UTC
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Federer's moves

I'm sure I'm not the only writing teacher who struggles to find examples of excellent prose that might appeal to the class athletes who don't like English class, and turn them on to that beauty that happens when a good wordsmith applies his skills to a good ball-player. It's stll a long-shot, sure, but maybe reading such a work will flip a switch in minds of the basketball or football players, and create a new appreciation for writing and, hope against hope, motivate them to try their own hand at it.

If you're one of those teachers, and in search such an exemplar, be sure to check out this week's Newsweek article by Joseph Epstein on Roger Federer: "The Federer Fade: How a Tennis God Lost His Topspin." From the alliteration of the title to the "tennis god" metaphor of the tagline to the Greco-Roman mythology motifs that play throughout the article, it's as good a piece of sports-writing as I've ever seen. Great rhythms, great voice, great sentence fluency and diction, just great all around.

Any sports writers you care to share? Drop 'em in comments.

Image by Lajabrac

Clay Burell
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