David Halberstam…

david halberstam passed away today, literally miles from where i live and work. as a sports fan and someone who loves writing, i can’t help but feel his death very deeply.

my first exposure to halberstam was almost 8 years. i remember, in 1999 during espn’s sportscentury series, seeing this delicate man, speaking softly and clearly about numerous athletes, many too old for me to ever have seen in-person. as a huge sports fan, i couldn’t help but soak up his words. he was a brilliant writer and a real sports fan.

i’ll never forget his piece that he wrote for page 2 during the AI/Lakers nba finals several years ago (edit: here it is!). it was a fantastically honest and open examination of not only iverson, but also halberstam himself, written with the depth of someone who was not only intensely insightful, but also a true lover of sport

more than how great his writing was though, what i’ll always thank him for was being one of those folks who made it OK to be intellectual and a sports fan. it sounds strange, but i always felt that these games that we watch and love were looked at as trivial, meaningless fun by some people. that they didn’t matter. that sports (and sportswriting) were for the lowest common denominator. that i was less of a scholar for loving them so much. for those who felt this way, we (sports fans) always had david halberstam. a true journalist, a tremendous writer, a gentleman, an intellectual, and a loving sports fan.

reading his writing always made me proud to love sports.