I think there are more good sportswriters doing more good sportswriting than ever before. But I also believe that the one thing that's largely gone out is what made sport such fertile literary territory - the characters, the tales, the humor, the pain, what Hollywood calls 'the arc.'
Interpretation
Sportswriting is rich with characters and stories, but has lost its essence over time.
In this quote, Frank Deford reflects on the evolution of sportswriting, acknowledging that while there are many talented sportswriters producing work today, the depth and richness that once characterized sports stories—such as the intriguing characters and emotional narratives—have diminished. He emphasizes that the elements that made sports a compelling subject for writing, including humor and personal struggles, have largely been overshadowed, suggesting a need for a revival of these essential qualities.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of storytelling in journalism.
So much about big-time college sports is criticized. But the worst scandal is almost never mentioned: the academic fraud wherein the student-athletes, so-called, are admitted without even remotely adequate credentials and then aren't educated so much as they are just kept eligible.
Sport is an art: it has incredible appeal everywhere on this earth, and it fills so many human hearts with passion that it's impossible to dismiss.
We were trained as writers with the idea that literature is something that can change reality, that it's not just a very sophisticated entertainment but a way to act.
I would solve a lot of literary problems just thinking about a character in the subway, where you can't do anything anyway.
Sometimes I sensed that the books I read in rapid succession had set up some sort of murmur among themselves, transforming my head into an orchestra pit where different musical instruments sounded out, and I would realize that I could endure this life because of these musicales going on in my head.
The great thing about a short story is that it doesn't have to trawl through someone's whole life; it can come in glancingly from the side.
Literature takes a habit of mind that has disappeared. It requires silence, some form of isolation, and sustained concentration in the presence of an enigmatic thing.
I have never known a novel that was good enough to be good in spite of its being adapted to the author's political views.
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