AFTER Jim Murray and Red Smith—OK, include the still kicking Dave Anderson—my other favorite American sportswriter is Bill Plaschke.
Like the late Jim, Bill writes a sports column for the Los Angeles Times. Like Jim, Bill writes so well, too.
Like the late Red (I met him when he covered the third Ali-Frazier fight a.k.a. the “Thrilla in Manila” on Oct. 1, 1975 at the Cubao Big Dome in Quezon City), Dave writes so well, too. Red used to alternate with Dave writing at the New York Times.
No doubt Jim is Bill’s idol. Dave looks up to Red, too.
They all write simply, their prose sweetly brief, calculatingly concise, carrying the Pacquiao knockout punch of old. I know. I have their books. Four by Jim. Two each by Red and Bill. One by Dave. Treasures all. That’s why on days I couldn’t catch the first right word for this column space, I grab one from the shelf. Hangover and all, homerun.
On Friday, I read Bill’s latest take on Kobe Bryant. Known to be a bit of a Kobe ripper, Bill had nothing but praise this time for the mercurial Los Angeles Lakers guard.
Wrote Bill: “Los Angeles is finally seeing all sides of this town’s most polarizing sports star, and it may allow us to drop all the tired criticisms and appreciate the athlete.”
While Bryant recently established himself as the first NBA player to score more than 30,000 points and 6,000 assists, his first feat was an embarrassment of sorts after he set, just seven games into the season, a record for career missed shots.
“That’s pure crap,” said Lakers coach Byron Scott in defense of Bryant.
From Bill: “Seriously, after 19 years (in the NBA), can everyone stop complaining about how much he shoots the ball? On this awful Lakers team, at this stage of his career, does it really matter anymore? This column space has ripped him a lot, but right now, it’s a pleasure watching him fight, and he can’t shoot the ball enough.”
On his 6,000 assists, Kobe said to Bill: “It’s a huge honor. It means I pass more than what people say.”
And Bryant to his critics: “I’m a shooting guard the last 19 years…You can’t worry about criticism. You can’t worry about failure.”
Michael Jordan was a failure, too, many times over before becoming one of the greatest NBA players of all time.
(alsol47@yahoo.com)