Rick Reilly’s ESPN Debut
ESPN, Media Gossip/Musings June 4th. 2008, 12:20pm
Typical Rick Reilly in his ESPN debut: Tugging at the heartstrings, funny without trying to hard (though he could have done better than the 1986 Yugo line), and his usual strong wordplay (it was surely the first time ‘dyspeptic’ ever appeared on the .com).
The obvious questions:
* Will he translate to the web? There were always rumors as to why he wasn’t pumped up more online at SI, and the only way to gauge that is through clicks (though ESPN would never reveal those).
* Will Bill Simmons stop stomping his foot long enough so that the two can co-exist? If he can get over the fact that Reilly’s going to be getting his on TV show, making insane money, and generating less web traffic, imagine the possibilities: Two of the most popular sports writers in their respective generations at the same location.
* Where, on the front page of ESPN, will Reilly get play? Front and center for every column? Higher on the right rail than Simmons?
Life of Reilly (ESPN)
50 Responses to “Rick Reilly’s ESPN Debut”
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June 4th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Daddy drank.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
This guy is getting paid how much again?
June 4th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
$2many
June 4th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
At what age do you stop feeling sorry for people who’s parents were alcoholics? 30? 40? Earlier?
June 4th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Hef..I’ll ask my daughter when my alcoholism stops effecting her?
June 4th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Who didn’t have at least one alcoholic parent? Right? Guys?
/sighs
June 4th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
I didn’t have one but I will probably be one.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
i can’t stand RR. So his dad drank and golfed too much. Sounds like most of my friends if they had children.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
/fixed.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
You aren’t drinking alone if your TV is on. And you certainly aren’t drinking alone if your TV is on and your baby is crying because “Daddy’s bottle comes first.”
/Good talk.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
@Hef – I’m with you. That column was boring even for ESPN Magazine’s standards. Great, your dad was an alcoholic and liked to golf. My grandpa was an alcoholic who liked to hang out at bars. Who cares?
If I had never read Rick Reilly before, this column isn’t going to make me want to read him on a regular basis.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
how is this guy considered a sportswriter? he writes his own genre… sappy bullshit.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
No wonder SI let him leave… I could have written that.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
He probably thought about what exactly he was going to write about for his debut for way too long.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Reilly used to be very good, like this piece:
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1006129/index.htm
June 4th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
I actually thought it was a good article.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
“Son, you know how you’ve always wanted a puppy. Well after work, I bought you one. But on the drive home, I got hungry and ate him. Just kidding….I would never buy you a puppy.”
/can’t wait for the new Kids in the Hall tour
June 4th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
2 parent families, with no alcoholics, sound dysfunctional to me.
Greatest children’s book ever? “Daddy Drinks Because You Cry”
June 4th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Joba’s starting debut >>>> Rick Reilly’s Debut
June 4th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
+✡ Stigs.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
@Mike – that’s the thing, if he writes about some sort of poignant SPORTS story, his columns can be interesting. His the column above did absolutely nothing for me.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Joba’s Debut > Tom Mastny’s* Tribe debut last night > Reilly’s
*2, almost 3, hr’s in his first inning last night, for 4 runs. Optioned to Buffalonto immediately after.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
/fixed because the grammatical error is annoying me
June 4th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
/unfixed cuz I’m bored.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Grammatical error cood have been worser, Sportsgal.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
I’ll give him a chance. For a time, I enjoyed the back page of SI. For the last 5 years, though, I skipped it only occasionally skimming it.
Honestly, ESPN The Magazine is much better; the features are generally okay. SI has too much sports reporting in it; the back sections are worthless in teh Interwebz age.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
the question i have is how is ESPN going to incorporate this into Sportscenter tonight? Do they just show that picture floating on screen of Reilly and his pops while he reads the story? can’t wait to find out!!!
June 4th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Damn you, rex/nomo!
June 4th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
“I’m negative and I don’t like stuff.” – TBL Commenters
June 4th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
@1 Happy St – That’s not true. We like WAG’s and oxycontin.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
I liked it too. It was very well written.
June 4th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
@happy street: RR spends a ton of time ripping bloggers for being hacky and then prints this drivel and we’re supposed to lap it up? Who gives a shit if his dad was a drunk? He seems to have turned out okay (despite being a little sappy). I bet he cries himself to sleep on a pile of money.
June 4th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Happy St, you saw the Sex in the City movie. How could you, of all people, not be negative? Oh wait… you drug the wife to see it. Nevermind.
June 4th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
June 4th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
@Hef, if you search the ol’ internets you’ll find some tales, and blinds, that indicate Reilly didn’t turn out as well as you might think.
June 4th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Honestly, why else would anyone play golf (or fish) except to get shitfaced?
June 4th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Au contraire – I like KILFs
/Hefsteinberg
June 4th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Fixed for funsies.
June 4th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Joba’s debut>>>> Reilly’s debut>>>>>> Kimbo Slice’s debut
June 4th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
+1 to Clown
June 4th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Hef, there is going to be another Kids in the Hall tour…Where, when. I saw the last one about 7 years ago…chicken lady and man servant hecubus…”Here is your rash cream, master”
June 4th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
@guiness: it’s going to be all new material. No dates have been released yet.
June 4th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Sorry, Guiness, but I don’t believe the court order allows Hef to attend the show. Kids are kids in the eyes of the court.
June 4th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
I’m sure he would probably admit that it wasn’t his best column ever, but I thought it was enjoyable and well written.
Reilly is a brilliant writer, when he wants to be. Though, at least to me, he can come off as a bit of prick when he tries to be funny. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…
I think that his print stuff will be fine. He loves the 800 word column and that translates well to the Internet. I have more concern about his TV work. He risks dissolving into a vacuous rambling mess like Skip Bayless.
June 4th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Um, I’m a TBL commenter. I didn’t say it was a bad thing to not like stuff. I don’t like stuff all the time. I’m not liking stuff right now.
June 4th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
1 Happy St….you better keep not liking stuff if you want to hang around here..understand
June 4th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
I guess so. For a minute there I thought I walked into Deadspin with an “I heart Bill Simmons” t-shirt.
June 4th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
i can’t believe with so much going on in sports today, a story about Rick Reilly has been the lede story on ESPN.com all day.
June 4th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I thought it was a good story, and I’m predisposed to dislike his usual maudlin tripe. Maybe the story itself isn’t unique, but it was well written. Beyond that, golf sucks.
June 4th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
i ain’t reading all that shit…