Volume 1, Issue 91: Verse Chorus Verse
As you might have heard, Sports On Earth ceased publication on Friday. It has been nice to see the outpouring of kind words in the wake of the site's end, but I couldn't ask for a nicer way for it to go out. I got to write the site's obit, and I got to honor all the people who made the site happen. It was odd to see people say things like, "Will, we hope you are OK!" like I was suddenly going to be starving or something. I am fine and still employed and not in any sort of bad spot at all. I just wanted Friday to be about honoring SoE and all the good thing we got to do there. But trust me: You're not going to see any lack of productivity over here.
(Also, keep an eye out for this:)
Anyway, I thought I might just make the newsletter this week 10 stories from SoE that I wrote that I thought turned out pretty well. This list isn't definitive. They're just the 10 that came to mind when I was thinking about all the things I wrote. So here they are:
Trying To Understand Darren Rovell (February 11, 2013)
Leitch Across America: Understanding the Poor Browns Fan (September 10, 2013)
Why Every Figure Skater in Sochi Deserves Her Due. (February 20, 2014).
Everything in Sports Is Luck (January 19, 2015)
The Disneyfication of Ali (June 16, 2016)
My Writeup of Super Bowl LI (February 6, 2017)
Why the WBC Is So Great (March 21, 2017)
O.J. Simpson Is Going to Love the World That's Waiting For Him (July 21, 2017)
The Dumb Robert Lee Flap and Why ESPN Keeps Screwing This Up (August 23, 2017)
Georgia's Moment Has Arrived (November 30, 2017)
I'm sure I missed a bunch. Or maybe I didn't.
Here is a numerical breakdown of all the things I wrote this week, in order of what I believe to be their quality. (This is an attempt to have an objective look at the value of my work in a way that I suspect will be difficult to sustain.)
1. The Farewell Column For Sports On Earth, Sports On Earth. Honestly feel pretty lucky that I even had the opportunity to write this.
2. What Comes Next for the Brewers? Sports On Earth. Two big trades, as it turns out.
3. Top Five Superhero Performances, SYFY Wire. No. 1 was a no-brainer.
4. Dive Dive Dive, Sports On Earth. I'll confess: I won't actually miss this column.
As I say every week: If you are the sort to subscribe to a weekly newsletter, I would have to think it wouldn't be too much of a hassle to subscribe to one of the three podcasts I do. You don't even have to listen to them! Just download them. Here they are:
Grierson & Leitch, big Oscar nominations preview, along with "12 Strong" and "Gremlins 2: The New Batch."
The Will Leitch Experience, I will know next week whether this is still going or not.
Waitin' Since Last Saturday, two weeks later, we try to make our peace.
Get yourself on the Jumbotron of life this weekend.
Have a great weekend, all.
Best,
Will Leitch