Life is a little like lion-taming, wouldn’t you say?

April 22, 2013 2:44 PM

Joe Posnanski, 2011's National Sportswriter of the Year, has an incredible portfolio of work. He also wrote 'Paterno', and writes for Sports on Earth. Previously, we addressed our tremendous respect and adoration for renowned film critic, courageous fighter, and man-about-town Roger Ebert. Today, on Posnanski's personal blog, an incredible treat: Roger Ebert's Opening Sentences.

More fantastic Posnanski here, here, here, and here.

posted by eenagy (10 comments total)

I bookmarked that page for whenever I want to comment in a thread and can't think of what to say. I imagine it must be like this with many people, and not just in Romania.
posted by perhapses at 2:49 PM on April 22, 2013 [2 favorites]

Thanks for posting that, I am a big fan of Posnanski.
posted by zzazazz at 3:03 PM on April 22, 2013

This reads oddly like a Firesign Theatre script.

Also, MetaFilter: In a hotel like this, we feel, anything could happen.
posted by hippybear at 3:09 PM on April 22, 2013

My favorite Posnanski: "We excel on ice." - Red Klotz.
posted by asperity at 3:14 PM on April 22, 2013 [2 favorites]

The Paterno book is laughable, at best.
posted by basicchannel at 3:55 PM on April 22, 2013 [3 favorites]

Great page, great idea -- thx for posting.

I trusted Ebert so much, don't really have another go-to to fill in for him. I guess that's the point, part of it anyway, that's why we all miss him, and will miss him.

~~~

Somewhere at home are photographs taken when I was a child. We walk like ghosts through the spaces of our adolescence.
I've seen so many others able to break free but I've not been able to do so, the ghosts in the spaces of my adolescence are not just in photographs, they're in my dreams, too.

I moved to Texas on the run and not even knowing it, my wise sister sent a card, real pretty photo, inside a Thoreau quote: "The frontiers are not east or west, north or south; but wherever a man fronts a fact," and signed it Love, Judith.

It was so disappointing to find out that mirrors reported the same here as they did there.
posted by dancestoblue at 4:41 PM on April 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

As he put his hand to the door-knob Winston saw that he had left the diary open on the table. ROGER EBERT WAS NOTHING SPECIAL was written all over it, in letters almost big enough to be legible across the room. It was an inconceivably stupid thing to have done. But, he realized, even in his panic he had not wanted to smudge the creamy paper by shutting the book while the ink was wet.

posted by fleacircus at 4:56 PM on April 22, 2013

I'm a big fan of both Ebert and Posnanski, and I see similarities between them.
posted by justgary at 5:54 PM on April 22, 2013

About the Paterno book: I think Lawyers, Guns & Money did a good job on explaining the problems with it here, here, and here.

One of the comments sums up my thoughts: "Though it was his failing as a journalist, I could forgive Posnanski for only wanting to tell the happy stories, because he was so damn good at it, and because he seemed like a damn nice guy."

Posnanski's wonderful when he's telling the happy stories, but sometimes you just can't do that. I'll keep recommending his other books, but I'm not touching that one.
posted by asperity at 6:09 PM on April 22, 2013 [2 favorites]

Joe Posnanski has long been a favourite of mine. I highly recommend trying to listen through back episodes of his "Poscast", particularly the ones featuring Michael Schur. The conversations they have about baseball are better than anything I've ever heard on ESPN, and they always conclude with a goofy draft of something irreverent. (Favourite types of balls, Star Wars characters, etc.)
posted by The Notorious SRD at 7:46 PM on April 22, 2013 [1 favorite]