I don't think there are two writers who I am more engrossed in than author Malcolm Gladwell and ESPN's Bill Simmons.
Gladwell continues to churn out books that promote thought - "The Tipping Point", "Blink" and "Outliers"; Simmons column in ESPN the magazine - 'The Sports Guy' - is first-class reading.
It was amazing to know that this duo not only were friends, but had a great exchange in 2 different three-part interviews on ESPN.com. I raced through their interviews, and they were so enthralling that I read them twice. These two great writers and sports fans going back and forth is like the Ali-Frazier of writers...
Gladwell on loving what you do-
I'm happy writing anywhere and under any circumstances and in fact I'm now to the point where I'm suspicious of people who don't love what they do in the same way. I was watching golf, before Christmas, and the announcer said of Phil Mickelson that the tournament was the first time he'd picked up a golf club in five weeks. Assuming that's true, isn't that profoundly weird? How can you be one of the top two or three golfers of your generation and go five weeks without doing the thing you love? Did Mickelson also not have sex with his wife for five weeks? Did he give up chocolate for five weeks? Is this some weird golfer's version of Lent that I'm unaware of? They say that Wayne Gretzky, as a 2-year-old, would cry when the Saturday night hockey game on TV was over, because it seemed to him at that age unbearably sad that something he loved so much had to come to end, and I've always thought that was the simplest explanation for why Gretzky was Gretzky. And surely it's the explanation as well for why Mickelson will never be Tiger Woods.
Gladwell continues to churn out books that promote thought - "The Tipping Point", "Blink" and "Outliers"; Simmons column in ESPN the magazine - 'The Sports Guy' - is first-class reading.
It was amazing to know that this duo not only were friends, but had a great exchange in 2 different three-part interviews on ESPN.com. I raced through their interviews, and they were so enthralling that I read them twice. These two great writers and sports fans going back and forth is like the Ali-Frazier of writers...
Gladwell on loving what you do-
I'm happy writing anywhere and under any circumstances and in fact I'm now to the point where I'm suspicious of people who don't love what they do in the same way. I was watching golf, before Christmas, and the announcer said of Phil Mickelson that the tournament was the first time he'd picked up a golf club in five weeks. Assuming that's true, isn't that profoundly weird? How can you be one of the top two or three golfers of your generation and go five weeks without doing the thing you love? Did Mickelson also not have sex with his wife for five weeks? Did he give up chocolate for five weeks? Is this some weird golfer's version of Lent that I'm unaware of? They say that Wayne Gretzky, as a 2-year-old, would cry when the Saturday night hockey game on TV was over, because it seemed to him at that age unbearably sad that something he loved so much had to come to end, and I've always thought that was the simplest explanation for why Gretzky was Gretzky. And surely it's the explanation as well for why Mickelson will never be Tiger Woods.
Simmons: On Mickelson and Sports Lent, I remember watching one of those 20/20-Dateline-type pieces about him once, and he was adamant about remaining a family man, taking breaks from golf and never letting the sport consume him ... and I remember thinking to myself, "Right now Tiger is watching this and thinking, 'I got him. Cross Phil off the list. This guy will never pass me.'"
But I think there's a certain amount of professionalism that needs to be there, as well, because there will always be days when you don't feel like doing your job, and those are always the true tests. Halberstam has a great quote about this: "Being a professional is doing your job on the days you don't feel like doing it." I love that quote and mutter it to myself every time I don't feel like writing because my allergies are bothering me, or my back hurts, or my head hurts, or there's some random dog barking, or any of the other excuses I use when I'm procrastinating from pumping out something.
To read more about their views on what makes a successful NBA head coach, how to be a GM in the NBA, or how defense (specifically 'pressing') can best help an underdog compete with the favorite, click on the link below-
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