Missing Ralph Wiley

I was recently reminded of the life and work of one of my favorite writers, Ralph Wiley, the other day. Ralph died of heart failure in 2004, and left a tremendous void in the world of intelligent sports writing. He would frequently visit the Sports Reporters radio show in DC and I was amazed at his rapport with a predominantly white station crew. And I was thinking how Wiley provided an insight to ESPN readers that was so deep, so complex, that I realized that once he had died ESPN went on a hunt to try and fill his void as the one guy writing for ESPN who could truly articulate the complexities of race & sports.

And who did they find? Scoop Jackson and Stephen A. Smith. Scoop's writing has improved over his time with ESPN, though he's still trying to bite off more than he can chew and it leaves the reader with an empty feeling. He's a Beck's Dark to Wiley's Guinness Stout, if you will. Screamin' A. is a waste of space. His lone talent is his ability to secure interviews (and pandering interviews at that) with famous black athletes who may not be as candid with white interviewers. These two guys don't even scratch the surface of what Ralph produced during his lifetime.

Which brings me to my point/question - if Ralph hadn't died and left this huge void, would these two guys even have jobs? Something to think about...

Wiley's ESPN Archives

Predicting the Pistons' upset of the Lakers two years ago

Understanding Kobe years before the rest of us

Shut Down Lines