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PULITZER REVIEW: Dave Anderson’s documentation of ‘golden years’ in sports

Publisher’s Note: The publisher has had no role in editing this column, which is published as the writer submitted it with the intention of publication in BEACONS.

By Justin Cusson

The athletic era of the 80’s is often attributed to being sports “golden years”. With names like Joe Montana, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Bo Jackson and Muhammad Ali constantly appearing in the headlines, there is no wonder the world of athletics flourished. As sports enriched its history as a part of culture, writing and journalism blossomed. From the writers and journalists before, we can still hear the echoes of their work in present day media. This can be strongly attributed to Dave Anderson based out of the New York Times. Specializing in sports commentary and writing, Anderson used his unique style to further connect the reader personally and emotionally. This allowed Anderson to engage his audience and virtually make them feel valuable to the world of sports. In 1980 alone, exciting playoff series in almost every American sport as well as the politically-tied win over the Soviet Union in their most prized sport at the time, only deeped sports roots within Americans blood. Having these emotional and exciting sports moments let Anderson perfect the art of sports commentary and writing.Winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1981 for his dedication to sports commentary, there were many works that only proved Andersons worth in receiving such honor. Having six entries to his name, Anderson covered the most emotional and heart-stopping moments in the entirety of the sports world.

With his first entry for the Pulitzer, Anderson wrote ‘Jack is Back, Jack is Back’, a deep commentary about Jack Nicklaus’s 1980 U.S. Open victory. As a fading golfer rose back into stardom at a fairly late age, it star-struck America and its sports viewers. Andersons commentary included detail so rich it felt as if you were next to him. This was a staple of Anderson's writing, including substance in his writing while emotionally hooking you the whole way through allowed him to take a moment in sports and connect it to the average citizen. You can see an example of this elegant detail in the first sentence of this piece. “Under a scorching sun, his gallery had resembled Caesar's legions as it marched across Baltusrol behind the yellow ropes. But now, in the twilight, the people who had been out on the golf course began to clog in the long shadows around the 18th green…” This detail demonstrates Andersons commitment and excitement he emphasizes in nearly all of his pieces. But this isn't the only thing about Anderson writing that is unique and memorable, especially in this piece. Andersons unique sense to conclude his pieces almost draws the reader back, wanting more. This unique skill allowed for readers to constantly check his other work yearning for more of the emphatic fashion of his writing. “In the press tent later, Jack Nicklaus was still enjoying his triumph as he dissected his round. Suddenly somebody removed a nearby TV camera from in front of him. Quickly he looked up with a grin and said, ''Don't take that away, I'm not through yet.'” Setting the ending up with his tremendous detail yet again, Anderson then ends the piece with, “Obviously Not.” Personally, goosebumps developed immediately following that subtle, yet perfectly blunt statement.

In his second entry, “The Tragedy of Jim Tryer” he maintains his stunning detail but applies it to a different, darker subject. Jim Tryer was formerly a player for the Kansas City Chiefs for more than a decade. Being a staple on the offensive line, Tryer was eventually inducted into the Chiefs Hall-of-Fame for his outstanding play. But after Tryers football career ended, he suffered in shame for years to come. Venturing into different business opportunities that ultimately ended in failure, Tryer saw the success of his fellow teammates outside the game. On a fateful day, Tryer killed his wife and then himself which was very unlike the character he portrayed in his life prior. In Anderson’s attempt to highlight Tryer’s life, he mentioned the “never-stop” attitude that he practiced in everyday life. Further connecting his readers to the sad and mysterious final stand of Tryer’s life, it allowed a tempo change within his pieces only providing further proof that his work was Pulitzer Prize worthy. An example of this tempo-changing description is provided when Anderson described Tryer as, “An all-American at Ohio State, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology. He was not a dummy, not a tramp. But, as so many athletes sadly and suddenly discover, what they are worth in sports seldom relates to what they are worth in the real world.” This highlights the issue of athletes often thinking they are only worth what they produce on the field, when it is rather the opposite. Connecting athletes and their emotional and personal struggles only further deepened the average citizen with the flashy and highly regarded life of an athlete.

In his third entry, Anderson decided to cover one of the biggest sports spectacles to this date: Muhammad Ali’s last fight. Rightfully titled, “Muhammad Ali: The Death of a Salesman”, Anderson covered the highly memorable and respected fight between Ali and Larry Holmes. Ali on the last leg of his career, visibly developing Parkinson's right in front of everyone's eyes, was arguably not fit for this fight against the certified killer in Larry Holmes. Anderson used the atmosphere of the crowd and the stadium to really carry this piece. As mentioned before, Anderson was well known for his tremendous detail, in which he perfected in this piece. With descriptions like, “a hush fell over the sellout crowd of 24,000 in the bleacher like arena. All around the arena, people stood still the way they do at the funeral of someone who had died unexpectedly.” The pure description of the bleacher-like stadium made it feel as if this fight really was the end of such a prominent era in American sports. In describing the overall feel of the arena on that night, Anderson did not lack to include what one may believe is his opinion on how the fight shouldn't have been planned to begin with. This fight was highly argued at the time because of Ali’s condition, but yet Ali didn't get knocked down once. “But there was no gas in the tank anymore. Not at 38, not after a two-year layoff. Suddenly, the 10th round ended with Holmes battering Ali in Ali's corner. At the bell, Ali seemed to slide down on his stool.” Along with these goosebump inducing details, Anderson used a sense of repetition to catch the audience. Begging with statements like “he never used to bleed” and “he never used to miss” put Ali on a level in which the reader could see even the best in the world sometimes fall.

Moving on to the fourth entry, Anderson would be a miss if he didn't talk about Mr.October. But Anderson took a different approach, diving deep into the burdens a name like “Mr.October” can have on the man behind the name, Reggie Jackson. In having the nickname Mr.October, you would think there would be little push from management, but it was quite the opposite. Anderson focused on the constant beraignment from the owner at the time, George Steinbrunner. In this constant mistrust and blatant dislike in Jackson, is where Jackson learned to thrive. Anderson did a really good job in using Steinbrunners comments about Jackson to make different nicknames than the beloved Mr.October. Creating names like “Mr.Obnoxious” and “Mr.Obsolete” gave the reader a funny, yet realistic portrayal of the way Steinbrunner ridiculed Jackson, a very clever idea. This is also the first commentary within these entries that went right to the source to see how they felt about the situation. ''It's tough to have a big name like this when you're not hitting,'' Mr. October says, ''but I don't mind the name. I just don't want to be ridiculed.'' Just this quote alone allowed the audience to receive the answer right from the source, almost like a one on one conversation with Mr.October himself, making it a very interesting read.

The fifth entry is a personal favorite because the problems between the Giants and Jets being really bad at football still remain today. Reading this almost feels like it's reading a freshly published article on ESPN. Explaining the almost loser mentality of being a Jets or Giants fan was extremely interesting. Diving deep into the struggles both on the field and in the drafting offices, Anderson asked questions on behalf of a positive thinker. Asking questions and receiving answers back and forth the whole piece, another character appears; the negative thinker. ''It's never been this bad,'' the negative thinker said. ''It's even worse in New Orleans,'' the positive thinker said. Having this back and forth “conversation” allowed the audience to be like a fly on the wall in the middle of an important business conversation trying to figure out how to get the team back on track. Ultimately having both sides agree that the New Orleans Saints are in a worse place also gave this piece a humanitarian feel as it allowed for conflict between two parties to be resolved, only if it was a glimpse.

In the sixth and final entry Anderson very clearly wanted a specific message to be broadcasted to his audience, this includes the overwhelming fact that no answer, is an answer within itself. In “The Food On a Table at the Execution”, Anderson talks about his good old friend George Steinbrunner and his “execution” of manager Dick Howser. Again using his description skills to paint a picture, Anderson really brought the awkwardness and silence through his piece. As Steinbrunner and Howser continued their press conference explaining Howsers departure, Anderson did a really good job in creating that tension in which individuals would feel if they were in that room themself. “But still George Steinbrenner persisted. ''I think it's safe to say,'' he said at one point yesterday, ''that Dick Howser wants to be a Florida resident year-round, right, Dick?'' Dick Howser didn't even answer that one.” Just this simple back and forth between Steinbrunner and Howser really created that sense of tension between the both of them and only added to the tense situations the Ynakess had to go through in the rest of the 80’s.

As you can see, Dave Anderson's Pulitzer Prize award was no fluke. Anderson paved the way for sports commentators all around the world whether they are TV personalities, journalists, or even social media managers we can still hear the echoes of his personal and detailed writing that he took so much pride in. Connecting on that deeper level with his audience allowed Anderson to also implement some extremely valuable learning opportunities as well. Personally, reading all of these pieces allowed for me to internalize Anderson pure love for sport and apply it throughout my own career path. Anderson was a staple of sports commentary in the 80’s and without founding fathers such as Anderson, our sports world today could look drastically different. Following the most important topics in sports since the beginning of the media boom, there has never been a Pulitzer more deserving.



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