Shirley Povich (1905–1998)

Shirley Povich practically invented the sports column. He wrote his first article in 1924, at the age of 19. He had sort of lucked into the job, being the summer golf caddy for the owner of the Washington Post. The owner offered him a job in DC, and off he went. Sports would never be the same.
For the next 74 years, Povich (yes, father of Maury) was a mainstay of the Washington sports scene. He inspired many after him to become sports columnists, but they would never live up to Shirley. His longevity allowed him to make valid comparisons, rather than idle speculation, between the greats throughout the years, Gehrig and Ripken, Man O' War and Secretariat, Ruth and McGwire (his final column, written the day before he died).
All Those Mornings... At The Post collects his greatest columns in honor of what would have been his 100th birthday. Almost a full century of sports history is contained within the pages. His focus was usually baseball, as that was the biggest sport when he was breaking in, and his favorite. But he also wrote about boxing, horse racing, football, etc. He never went along with the crowd, being one of the first writers to decry racism in sports, and one might say that Shirley helped usher in the black athlete.
The thing that struck me most when reading his columns was how well thought out and structured they were. Reading sports columnists today is nowhere near as pleasing. Povich never seemed to have the knee-jerk reactionary column that many writers today resort to, in our 24/7 news cycle age. He wrote columns every day, and every day they were worth reading. "All Those Mornings... At The Post" is worth reading too.… (more)