Sports Writers Inc. with JD: Sports Writers Talk Sports Writing

College basketball, baseball, reading and writing — just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Bob Ryan's passions, all of which contributed to his legendary 50-plus year career as a sports writer. He and JD discuss writing game stories and columns, Bob's years at the Boston Globe, his memoir, "Scribe", keeping a baseball scorecard and much more

Michael Powell has written a fascinating book, "Canyon Dreams: A Basketball Season on the Navajo Reservation." It centers around the boys basketball team from Chinle High School in the northeast part of Arizona, and their unique brand of basketball called "rez ball". The book goes in depth about the beauty of the land, Native American spirituality and mysticism, and how all of...

As a boy, Matt Porter (@MattyPorts on Twitter) dreamed of covering the Bruins for the Boston Globe. Now he does it. He joined JD to talk about covering pro hockey in Boston, his past as a high school sports reporter, and goes behind the scenes with JD to explore how the Boston Globe's legendary "Sunday Notes" column comes together every week. 

One of the most distinguished pro soccer writers in the country, Steven Goff (who grew up in Keene, N.H.), has covered D.C. United and the MLS since the league's first season in 1996. He's also covered 12 World Cups, both men's and women's. He and JD chat about covering pro soccer as both a domestic and international sport, the rise of women's soccer, and the future of the...

Glenn Stout joins us to discuss the 30th, and sadly final, edition of "The Best American Sports Writing". JD and Glenn talk writing, editing, the state of the series and the industry, and talk about some of their favorite selections from the final edition

Jason Turbow joins us to talk about his latest book, author of three baseball books, "They Bled Blue: Fernandomania, Strike-Season Mayhem, and the Weirdest Championship Baseball Had Ever Seen: The 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers". He also was a founding member of The Pandemic Baseball Book Club. The 1981 Dodgers beat the Yankees in the World Series in a strike-shortened season, riding the left...

Pete joins us from upstate New York to discuss his new book "From Hang Time to Prime Time: Business, Entertainment, and the Birth of the Modern-Day NBA" due out on Dec. 1. It's a deep dive into how the NBA went from a league with shaky television coverage that lagged well behind baseball and football for the nation's attention, into the pop-culture juggernaut it is today.

Laine Higgins joins us this week to talk about covering college football in a crazy year. Laine joined The Wall Street Journal in 2017 to cover sports and previously worked as a reporting assistant for the weekend business and finance section. She grew up in Minneapolis and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a varsity swimmer.

Lynn Worthy went from covering small-conference college basketball with JD to covering the Chiefs and the Royals for the Kansas City Star. Lynn joins us this week to talk about the challenges and thrills of covering a pro sports beat, differences in covering pro football vs. baseball, and covering the Royals in a crazy covid year. 

Anika Orrock is an illustrator, writer, designer, cartoonist, humorist, and baseball devotee. She joined us from Nashville to talk about her book, "The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League", which was the subject of the 1992 film "A League of Their Own". You can see more of Anika's work on her website: www.anikaorrock.com, or follow her r...

A former Sports Illustrated and ESPN writer, Jeff Pearlman has written nine books. He called JD from California to discuss his new book, "Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty". Jeff talks about how he went about writing and researching the book, and how he had to adapt on the fly in January when Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash.

Ben Hill writes the popular "Ben's Biz" column for MiLB.com, the official website of minor-league baseball, where he's worked since 2005. He's visited every active minor-league park. He and JD discuss the cancellation of the 2020 season, how he comes up with story ideas, and his travels. He joined us from his apartment in Brooklyn.

Chad Finn is a sports columnist for the Boston Globe, where he has worked for the better part of two decades, and also covers sports media for the paper. He and JD discuss his career, the sports media landscape in the time of Covid-19, and the rise of advanced analytics in baseball. Follow Chad on Twitter @GlobeChadFinn  

Amy Bass, author of "One Goal: A Coach, a team, and the Game That Brought a Divided Town Together". The town is Lewiston, Maine, and the game is high school soccer. In the early 2000s, Lewiston became home to thousands of refugees from Somalia and the integration was not without friction. The story is about the boys soccer team at Lewiston High School in 2015, which was made up of a majo...

Brad Balukjian talks to JD about his book "The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball's Afterlife". In the summer of 2015, Brad opened a pack of Topps baseball cards from 1986 and set out on the road to meet the players on the cards. The result is part travel memoir, part baseball history, and all a great read.