All of journalism is a shrinking art, ... So much of it is hype. The O.J. Simpson story is a landmark in the decline of journalism. |
I also love the controversy of it. Even if I didn't think he should be up that high, I like the controversy it created. |
I always thought of him as a stoic, solid person, that I think was typical of that era of the 1950s, ... People came out of the war years with great hope and great faith in the future. Unitas sort of represented that. |
I did not choose necessarily on the basis of significance, ... If you have a vote for the most significant athlete, then you have Ali, then you have Babe Ruth, then you have Michael Jordan. They changed the face of sports. But I voted purely on what I considered to be athletic ability, and if I had anything in the back of my mind it was, 'If you put these guys on a field and they played each other in 20 sports, who would win the most?' I think Jim Brown would win the most, and I think Chamberlain would be awfully close. |
I just can't believe all the things I did that decade, |
I think anybody is entitled to vote for whomever they want, and I think Secretariat does qualify as an athlete, |
I think I dozed off before the kickoff, but I woke in time to watch Scott make his [two] interceptions. I wasn't alert enough to watch Manny Fernandez make his [17] tackles. |
I think it's a labor of love for everybody who was involved with it, |
It was the opportunity, ... to work with Tom Wolfe and Breslin and Red Smith. If you're a journalist, that's who you want to be with. (Legendary theater critic) Walter Kerr used to use my typewriter, I was so proud. |
My top three were Jim Brown, Wilt Chamberlain and Bo Jackson, |
The best thing, ... was that my subject was accessible, which wasn't always true with the other people I worked with. Secondly, I didn't have to split the money with him. He did it gratis, which was nice of him. And if he was wrong, I had nobody to blame but myself. I couldn't pull a Charles Barkley and claim I was misquoted in my autobiography. |