Latest news with #ASeasonontheBrink
Chicago Tribune
22-03-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Biblioracle: John Feinstein has died at 69. He was one of the last great immersive sports nonfiction writers
John Feinstein, sportswriter, columnist and author of dozens of books, including his most famous, 'A Season on the Brink,' which chronicles the 1985 Indiana University men's basketball team, died suddenly on March 13 at the age of 69. Feinstein did not pioneer the genre of immersive sports nonfiction narrative — he was working in the tradition of predecessors such as George Plimpton ('Paper Lion') and David Halberstam ('The Breaks of the Game') — but he is perhaps the last of his kind, an observer and reporter who goes long and deep on his subjects in order to reveal insights that would otherwise remain hidden. Feinstein is likely the last of his kind for several reasons. One, he was an enormously talented and hardworking journalist, who combined those skills with being a very able and deft writer. 'A Season on the Brink' became a phenomenon because of its close portrayal of the explosive and sometimes abusive Indiana coach, Bobby Knight, a portrayal that Feinstein captured on the page with such fidelity that Knight sulked for years about Feinstein being, essentially, too truthful. Feinstein was even skillful enough to capture me as a reader even when chronicling a sport I did not care about at all. 'A Good Walk Spoiled: Days and Nights on the PGA Tour' (1995) manages to be fascinating even as — or maybe because — he reveals the star players of that era of golf as hollow men following in the wake of legends such as Palmer and Nicklaus. Another way Feinstein is likely the last of his kind is his extraordinary productivity. In addition to his sports writing duties at the Washington Post, and frequent TV appearances, he published a couple dozen sports nonfiction books and half a dozen sports novels for young readers. Feinstein was a writer. He wrote every day, and he wrote well, and readers benefitted from his stories being in the world. One of his lesser-known books 'The Punch: One Night, Two Lives, and the Fight That Changed Basketball Forever,' about the moment Kermit Washington broke Rudy Tomjanovich's jaw in an on-court brawl, is both emotionally moving and analytically astute. It tells the story of the individual men, and how the incident led to changes in the league that would pave the way for the global spectacle we see today. Perhaps the most important reason Feinstein is likely to be the last of his kind is because the culture of sports news has significantly changed over the course of his career. The most prominent sports observers and commentators are 'insiders' who feed off a constant supply of tips from interested parties shaping a narrative. Talking heads such as Stephen A. Smith reap salaries from ESPN that could cover the work of dozens of journalists to instead fire off 'takes' that go viral for being inflammatory, rather than insightful. The careful work of reporting has been supplanted by breaking tidbits on social media. I'm imagining what kind of deep-dive book Feinstein could have written about the recent shocking trade of Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers. But I have to recognize that there is perhaps no market for such a book as the world has moved on to waiting for the next scoop. I recognize that I am starting to sound like an old man decrying the ways of youth, and maybe I am to some extent, but the death of someone like John Feinstein is a worthy occasion to consider not just his contributions to the world, but the kind of world that made those contributions possible. A lot has changed over the years, and the losses may be larger than we think. John Warner is the author of books including 'More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI.' You can find him at Book recommendations from the Biblioracle John Warner tells you what to read based on the last five books you've read. 1. 'The Stranger in the Lifeboat' by Mitch Albom 2. 'Nexus' by Yuval Noah Harari 3. 'James' by Percival Everett 4. 'Multipliers' by Liz Wiseman and Greg Mckeown 5. 'Narcotopia: In Search of the Asian Drug Cartel that Survived the CIA' by Patrick Winn — John S., Schaumburg Mix of fiction and nonfiction so I could go either way, but the coin flip says fiction and the Biblioracle senses are sending up 'Last Night at the Lobster' by Stewart O'Nan. 1. 'The Heirs' by Susan Rieger 2. 'What the Lady Wants' by Renée Rosen 3. 'The Good Wife of Bath' by Karen Brooks 4. 'Wolf Hall' by Hilary Mantel 5. 'The Autobiography of Henry VIII' by Margaret George — Tobi-Velicia J., Forest Park A great occasion to recommend one of my favorites, 'Possession' by A.S. Byatt. 1. 'This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage' by Ann Patchett 2. 'The Frozen River' by Ariel Lawhon 3. 'Mrs. Bridge' by Evan S. Connell 4. 'Homegoing' by Yaa Gyasi 5. 'Demon Copperhead' by Barbara Kingsolver — Sara L., Deerfield Jennifer Haigh writes plain, old-fashioned, satisfying novels with a new one coming soon, but for now, I'll go back to 'Heat and Light.'
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
John Feinstein, bestselling author and one of the country's foremost sports writers, dies at 69
WASHINGTON (AP) — John Feinstein, one of the country's foremost sports writers and the author of numerous bestselling books, including the groundbreaking 'A Season on the Brink' about college basketball coach Bob Knight, died unexpectedly Thursday. Feinstein was 69. He died of natural causes at his brother's home in McLean, Virginia, according to Robert Feinstein, who said he discovered John's body. John Feinstein was a full-time reporter for The Washington Post from 1977 to 1991, a commentator for outlets such as ESPN — where he made regular appearances on 'The Sports Reporters' — and the Golf Channel, and a voter for more than 20 years in the AP Top 25 men's college basketball poll. He remained with the Post as a contributing columnist, and he also hosted satellite radio programs on SiriusXM. 'He was very passionate about things,' Robert Feinstein said in a telephone interview. 'People either loved him or hated him — and equally strongly.' John Feinstein — always a storyteller, whether via the written word or when chatting with other journalists in an arena's media room or press box — was working until the time of his death. He was in the Washington area this week to cover the Atlantic 10 Tournament ahead of March Madness, and he filed a column for the Post about Michigan State coach Tom Izzo that appeared online Thursday. 'He was strong with his opinions,' Izzo said Thursday, 'but very interesting to talk to.' Feinstein was comfortable writing fiction and nonfiction, and took on an array of sports, including golf and tennis, but he was known most for his connection to college basketball because of 'A Season on the Brink.' He took a leave of absence from the Post in 1985 to embed with Knight's Indiana team. Knight's reputation for having a hot temper was well-established by then, and Feinstein relayed behind-the-scenes evidence in a way that was uncommon in sports writing at the time. Feinstein also effectively portrayed the personal relationships Knight had with his players, which alternated between warm and abusive. 'I can't possibly overstate how important Knight was in my life,' Feinstein wrote in the Post after the coach's death in 2023. 'Not once did Knight back away from the access, even during some difficult moments for his team," Feinstein wrote. "Although he didn't speak to me for eight years after the book's publication — upset, of all things, with seeing profanity in the book — he eventually decided to 'forgive' me, and we had a distant though cordial relationship for the rest of his life.' Praise for Feinstein's work — and the sort of access and skilled reporting that were its hallmarks — was all over social media on Thursday, including from others in the business of writing or speaking about college basketball. And, of course, the news reverberated around college basketball as its season approaches its crescendo. Feinstein seemed to know every coach in the sport — and they all seemed to know him. Marquette coach Shaka Smart learned about Feinstein's death from a reporter at Madison Square Garden after the Golden Eagles beat Xavier in the Big East Tournament. 'Oh, wow,' Smart said. 'I've known him for a long time. He's one of the best sports writers ever. I got to know him as a writer before I got to know him as a person, reading some of his stuff when I was in high school. He cared about the teams and he cared about the players and he cared about the coaches — which is not as common these days.' Feinstein wrote more than 40 books, including 'A Good Walk Spoiled' (1995), about professional golf, and 'A Civil War' (1996), about the Army-Navy football game. After that book's publication, he worked for many years as a radio commentator for Navy football. 'The Ancient Eight,' about Ivy League football, was published last year. Feinstein also wrote sports novels aimed at younger readers. Feinstein graduated from Duke University and later taught there. He began teaching — and was a writer-in-residence — at Longwood University in Virginia during this school year. Barry Svrluga, a Washington Post columnist who said he took Feinstein's sports journalism course as a senior at Duke, recalled the experience Thursday. 'He got whoever he could to talk to the class — Gary Williams on a game day when Maryland was in town, Billy Packer, Bud Collins. Bob Woodward called in,' Svrluga said. 'And you could just tell that part of his reporting prowess — how he got into locker rooms and front offices and onto the range and in clubhouses at PGA Tour events — is because he could really develop relationships, and people just liked to talk to him. Part of that had to be because he didn't pander. You knew exactly where he stood. And that gained respect.' Another Post colleague, Dan Steinberg, Feinstein's editor in recent years, said: 'He would tell me, 'Oh, yeah, I'm going downtown to meet Steve Kerr for lunch today,' or 'Oh, yeah, Jim Larrañaga called me a few months ago and asked me how we could fix basketball.' He loved sports, adored them, watched them constantly even when he wasn't writing about them, had an opinion about everything and everyone. ... He loved Wimbledon, swimming, the Olympics, college basketball, the Naval Academy, West Point, the Mets, and people who returned his calls.' In addition to Robert, John Feinstein is survived by his wife, Christine, daughters Brigid and Jayne, and son Danny, as well as a sister, Margaret. ___ AP Sports Writers Mike Fitzpatrick in New York, Larry Lage in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Eric Olson in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report. Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press
Washington Post
13-03-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
John Feinstein built a career, and a life, by maintaining connections
At some point during the 1987-88 academic year, Gary Williams — then the men's basketball coach at Ohio State — was planning on taking a recruiting trip to Sparta, N.J., to see a 6-foot-7 shooting guard named Chris Jent. At that time, John Feinstein — the prodigious sports reporter and author who died Thursday at 69 — was working on his second book, the follow-up to the groundbreaking 'A Season on the Brink.'
NBC News
13-03-2025
- Sport
- NBC News
John Feinstein, bestselling author and one of country's foremost sports writers, dies at 69
John Feinstein, one of the country's foremost sports writers and the author of numerous bestselling books, died unexpectedly Thursday. He was 69. Feinstein died of natural causes at his brother's home in McLean, Virginia. Robert Feinstein said he discovered John's body. Feinstein was a full-time reporter for The Washington Post from 1977 to 1991 and a commentator for outlets such as NPR, ESPN and the Golf Channel. He remained with the Post as a contributing columnist, and he also hosted satellite radio programs on SiriusXM. 'He was very passionate about things,' Robert Feinstein said. 'People either loved him or hated him — and equally strongly.' John Feinstein was working until the time of his death. He was in Washington this week to cover the Atlantic 10 Tournament, and he filed a column Wednesday for the Post on Michigan State coach Tom Izzo. Feinstein was comfortable writing about an array of sports, but he was best-known for his connection to college basketball because of his groundbreaking book, 'A Season on the Brink.' Feinstein took a leave of absence from the Post in 1985 to embed with coach Bob Knight's Indiana team, and the book highlighted the author's flair for the dramatic and ability to capture his subjects' personalities. Knight's reputation for having a hot temper was well-established by then, and Feinstein brought it to life. But Feinstein also effectively portrayed the personal relationships Knight had with his players, which could alternate between warm and abusive. He went on to write more than 40 books, including 'A Good Walk Spoiled' (1995), about professional golf, and 'A Civil War' (1996), about the Army-Navy football game. After that book's publication, he worked for many years as a radio commentator for Navy football. 'The Ancient Eight,' about Ivy League football, was published last year. Feinstein also wrote sports novels aimed at younger readers.
Washington Post
13-03-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
John Feinstein, bestselling author and one of country's foremost sports writers, dies at 69
WASHINGTON — John Feinstein, one of the country's foremost sports writers and the author of numerous bestselling books, including the groundbreaking 'A Season on the Brink' about college basketball coach Bob Knight , died unexpectedly Thursday. Feinstein was 69. He died of natural causes at his brother's home in McLean, Virginia, according to Robert Feinstein, who said he discovered John's body.
