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Pond Scum and Vultures: America's Sportswriters Talk About Their Glamorous Profession
Two hundred of the country's best-known sportswriters offer the inside story of what really goes on between the media and the sports figures they cover
- GenresSportsJournalismEssays
244 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 27, 2025
I planned to read this one quickly and then pass it on to one of those free library bins at the local grocery store. After reading it, though, I've determined this is a must keeper to be read again.
This is an amazing collection of stories, mishaps, anecdotes and excursions by sportswriters. I don't know how Gene W. was able to collect all these tales, but there are hundreds of them. From athletes being jerks to hotel mishaps to rental car situations, it's all here. We all wish to be sportswriters, but Gene's book shows the other side, the difficulties with the job.
There is a chapter, too, on the troubles women sportswriters had in the locker room, with players and management.
It is a bit dated. This was written in the early 1990s. Many of the writers he mentioned have gone on to bigger things. There's Rick Reilly, Christine Brennan, Jim Murray, Leslie Vicker, Tom Galloway and Susan Fornoff, who was the recipient of a mailed live rat by then-Oakland A's slugger and butthole Dave Kingman.
This really is a must read for any sports fan. We all pore over the sports pages, but don't really know the troubles, quirky adventures, weird anecdotes and life the sportswriters lead. Now we do with this excellent book.
This is an amazing collection of stories, mishaps, anecdotes and excursions by sportswriters. I don't know how Gene W. was able to collect all these tales, but there are hundreds of them. From athletes being jerks to hotel mishaps to rental car situations, it's all here. We all wish to be sportswriters, but Gene's book shows the other side, the difficulties with the job.
There is a chapter, too, on the troubles women sportswriters had in the locker room, with players and management.
It is a bit dated. This was written in the early 1990s. Many of the writers he mentioned have gone on to bigger things. There's Rick Reilly, Christine Brennan, Jim Murray, Leslie Vicker, Tom Galloway and Susan Fornoff, who was the recipient of a mailed live rat by then-Oakland A's slugger and butthole Dave Kingman.
This really is a must read for any sports fan. We all pore over the sports pages, but don't really know the troubles, quirky adventures, weird anecdotes and life the sportswriters lead. Now we do with this excellent book.
April 15, 2025
One of my wishes is to sit at a dinner with two or three sports riders and listen to them tell stories. This book is just such a dinner. It’s filled with a story after story after story, with no fluff or pontificating. It’s just stories. I highly recommend it if you are into sports writing, into sports, and can remember many of the players and journalists from the 80s.
July 5, 2015
Pretty funny! All kinds of vignettes & stories about the sports world as seen by the reporters specializing in it. He manages to get lots of digs in on the players (et al.) he personally dislikes, which is amusing. I'd love to see this updated--it came out 10 years ago!--but I wonder if he had any problems being blackballed after this one.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews