Sport-Blog.com

As a sports fan, one of my greatest pleasures besides watching the games is reading analysis about the games by my favorite columnists. Even though I played some sports when I was in high school, I don't watch professional games with an analytical eye. I just sit back and enjoy the games. So reading a columnist's take on certain plays or outcomes gives me a chance to understand not only what happened, but why it was allowed to happen. For example, some friends of my played football in school, so when they watch NFL games with me, they look at all the players on the field whereas I just focus on where the ball is at. They can tell me if an offensive lineman had a great day blocking or if he blew a lot of assignments. I wouldn't know the difference. Columnists are like that for casual fans: they can point out the things that we might overlook. Here are a few of my favorite sports writers, in no particular order.

Rick Morrissey, Chicago Tribune
Rick Morrissey's columns cover a lot of ground. His writings appear several times a week in the Tribune, so he tends to write more about the sports that are currently in season. So now you can expect to find lots of material about the Cubs and Sox. But he is just as likely to toss in a piece about the Tour de France or a major golf tournament as well. I like his columns because they don't pander to the teams or athletes he covers, and he dishes out praise along with criticism in an age when some columnists' M.O. seems to consist entirely of bashing people.

Bill Simmons, ESPN Page 2
Bill Simmons, also known as The Sports Guy, posts columns a couple times a week on Page 2, which is part of the ESPN website. Simmons is from Boston, so a lot of his columns are devoted to the Celtics, Red Sox, and Patriots. It's a testament to his popularity that his hometown bias doesn't stop people in other major cities from reading and enjoying his columns. He also writes a bunch of columns about pop culture, such as TV shows and movies, which are always funny and entertaining.

Frank Deford, Sports Illustrated
Deford is one of the most multitalented writers out there. His weekly "Viewpoint" column on the Sports Illustrated website is one of the few that I wait impatiently for. His writing is elegant without being overly showy, and his opinions seem to match mine on a range of sports topics, which makes him even more enjoyable to read. Besides writing for Sports Illustrated, however, he has written several books and a screenplay. Deford's book about his daughter's losing battle with cystic fibrosis is one of the most heartwrenching stories I have ever read.

If you are looking for a new sports columnist to add to your regular reading rotation, give one of these three writers a try. I don't think you'll be disappointed.