Feb. 20: The best thing I've read this week

Sometimes the best things we read aren't necessarily long, deep thought-provoking articles. Sometimes the best things we read are short blurbs from which we learn something, a piece that makes us laugh, a turn of phrase that is particularly memorable. 

That's where I am over the last week. The best thing I read was the weekly Q&A, The Quaz,  from Jeff Pearlman's blog.

Pearlman is a deft writer of all things long and short. I recently read his most recent book, "Football for a Buck," which is a fun, wild historiography of the United States Football League. He was a long-time senior writer for Sports Illustrated and penned one of the more memorable sports features of the late 90s -- the famous ride into New York City with then-Atlanta Braves closer John Rocker.

But, for the last 393 weeks -- um, seven years?! -- Pearlman has posted a weekly, short, quirky Q&A with people of every walk of life. It affirms the adage that, truly, everyone has a story to tell. (Ugh, what a cliche!)

I think my favorite Quaz interview was Pearlman's interview with sports writer Dave Kindred. The simplicity of not only what Kindred does, but of Pearlman's questions are what makes it so memorable, so readable. 

He once interviewed one of my former students, Amanda Lucci for The Quaz. And, I'll admit, that was the first one I had ever read, though I had been reading Pearlman's work for years. 

This week I read Nos. 392 and 393, the former of which left me so sad for a backup point guard on a shitty Division III basketball team. (I don't say "shitty" to take a shot at lower division hoop; I say it because the team has won one game this season.) But, I was only sad for a moment because... what a guy Ryan O'Neil is! A strong writer, a young man with ambition and vision who is supported and loved. 

Dive in. Enjoy the feels. Think about the depth. Marvel at the simplicity. 

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