Bob Ryan has been called “the quintessential American sportswriter” by Tony Kornheiser. That praise-worthy label stuck because he inspired a generation of columnists and reporters. Ryan retired from The Boston Globe in 2012 after four decades. However, he remains a presence on the sports landscape, writing biweekly for The Globe, making occasional appearances on ESPN, and he’s a cohost on The Bob Ryan & Jeff Goodman NBA Podcast.
Ryan is scheduled to return to Around the Horn next month. We recently caught up with the 78-year-old to chat about his career and his observations on sports and sports journalism.
Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Awful Announcing: How long will you continue to do Around the Horn?
Bob Ryan: “I’m an original cast member. There are three of us left. I was doing it roughly every two weeks. About a year ago, Aaron Solomon, the producer, said we’re only going to use you every third week. I’m being phased out. That’s understandable. They’ve expanded the cast. We had five people originally. Now there’s over 20. Plus, I’m the oldest guy by four months over Woody Paige. I see the writing on the wall. It’s fine. I’m still doing it. I haven’t done one since July. I’m coming back on Oct. 3. I’m making my triumphant return. This could be my last year. I don’t know. We’ll see.”
What other ways are you staying busy?
“I’ve written two books in retirement. One in 2014, my autobiography, Scribe: My Life in Sports, and then one with Bill Chuck, came out two years ago, In Scoring Position, which is about my accumulation of scorebooks, 44 years worth of keeping score of every game from the beginning of the ’77 baseball season until right now. If I go to a game, I take my scorebook.
“I keep up. I read four papers every day, and I get the Globe and the New York Times at home. I buy the New York Post and USA Today. I get The Wall Street Journal for the Week in Review. That takes up a good portion of my day, reading papers.”
Can you put into context what the last 25 years have been like with the success of Boston sports?
“If you’re 30 to 40 years old, you’re the most spoiled set of fans in the history of American sports. There has never been a run like this with the number of parades we’ve had. We have the most since the turn of the century over L.A. It’s been incredible, including one incredible run from 2004 to 2011, when we had a championship in each of the four major team sports. We’re sitting on the championship with the Celtics. It’s unprecedented. It’s that simple. Nobody’s been as lucky or as blessed as people in New England.”
Earlier this year, you wrote about seeing a sporting event in all 50 states. How did you come up with that idea?
“It was not a lifelong quest. It happened organically. I’d say somewhere around 47 I realized I had been to that many. The last three were Delaware, Mississippi, and South Dakota. It’s funny because I grew up in Trenton, New Jersey, not far from Delaware. I finally got it accomplished by going to see the (Wilmington) Blue Rocks. My wife and I went to an Ole Miss (football) game. So now I’m down to 49. (With) South Dakota, you’ve got three options. You’ve got South Dakota State basketball and football. You’ve got South Dakota basketball and football. And you’ve got the Sioux Falls Canaries. I said, ‘I’ve got to see the Jackrabbits take the floor.’ That’s what I did.”
What was that experience like?
“I contacted them. They set me up and treated me like gold. I had a wonderful time. I saw a great game, which they lost on a tip-in at the buzzer. And I made new friends. It was a great, wonderful way to get No. 50. When I proposed the idea back in the fall, I told (the Globe), if I get to 50, would you like a story? ‘Oh, sure.’ So I did. They gave me a great spread in the digital and print editions. I haven’t heard one person say they’ve done what I’ve done.”
Who are the young sports writers you enjoy reading?
“Define young. Younger? We have Chris Gasper of The Globe. His vocabulary is extraordinary. I have to have the thesaurus ready every time I read him. He’s got a new word in every column. There are a lot of great people out there, but the guy I enjoy reading the most is Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post. For me, he’s the guy who gets it and who understands what a column is. How to execute it, and he thinks like a fan, which I think I do. He’s the closest to me. I love Jayson Stark. Pat Forde, he’s one of my favorites.”
What would you call your most memorable sports experience?
“Having been present from the first bounce of the ball in La Jolla for the Dream Team to the end when they beat Croatia in the final. That whole experience, what that meant, and how it has translated itself into the NBA of today by sparking all this interest in the world. What they did as ambassadors to basketball was extraordinary. That experience from the first game against Cuba when Cuba wants to take a picture before the game even starts. That became the ritual. And some of the little moments that happened along the way. That probably would qualify as the best experience.”
You wrote about the late Bill Walton. What made him so beloved?
“His enthusiasm for life, that’s everyone will cite. When Bill got into something, oh boy, did he get into something. Exhibit A: When you go to his house and see all The Grateful Dead instruments. He was a surrogate member of the group. But that’s one example. In the column, I wrote about the introduction he gave me when I got the Red Smith Award in 2015. How the guy was so over the top. It was classic Bill. I got in the elevator afterward and a guy said to me: ‘I didn’t know we came to honor Gandhi.’ Bill was just such a pleasure to be around.”
What’s your favorite place to watch a basketball game?
“It is at 33rd and Locust in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The Palestra. I said a few years ago that I’d like to be buried underneath the midcourt. I’d probably have to get on a long waiting list. In its heyday from ’55, when they formed the Big 5 for about the next thirty years, it was the greatest venue for college basketball. It’s not as magnetic anymore, but boy, was it special. I loved The Palestra. I was six years old when I first went. My father was the assistant athletic director at Villanova. I was raised there on college basketball.”
Where do you think Bill Belichick will be a year from now?
“I’m not joining the chorus that thinks he’s going to coach at 72. I don’t know. He may become the new John Madden. He’s a big hit (in broadcasting), which doesn’t shock me because we know how much brain power there is up there. Around here, he was famous for a sly sense of humor that he chose not to display to the public. I firmly believe he’s the most well-rounded football person who has ever coached in the league. I’ve always kidded that he knows more about Paul Brown than Mike Brown does.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB5pYtGNvcw
If I made you the czar of sports, what would you change?
“The three-point shot is the worst thing to happen to basketball in my lifetime. It has completely distorted the game at every level and it’s unnecessary. The three-point shot is the brainchild of a promoter, Abe Saperstein. Abe Saperstein incorporated the three-point shot into his American Basketball League in 1961 because he needed a gimmick. Then when the league folded after a year and a half, it was picked up by the Eastern Basketball League. Then the ABA picked it up. Nobody was asking for it. The world was going along just fine without people hoisting the ball from 38 feet. It’s distorted the game. It’s become the game. The eradication of pivot play is disturbing, period. There are no more Kevin McHales. It’s like talking about the Tyrannosaurus Rex. That’s bad. I just want balance. If you’re going to have it, can we have some balance?”