Article on Texas prep Bonnie Richardson in SI

[BillVol]

Written by Gary Smith, IMO their best writer for many years.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/ ... /index.htm

[Marlow]

Re: Article on Texas prep Bonnie Richardson in SI

Written by Gary Smith, IMO their best writer for many years.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/ ... /index.htm

A teenage girl climbs into her coach's white Chevy Malibu. The heat lies on the land like the heel of a fat man's hand. The cicadas scream. The cattle chew the spear grass. The turkey buzzards wheel. ¶ The car crunches the gravel leading away from the high school. The coach turns onto asphalt. They ride that black ribbon in silence. ¶ Nothing stops the eye. Nothing bends the road. It's a blank slate, this land. Anything might be scrawled on it.

I hope this getting some kind of award for OPP! (over-wrought purple prose)
I'm still in the thrall of the fat man's handheel!!

[BillVol]

Always whining about something, Marlow. Why don't you write the story and submit it? They take guest writers, or at least they used to. My dad's had three stories published in SI.

[guru]

With all due respect to Ms. Richardson, who is obviously an outstanding young woman, this is why team titles at championship levels(state, nationals)in track & field are absolutely meaningless.

[Daisy]

Re: Article on Texas prep Bonnie Richardson in SI

I hope this getting some kind of award for OPP! (over-wrought purple prose)

Is this the same guy that wrote "Bridges of Madison County"? Bill, you have to admit, it's almost unreadable.

[Cooter Brown]

Reads like entries in the Bad Hemingway contest.

[lonewolf]

I loved the story, whatever the color of the prose. A lot more interesting than a few lines of agate type.
I knew about Bonnie winning back-to-back state championships by herself but never knew the details.
Admittedly, I could relate since I "trained" on a comparable track in HS...no weight room but we did have the advantage of a combination HJ- LJ sand pit.

[Marlow]

I loved the story, whatever the color of the prose. A lot more interesting than a few lines of agate type.

A certain amount of 'color' in one's writing is almost always good. Nice, original literary devices are a joy to read. The excerpt above is so far over the line as to be laughable, hence my comment.

[lonewolf]

Ok, I'll admit the writer did dress up the lead-in a bit. I am very familiar with Texas summer heat and landscape and I don't get the ham-handed fat man analogy.

[Marlow]

Ok, I'll admit the writer did dress up the lead-in a bit. I am very familiar with Texas summer heat and landscape and I don't get the ham-handed fat man analogy.

I LOLed at the screaming cicadas!

[lonewolf]

With all due respect to Ms. Richardson, who is obviously an outstanding young woman, this is why team titles at championship levels(state, nationals)in track & field are absolutely meaningless.

Umm??? Disagree. Admittedly, her performances were not world class . I suspect this is not the first time one athlete has won a team title and if it happened a lot it might be construed as meaningless but, IMO, it is rare enough for Bonnie, as much as she reportedly dislikes the attention, to have her day in the sun.

[guru]

With all due respect to Ms. Richardson, who is obviously an outstanding young woman, this is why team titles at championship levels(state, nationals)in track & field are absolutely meaningless.

Umm??? Disagree. Admittedly, her performances were not world class . I suspect this is not the first time one athlete has won a team title and if it happened a lot it might be construed as meaningless but, IMO, it is rare enough for Bonnie, as much as she reportedly dislikes the attention, to have her day in the sun.

My statement had nothing to do with the level of her performances, which I'm sure were very good. It had to do with the fact that one athlete could win a team state championship, something we've seen several times here in Ohio as well.

[Marlow]

My statement had nothing to do with the level of her performances, which I'm sure were very good.

Her marks were

100: 12.19
200: 25.03
HJ: 5-5
LJ: 18-7
DT: 121-0

None of those marks are individually remarkable. She won the smallest state class in Texas (still no mean feat). It is the 'collection' of these marks that IS remarkable - pointing towards a very good heptathlon future!

[dukehjsteve]

Not positive, but I think North Central ( Indianapolis) won the Indiana girls title ( and it is all 1 class in Indiana) with 30 points ( 100, 200, 400 golds) from Maicel Malone one year. She pulled this triple wins 3 times; frosh, soph, and senior. Her junior year she was 2nd in the 200, still winning the other 2. But only one year did she take the title for North Central ( if memory serves me correctly).

[gm]

Tell me when it is time to throw out the obligatory Jolanda Jones reference...