rick reilly

Longtime Sports Illustrated writer Rick Reilly and ESPN made it official today that Reilly is joining forces with the Worldwide Leader. But while you can expect Reilly to appear on your TV set soon, he says he's still a columnist first and foremost.

"They want me for the column," Reilly said on a conference call today. "Pam Anderson can play the harpsichord, but that's not why people date her.... Believe me, with this nose I know what works best for me and the No. 1 thing is writing this column."

That was Reilly's answer when I asked him what he thought of the comments John Feinstein made in this Big Lead post. Feinstein says what Reilly does best is write, and ESPN won't get the best use of his talents. Reilly insists that he won't change as a writer, he'll just appear in ESPN the Magazine instead of Sports Illustrated and add some TV work on top of that.

But I think most people find that a little hard to believe. ESPN is rumored to be paying Reilly in the $2 million a year range ("the money was ridonkulous," Reilly said), and money like that usually goes to TV guys who write a little on the side, not writers who do a little TV on the side.

Reilly mentioned on the conference call that he has two homes, one in Denver and one in Los Angeles, and that the new L.A. studio ESPN is building is "just a 20-minute drive from my beach house." Sounds more like a TV guy to me.
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Richard "Rick" Paul Reilly (born February 3, 1958 in Boulder, Colorado) was known for being the "back-page" sportswriter for Sports Illustrated but recently defected to rival ESPN beginning June 1, 2008. He has won the Sportswriter of the Year award 11 times.

Contents
1 Career
2 Style
3 Controversies
4 Departure from Sports Illustrated to ESPN
5 Bibliography
6 Trivia
7 References



[edit] Career
Reilly began his career in 1981 with the Boulder Daily Camera. He joined Sports Illustrated in 1985, and also writes an annual article for the Swimsuit Issue and hosts The Riffs of Reilly on Verizon VCAST and SI.com. His current column on Sports Illustrated's back page is called "The Life of Reilly." In October, 2007, [1] it was announced that Reilly will be moving to ESPN effective June 1, 2008, to work on their magazine, web site, and SportsCenter.


[edit] Style
Reilly's style is usually humorous, poking fun at the absurdities of athletes, coaches, and almost anyone involved in sports at any level. Reilly does have a serious side, and has written on many subjects, from small town heroes to his own personal life. Reilly has also done features, notably one about a week spent with Marge Schott that ultimately helped lead to her suspension from baseball.


[edit] Controversies
In 2002, Reilly responded to Sammy Sosa's assertion that he would "take a drug test if someone offered it to him" by spontaneously offering him a drug test after a game; Sosa reacted by yelling and threatening him. Reilly then wrote a critical column the next week. Reilly has also been a constant critic of San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds, and Bonds has become a regular subject of his columns. Reilly ridicules his treatment of his teammates, his off-field behavior, and accusations of steroid use.

In 2003, he published allegations by an Alcor Life Extension Foundation employee (Larry Johnson) that the company had mishandled Ted Williams' head by drilling holes and accidentally cracking it. The story also reported that some of Williams' DNA was missing, possibly in connection with his son's (John Henry Williams) desire to sell some of the DNA. Alcor denied the allegations, and explained that microscopic cracking can result as part of the process of freezing the head.


[edit] Departure from Sports Illustrated to ESPN
It was announced that Reilly will begin his tenure at ESPN starting June 1, 2008.


[edit] Bibliography
Slo Mo! � A fictional diary of a naive 7'8" kid taken from high school to the NBA.
Missing Links � A novel about an eccentric group of golfers who are regulars at the worst course in America
Shanks for Nothing � A novel which is the sequel to Missing Links
The Life of Reilly � An anthology of Reilly's best early works from Sports Illustrated
Hate Mail from Cheerleaders and Other Adventures from the Life of Reilly � An anthology consisting of one-hundred Reilly's best weekly articles from 2000-2006.
Who's Your Caddy � A collection of stories about Reilly caddying for several remarkable people ranging from Donald Trump to the blind golfing world champion.

[edit] Trivia
During an altercation in a bar in 1997, Charles Barkley threw 20-year-old Jorge Lugo through a plate-glass window. This led to a long standing running gag in Reilly's column which included a year-end award dubbed "The Chuckies" dedicated to people or things in sports that deserved to be thrown through a plate-glass window. Barkley later wrote the foreword to Life of Reilly.
Reilly has his own football card, which he detailed in a column. The card was part of the Topps "Fans of the Game" series, and featured Reilly with the logo of his favorite team, the now-relocated Los Angeles Rams.
Rick Reilly is an avid supporter of Lance Armstrong and has often argued him to be the greatest athlete of all time. Armstrong wrote the forward for Hate Mail from Cheerleaders and Other Adventures from the Life of Reilly.
Six of his articles have been included in the Best American Sports Writing anthology series.