Episode 11: Wright Thompson
Wright Thompson is a senior writer for ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine. Thompson is widely regarded as one of the top literary sports journalists in the country. His work has been featured in seven editions of "Best American Sports Writing." This year, his story "Urban Meyer will be home for dinner," was included in the anthology. 2013 was an epic year for Thompson, who reported and wrote several memorable stories, including a profile of Michael Jordan as he turned 50 years old, a story about Italy’s racist soccer thugs, a story about a paralyzed fly rod maker in Montana and a profile of legendary wrestling coach Dan Gable in the wake of the International Olympic Committee cutting that sport. Since joining the podcast in October 2013, Thompson has written an incredibly in-depth piece on Tiger Woods as well as a piece on New Orleans on the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. That piece took up the entire feature well in one issue of ESPN: The Magazine. In this podcast, we talk about the Gable story, which Thompson says he wouldn't change a thing about, and the Jordan story. Both are intimate profiles of people you wouldn't think would ever open up to anyone, let alone a reporter.