Ralph Wiley

Ralph Wiley, a leading sportswriter for Sports Illustrated and ESPN.com who was also a well-regarded essayist on race in America, has died. He was 52. Wiley died Sunday night of heart failure, according to an announcement on ESPN.com. He was stricken at his home in Orlando, Fla., while preparing to watch game four of the NBA finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Detroit Pistons. A regular commentator for ESPN's SportsCenter and a columnist for ESPN.

Ralph Wiley dedicated his adult life to this art, science and nemesis that we call writing, fully aware that he would never reach perfection. Well, damn if he didn't get close. This is how he went out, with a lead sentence to his final column that was so good it proved to be his epitaph: "All a man's got is the integrity of his work."

Subtitled "A search for the boxer's peace of mind, from Joe Louis to Mike Tyson," this seemingly paradoxically titled book presents Sports Illustrated writer Ralph Wiley's reminiscences of fighters. Like so many writers who have been attracted to boxing, Wiley is interested less in the mechanics of fighting than in the soul of people who can risk death every time they step into the ring. Beginning with musings on his own youthful street-fighting days, he recalls getting to know boxers as a young reporter, the zen of note taking during the fights, and the addiction of watching the athletes.

Ralph Wiley, a leading sportswriter for Sports Illustrated and ESPN.com who was also a well-regarded essayist on race in America, has died. He was 52. Wiley died Sunday night of heart failure, according to an announcement on ESPN.com. He was stricken at his home in Orlando, Fla., while preparing to watch game four of the NBA finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Detroit Pistons. A regular commentator for ESPN's SportsCenter and a columnist for ESPN.

Deep within the wizened countenance of the blues, black America's warning flickers. Or so Ralph Wiley contends in his essay "Why Black People Sing the Blues": "That is why we sing the blues, to tell the story or give a warning." One could most certainly say that Wiley's latest collection, "What Black People Should Do Now: Dispatches from Near the Vanguard," sends a deeply resonant counsel of its own.

Ralph Wiley dedicated his adult life to this art, science and nemesis that we call writing, fully aware that he would never reach perfection. Well, damn if he didn't get close. This is how he went out, with a lead sentence to his final column that was so good it proved to be his epitaph: "All a man's got is the integrity of his work."

There's a phrase that comes to mind when reading Ralph Wiley--something about sticks and stones and words never hurting. Not that Wiley is vicious; on the contrary, his essays about race are so enticing because he writes like an archer, sizing up his target and taking aim. As a friend of mine would say, Ralph Wiley can really sling ink. Despite the book's title, the book doesn't fall into the traps of cant and soapbox speeches.

NBC's Dick Enberg was pressed into double duty Sunday when Bob Costas came down with a severe case of the flu. Costas was so sick Sunday morning that he checked himself into a Denver hospital. Enberg, besides calling the game, also had to take Costas' place on the pregame and postgame shows. Then Ralph Wiley, who was scheduled to conduct postgame interviews in the Cleveland locker room, was stricken with the flu during the game.

Former Washington Redskins General Manager Bobby Beathard and Ralph Wiley, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, are joining NBC's pro football pregame show, "NFL Live." The network said today that Beathard and Wiley will combine on a weekly inside-the-NFL segment called "The Insiders." Beathard was general manager of the Redskins for 12 years and helped build teams that won two NFL championships before resigning in May.

WHY BLACK PEOPLE TEND TO SHOUT: Cold Fact and Wry Views From a Black Man's World by Ralph Wiley (Carol Publishing: $15.95; 200 pp.). It is not easy to express how it feels to be a black man in the '90s: You see the pain of your brothers in the inner city, yet there are no longer any easy targets to attack in society and there is little gained by criticizing your own community.

There's a phrase that comes to mind when reading Ralph Wiley--something about sticks and stones and words never hurting. Not that Wiley is vicious; on the contrary, his essays about race are so enticing because he writes like an archer, sizing up his target and taking aim. As a friend of mine would say, Ralph Wiley can really sling ink. Despite the book's title, the book doesn't fall into the traps of cant and soapbox speeches.

Deep within the wizened countenance of the blues, black America's warning flickers. Or so Ralph Wiley contends in his essay "Why Black People Sing the Blues": "That is why we sing the blues, to tell the story or give a warning." One could most certainly say that Wiley's latest collection, "What Black People Should Do Now: Dispatches from Near the Vanguard," sends a deeply resonant counsel of its own.

Subtitled "A search for the boxer's peace of mind, from Joe Louis to Mike Tyson," this seemingly paradoxically titled book presents Sports Illustrated writer Ralph Wiley's reminiscences of fighters. Like so many writers who have been attracted to boxing, Wiley is interested less in the mechanics of fighting than in the soul of people who can risk death every time they step into the ring. Beginning with musings on his own youthful street-fighting days, he recalls getting to know boxers as a young reporter, the zen of note taking during the fights, and the addiction of watching the athletes.

CBS, which a month ago fired Brent Musburger, has lost another member of the "NFL Today" television cast. NBC announced Tuesday that it has signed Will McDonough to a four-year contract. Terms were not announced, but a source said the deal is worth $2 million. McDonough, 54, a sportswriter for the Boston Globe for more than 30 years, also worked for CBS the past four years. He will continue with the newspaper, but in a more limited role.

It was Whitney Houston's night, but Michael Jackson dominated the 26th annual NAACP Image Awards with a five-minute speech of his own before presenting Debbie Allen with a choreography award. Jackson received a standing ovation from the audience gathered at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium Wednesday night and had to pause several times during his remarks to let the cheers from the audience subside.