THREE THINGS ABOUT TEN HUMANS: Will Leitch's "Ten Humans" column at
Deadspin is a reminder of why I miss him so much. He was a thoughtful, measured ringmaster for a circus of more boisterous performers; the atonality created by surrounding Leitch with cruder writers was one of the nice things about the site. It's not that current editor A.J. Daulerio is bad -- I loved his Hunter S. Thompson-inspired forays into first-person scene-crashing, and as Leitch keeps saying, Daulerio is a real journalist. It's just that now there's Daulerio the editor and often a bunch of contributors imitating him, upsetting the delicate balance Leitch created.
This week's "Ten Humans", for example, had a few nice things. First, the opening story of Leitch's
The Sporting News contest, in which Leitch awarded the winner a trip with him to the ballpark of the winner's choice. It starts with Leitch offering to meet the winner at Pittsburgh's PNC Park (mere steps from Leitch's hotel, Leitch explains to the winner), where Leitch promises that the drinks are on him. It ends with the winner's mother wondering why a strange man from New York is telling her 13-year-old son that he will buy the kid some alcohol when they rendezvous by his hotel.
Second, and of interest to our readership, Leitch notes that the running joke of
Lost is that for four seasons, everybody did everything Jack said even though Jack's decisions were invariably wrong. Jack's current idea is that he should probably blow up a nuclear bomb to change history. Leitch posits that while that is clearly the most preposterous plan Jack has ever advocated, the fact that nobody is willing to follow him this time makes it highly likely that he's right.
Third, Leitch suggests that the Nationals pass on Stephen Strasburg, the greatest college pitcher of all time (once accidentally struck out 24 batters while trying to induce ground balls; 18K/9; 10:1 K/BB) in next month's draft. Nationals, listen to this man. Let Strasburg fall to
number 2.
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