Red Smith

“People have the illusion that writing is an intellectual process, but it's not. It's a sport, like bullfighting.”

“The natural habitat of the New York Yankee is a champagne-drenched locker room.”

“There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.”

“Baseball is a dull game only to dull minds.”

“Any sportswriter who thinks the world is no bigger than the outfield fence is not only a bad sportswriter but a bad American.”

“To be a sportswriter is the finest thing a man can do.”

“Ninety feet between home plate and first base may be the closest man has ever come to perfection.”

“Rooting for the New York Yankees is like rooting for U.S. Steel.”

“The secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components.”

“Sports is not really a play world. I think it's the real world.”

“I have a splendid collection of dictionaries, encyclopedias, synopses and other books of reference. I don't use them, but they are there.”

“Some people tell me that we professional observers are supposed to be impartial. I don't believe it.”