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Shirley Povich (July 15, 1905-June 4, 1998)
Sports columnist, The Washington Post
"Povich possessed neither the crystalline style of his close friend Red Smith nor the acid wit of Jim
Murray. He gained his reputation as Washington's finest (Richard Nixon said that Povich's column
was the only thing he read in the Post) by being fair-minded and having a vision that extended beyond
the quotidian fate of the home team. He was one of the first writers for whom a loss by the home team
did not inspire apoplexy -- 'Maybe because I covered a loser [the Senators] for so many years, it was
easier for me to become detached,' he said -- and he used the power of his bully pulpit to badger
baseball to accept blacks years before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier."
—Scorecard, Sports Illustrated, June 15, 1998Photo by AP
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