Bob Ryan, of Boston

Recently, I read a Grantland piece by Bryan Curtis about the career and greatness of Boston Globe writer Bob Ryan. Although Curtis’s writing was creative, witty and adequately expressed Ryan’s character, what stood out to me was Bob Ryan himself.

Ryan is known as one of the greatest beat writers of all time, covering the Boston Celtics for nearly two decades before moving on to become a columnist for the Globe. Essentially, Bob Ryan (below) has had the career that I could only dream to have one day.

What made Ryan special was the fact that he was a Boston fan first and a writer second. Most journalists say that they ‘root for the story, not the game.’ Ryan couldn’t have been more different.

Ryan’s writing had a pro-Boston flavor, but it didn’t cross the journalistic boundaries of sensationalism. He covered a sport (professional basketball in the 1970s) that was not well-respected or popular at the time, and he helped turn Bostonians into Celtics fans with his writing.

He wrote with an anecdotal passion and power that people didn’t realize was possible in the covering of everyday basketball games. He also developed great relationships with the Celtics players, which allowed him to better understand the team and therefore better explain things to his readers.

As I read about this, I thought about how my dream job is “to be a beat writer.” I thought about what I want to get out of my potential career as a journalist. And I concluded that Bob Ryan exemplified pretty much everything that I want in a career at this point in my life.

He has been the written voice of one of America’s most popular sports teams in America’s most crazed sports city since he was 22 years old. He is well-respected and recognized, but most importantly, he is faithful; faithful to his city and his publication.

I realize that I might never reach the heights that Bob Ryan has reached, but hey, I can dream. This piece was impactful to me because it made me realize that there are people, like Bob Ryan, who I can look up to in my field.