SI’s Peter King fondly recalls time at OU
By Megan Moseley
June 16, 2008
In between addressing Ohio University’s two undergraduate commencement ceremonies Saturday, OU alumnus and acclaimed national sportswriter Peter King talked about what an honor it was to return to his alma mater for this purpose, and reminisced about some famous and infamous Athens/OU touchstones.
This was King’s fourth trip back to Athens since graduating with a bachelor of science degree in journalism in 1979. Over the weekend, he was also awarded an Honorary Doctor of Communication for his success in sports journalism.
“I was stunned. It’s such an incredible honor,” he said during a short interview between the two commencement addresses.
King stressed the importance of practice if one is to excel at journalism. “Writing and being a journalist is a trade,” he said. “It’s like being a carpenter; you have to practice your craft in order to perfect it.”
During his commencement address, King talked about his experiences in writing and reporting. A former Associated Press writer and sports writer for Newsday and the Cincinnati Enquirer, King said he wouldn’t be where he is today if it wasn’t for his experience at OU’s student newspaper The Post.
“It’s the perfect environment for the journalist-wanna-be,” he told the audience about that experience.
At The Post, King told The Athens NEWS, he briefly covered OU softball, and did most of his reporting on news and beat stories. Not expecting to ever find his break in sports writing, King said it was luck that got him into the career that he loves.
When asked why he chooses to be so outspoken in his “Monday Morning Quarterback” column for SI.com, King said that’s basically his job.
“It’s what my editor encourages me to do. People reading my column don’t want a play-by-play of the game,” he said. “I want to be able to take them into the locker room and give them that perspective.”
Preparing for the speech, King said during the commencement address, was more distressing than being on TV or writing his column for SI.com.
Instead of coming up with his own “words-of-wisdom,” he thought a collaboration of advice from people many of us would die to meet would suffice. King quoted NBC’s Dick Ebersol, Super Bowl champ Peyton Manning, famed sports journalist Bob Costas and Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin. The latter spurred some home-team partisanship from the mainly Ohio-centric crowd, with shouts of “Who Dey” and “Go Browns” exploding from the crowd.
During his address, King shared recollections of good times in Athens and OU, including getting libations at the Union Grill, and living in a dumpy rental on Central Avenue.
Cheers rang out from the crowd when King mentioned eating at Miller’s Chicken (Poultry back then) and trying Chinese food for the first time ever.
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