Today we’re having a look at the Dean of the Boston sports media, Bob Ryan.
A graduate of Boston College, Ryan joined The Boston Globe in 1968 – on the same day as Peter Gammons, and on the day that Robert Kennedy was shot. Ryan and Gammons worked together that day (as noted in Gammons’ Hall of Fame speech.) and their story appeared on the front page of the paper.
He covered the Celtics during the 1970’s and into the 80’s before becoming a general columnist in 1989. He made a brief foray into TV in the early 80’s on WCVB.
He’s been hosting Globe 10.0 on NESN for almost a year now. He has been a regular on ESPN’s Sunday morning show The Sports Reporters and has done a number of other shows with the network such as Pardon the Interruption.
His honors include the 2006 Dick Schaap Award for Outstanding Journalism as well as the 1997 Curt Gowdy Media Award from the Basketball Hall of Fame.
His books include Drive: The Story of My Life
————————-
Boston Sports Media Watch 
A big, fat, red-faced Irish Catholic approve from me.
LikeLike
He likes sports and beer!!!
APPROVE
LikeLike
Approve…A complete 180 from the turd from yesterday…Someone who knows sports and can actually talk about them…
LikeLike
the guy has a great track record and career and loves sports. a decent guy by all accounts who actually responds in a gentelmanly way. he gets stuff wrong but realizes predictions and neener neener b.s. aren’t what make sports fun.
he has a clock that counts down with a buzzer to help keep his show moving along.
got out of control with the kidd comment. was there any reason to say something so stupid?
LikeLike
The last of the best!
A very large Guinness toast!! Approve!!
LikeLike
Approve, I don’t agree with everything he writes, but at least he believes what he is writing and isn’t just trying to create controversy.
LikeLike
Bob Ryan’s tie is completely obscured by his pants which usually reside at neck level…APPROVE
LikeLike
Likes to drink at Four’s, the best hockey bar in Boston other than the Penalty Box.
“Approve!”
LikeLike
High high Approve. The Commissioner is the best daily columnist in this town. This needs to be a top 5 approval rating.
Lives in Hingham=No Jorts unfortunately.
LikeLike
Approve
He does not have a chip on his shoulders unlike the CHB.
LikeLike
Approve, but for TV Bob, pluck those eyebrows.
LikeLike
He is all we got.
Approve
LikeLike
Hands down the best sports media person in town. Perhaps the only local scribe that qualifies as a “must read”. Everyone else – particularly those self-absorbed blowhards and frauds like that a-hole from yesterday, Buckley, Callahan, Ordway, etc. – pales in comparison. They’re not even in the same league as Ryan. Has a tremendous passion and knowledge for the topics that he writes about and discusses. A true fan. If he wrote about water polo I would read it.
LikeLike
I have to agree with John’s comment. He’s not a jerk like CHB can be.
LikeLike
APPROVE (note the ALL CAPS for emphasis).
He kind of loses his way when he starts talking or writing about sports other than baseball and basketball (especially football, which he really doesn’t seem to understand all that much), but when he focuses on those two sports which he knows best, he’s simply right up there with the all-time greats.
He falls victim to the “he’s my friend so I can’t write anything bad about him” mentality that all journalists fall into from time-to-time, particularly on the subject of the current Celtics’ head coach, but all in all, there really isn’t much to complain about with Mr. Ryan.
LikeLike
He watches all the games. Even if a Boston team isn’t playing. Underrated Gunt.
Approve.
LikeLike
Approve.
Why did Bob Ryan get in more trouble for talking about beating up Jason Kidd’s wife than Jason Kidd did for actually beating up his wife?
LikeLike
Approve. He actually loves his job and it shows. I met him once at The Fours after a Celts game. It also happened to be the night of Yao Mings first NBA game, which was being shown on the TV in the bar. We talked about his game and he was animated and you could hear the excitement in his voice breaking down Yao’s game and what he meant to the NBA.
The last of a breed.
LikeLike
This should be divided into two categories. TV and print. He drives me crazy on television and would disapprove on that however I usually enjoy his columns.
I will take the good on this vote. Approve.
LikeLike
I liked Bob better when he wrote about the Celtics and actually watched the games.
LikeLike
Bob Ryan is the last great Globe sports writer from the days when the Sunday Globe sports section was perhaps the best in the land. Bob was great 20 years ago, Bob was great 10 years ago, and Bob is still great today. In his own words, “Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.”
LikeLike
Shows you can be a columnist without being a jerk. Of course, it takes talent, a work ethic and a lack an agenda to do this. Big thumbs up for Bob.
LikeLike
The last of the must-read columns left in Boston Sports. Have met him a couple of times…genuine fan of the Boston Sports world, knows everyone, and has fiery opinions that he actually backs up with fact. He’s subject to a “mail-it-in” column now and again, but he’s still the best we have.
I do wish he would stay away from the silliness of “Around the Horn” on ESPN, but he’s good on PTI. And, it’s clear from his appearances on that show and “THe Sports Reporters” that he follows sports outside of 495. PERISH THE THOUGHT!
LikeLike
Seems to genuinely enjoy sports and his job. That’s more than can be said for many of his colleagues. On TV, he manages to be loud and opinionated without being a prick. That’s more than can be said for many of his colleagues.
LikeLike
I always thought Ryan was a little overrated as a sportswriter, but I relly admired the grace with which he handled his son’s death.
LikeLike
The last (and one of the best) of a dying breed. The type of guy who loved sports and loved the written word and could combine the two well. Today’s sportswriters (see Tomase et. al.) use writing as a “gotcha” exercise that’ll get them gigs on the Ordway show.
LikeLike
I don’t know why I feel to the need drag the CHB into a High Approve of Bob Ryan, but you would never see the hackneyed, lazy recycled crap that was yesterday’s ‘let’s just throw out some old Curt Gowdy and Oil Can Boyd references’ effort by Shank from Ryan.
He has too much respect for the profession. When the Globe started sending both to the Olympics Shank would submit Russian weightlifter jokes while Ryan at least made an honest effort to get into what he was covering.
Don’t take a buyout Bob, please!
LikeLike
A passionate viewer of the sports scene, Ryan gets an approve. His fortes are Baseball and Basketball(Hockey and Football his opinions are worthless)but he has the ability to try new things, watch other sports and try to understand other cultures in a way that is not demeaning. He cares, and you cannot say that about too many of the other writers in town.
LikeLike
Although he’s getting a bit of the mildewy “get off my lawn” odor about him, he freely admits it. Approve.
LikeLike
In spite of being a BC graduate, is still the best sports columnist in Boston.
Approve.
LikeLike
He cares and is genuinely interested in his subjects, which tends to make the reader care, which is probably one of the keys to being a good writer. Having no apparent clue how he looks at any given time is another plus.
big APPROVE
LikeLike
Thought provoking. One of the remaining vestiges from when the Globe’s Sports Department was considered to be the best in the country.
Great writer. Was one of the best NBA beat writers when he covered the Celtics. I saw the man finish a game story for the NCAA regionals in Providence in 1994 at halftime. At halftime!
Yesterday I wrote I wish I had four hands to give four thumbs down to Meterperel. Today, I wish I had four hands to give four thumbs up to Ryan. A big APPROVE.
LikeLike
I’m not sure what the glee about finishing a story at halftime is all about. Does he have a preconceived story and does not let the actual game tell the story?
Or should I just save some time and turn the game over at the half?
LikeLike
The best
LikeLike
Bob Ryan loves sports, he loves to write and he’s a consummate professional, his only agenda is to cover the game.
I hate him so much
LikeLike
And say what you will about the guy…he isn’t lazy. He’ll cover new things in teh Olympics jsut out of curiosity.
LikeLike
Everything a Sports Media Personality should be.
LikeLike
he’s not lazy like the chb and does seem to like sports. unfortunately he does seem to enjoy a very mediocre sub shop in watertown sq which puzzles me. it’s unclear whether he ever welcomed a black teenager to live with his family.
appprove.
LikeLike
It’s funny how some people are criticized for being everywhere and others get a free pass. If you think Ryan looks knowledgeable on The Sports Reporters then you are blinded with his thoughtful writing. He is terrible at impromptu thoughts and has been suckered into this Spygate being an evil of all evil storylines. Approve of his writing on non football stories.
LikeLike
Hear-hear about Ryan and football. As I said in my earlier post, when he sticks to baseball and hoops, he’s one of the best ever.
He was, unfortunately, one of the first to jump on the “tainted titles” bandwagon after Spygate…but then again, if I recall correctly he always believed that the Tuck Rule “tainted” the Pats’ first title anyway!
Stick to hoops and baseball Bob, please.
LikeLike
Running on fumes… living off his legend.
Becoming more Shank-like as the years pass by…
LikeLike
He’s never lost his passion for the games. Love the way he conveys that passion to his readers. You never wonder what his agenda is and, unlike most in the local media, seems to be comfortable in his own skin. I often disagree with his take on issues but I get the impression he wouldn’t mind at all. Would buy him a beer.
LikeLike
Bob is still the best. Big thumbs up.
LikeLike
Perhaps laments a little too much for the “good old days” of the NBA, but, otherwise, still a great writer.
LikeLike
Ryan loves sports, writes well, and–unlike “Lazy Dan” Shaughnessy–doesn’t regurgitate the same tired stuff over and over. He clearly puts effort and time into a profession he just as clearly still enjoys after all these years. There have been a few bumps in the road for Bob but overall, he is the very best at what he does in this town right now.
The kind of guy you’d want to have a few beers with and talk sports. No agenda, no bias, and respect for his readers.
APPROVE!!!
LikeLike
First class all the way. I wish the feud between ‘EEI and the Globe would end. He was always my favorite big show co-host.
LikeLike
With the clown fest the Big Show has become not even Ryan could save it. Would hate to see him dragged down to their level.
LikeLike
THE BEST IN BOSTON SPORTS, no ifs, ands, or buts!
LikeLike
Can I split my vote?…..as a writer I approve of him, HOWEVER, as a TV Talking head I DISAPPROVE…and he seems to be spending more and more time on TV…His show on NESN (whatever it’s called) is a blatant “Pardon the Interuption” RIPPOFF…on TV he is too prone to hysterical ranting and raving…saw him a couple of weeks ago on ESPN’s “The Sports Reporters” he joined in with the other 2 bozo’s and was going wild on “spygate” saying Matt Walsh MUST HAVE SOMETHING!!….wonder how he feels today?……have lost alot of respect for him since he started doing television. He has turned into another one who thinks the LOUDER HE SHOUTS the more validity his opinons have…….so in closing, DISAPPROVE!
LikeLike
Fantastic writer. One of the few who I still seek out to read (along with Peter King and Bill Simmons). His only black mark is the horrible appearances on ATH and PTI. He’s a fish out of water on those shows.
Otherwise, approve.
LikeLike
Why do you read the other two? To see how good Ryan really is?
LikeLike
Can’t imagine asking for anything more in a columnist. Simply the best. No agendas and speaks like a fan because deep down he is one. His remarks on the infamous Theo conference call about J.D. Drew speak volumes about his passion. I am begging him to work till he’s 90! APPROVE!!!
LikeLike
Highly approve. Simply the best sportswriter in Boston. Pretty much the only sportswriter in town that is must reading. I look for his articles…and I almost always agree with his point of view …
LikeLike
Does anyone remember how good he was when he was the Celtics beat writer? Bob Ryan wrote the most lively game stories known to man, even when he was on the tightest deadlines imaginable. I give him the highest approval rating possible. He is the rare veteran sports journalist who still LOVES sports and LOVES covering games.
LikeLike