Fantastic article: 'The midnight gesture of Shawn Hunwick'

Submitted by CaptainBlue on

I know there was a "Thanks to Shawn Hunwick" thread, but thought this deserved its own post.

This column from the Daily's Zach Helfand has been flying around Twitter this morning and thought it should finally be posted. Here's the ending, but read the whole thing:

 

Losing the battle against tears, Shawn Hunwick passes Cornell coach Mike Schafer at 12:23 a.m.

Schafer was walking to the podium to speak to the media. Hunwick was walking out.

“One of the classiest things I’ve seen in 25 years of coaching,” Schafer would say of Hunwick’s gesture to Cornell after the game.

Outside, in a concrete hallway, a man whose Cornell tie matches Hunwick’s eyes taps the former Michigan goalie on the shoulder and shakes his hand.

Hunwick turns to his right toward his locker room. He stops, then turns back and calls out:

“Good luck tomorrow.”

You too, Shawn.

If you love ESPN feature writer Wright Thompson like I do, he had this to say about the story: "I have seen the future and it is Zach Helfand."
 
Thanks to Shawn, again, and thanks for the story.

 

Tater

March 24th, 2012 at 9:47 PM ^

It seems like the Daily now has a tradition of pumping out writing that is always superior to A2 dot com, year after year after year.  I would say "where do they get those guys," but we already know the answer, as stated by Brady Hoke and often repeated here.  

A more relevant question might be: "Why can't A2 dot com find writers with half as much talent and soul as the last three or four Michigan beat writers for the Daily?"  Either their HR department is incompetent, or they suck the life and soul out of their writers within six months.  

I'm guessing it's a little bit of both.

CaptainBlue

March 24th, 2012 at 11:31 PM ^

The Daily has four beat writers covering each major sport, so saying "the last three or four Michigan beat writers" is a little misleading, because in all there are probably a dozen or so every year covering big-time sports.

AA.com doesn't currently have any former Daily writers on staff, either, which is surprising considering the number of young journos coming out of the Daily. Or maybe they're just going elsewhere. Got this list from a buddy at the Daily:

2010: Andy Reid (TheWolverine), Courtney Ratkowiak (national freelancing), Mike Eisenstein (NBC)

2011: Nicole Auerbach (USA Today), Ryan Kartje (Bloomington Herald-Times)

2012 interns: Tim Rohan (New York Times), Michael Florek (USA Today), Stephen Nesbitt (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), Ben Estes (MLB.com/Oakland A's), Matt Slovin/Zach Helfand/Everett Cook (Baltimore Sun)

WingsNWolverines

March 24th, 2012 at 2:20 PM ^

Chris Pronger could learn a thing or two from Hunwick. Wish like hell this kid could stay for another year.

Sac Fly

March 24th, 2012 at 2:30 PM ^

I can't put it into a table but here are the final stats and the national rank.

GP-40, MIN-2400:25 (2nd)

GA-80, GAA-1.99 (7th)

SV-1092, SV% .932 (5th)

Shutouts-5 (9th)

w2j2

March 24th, 2012 at 3:45 PM ^

I would like to see Ken Holland give Hunwick a chance in the professional minor leagues.

I am sure pro scouts say he is too small, but that has been said about him and other successful goalies in the past, and he has proven them all wrong.

The Wings wasted a first round pick on a huge goalie a couple years ago ...Thomas McCollum, and he is a bust.

Holland was a goalie, and the Wings need depth in goal.....

Give Hunwick a chance!