RIP, Jerry Green
March 24th, 2023 at 12:13 PM ^
Legendary reporter in the D. RIP
March 24th, 2023 at 12:16 PM ^
I remember reading his articles way back in the 70's when I was in high school. He seemed like a good writer as I recall.
Yes, and I remember reading his stuff in the 60s! What a dogged, unrelenting, fair, dedicated reporter he was. This kind of person cannot be replaced, only followed. Quite an inspiration that he continued for so many years. No fake news for Jerry Green! Sympathies to his family, many friends, and thousands of followers. May the Lord be with him!
March 24th, 2023 at 12:18 PM ^
When Jerry Green and Joe Falls were in their prime it was as good as it gets for Detroit sports commentary.
March 24th, 2023 at 12:25 PM ^
Green and Falls. You are definitely an old-time Detroiter!
March 24th, 2023 at 12:47 PM ^
I am too - RIP Jerry Green
He was fortunate to be writing in the golden era of print media.
Pete Waldmeir
Waldmeir's columns were an excellent primer on local political affairs. I don't think Lonnie Bates liked him much. Pete did so many columns on him he should have kicked back some of his salary as commission.
Years later Pete's "regular man of the people" shtick got exposed when I learned he'd moved onto one of the leafiest blocks in Grosse Pte Farms.
March 24th, 2023 at 12:55 PM ^
Agreed. These guys were good writers and were local institutions. I liked reading them and did so for decades. They had a good run.
Lynn Henning, however, he's been around a long time but I don't like his writing style. I have to constantly re-read everything to follow.
But I hardly read any columns anymore since you need a subscription that I refuse to pay, so I only get the free stuff on Detnews.
Like most of us here who grew up in the newspaper age, the sports section was by far my favorite read. That said, I can't let nostalgia get in the way of objectivity when it comes to Joe Falls. I found his columns to be self-centered, poorly written, and generally created on autopilot. I didn't read him until the 70s, perhaps he was a different writer in the 60s.
Same here. I always thought of Falls as the quintessential crabby old fart, his columns full of kvetching about how everything was better in the old days. He also used his columns to get even with players he didn't like, like Rocky Colavito. He used to run a stat on the Tiger slugger and no one else: Runs NOT Batted In. It infuriated Colavito, and with good reason.
The best thing Joe Falls ever did was argue with Randy Smith and Mike Ilitch during the press conference when they hired Phil Garner. That was pure gold.
Falls was famous for predicting in one of his columns before Super Bowl III that Baltimore would beat the Jets 270-0. Obviously the score was in jest, but it reflected the prevailing opinion by virtually everybody that the Colts were just going to run all over the Jets.
The following year, Falls wrote a column on the impending Super Bow IV clash between the Vikings and the Kansas City Chiefs. He repeated his 270-0 prediction, for the same basic reason as the previous year.
Those two were indeed greats! Grew up in the Detroit 'burbs and delivered Detroit News while in JR HS but we had subscriptions to both papers. Those guys were good at getting some scoops too. Respected by many of the players and coaches.
Reading their articles while also catching Sonny Eliot's weather updates are great memories!
Eliot and that damned squeaker scared the hell out of me when I was a youngster.
I liked Mike Downey and Charlie Vincent too.
Vincent moved in across the street when I was ~14. I became uncertain of just how much money prominent sportswriters make.
I read the Free Press more frequently than the Detroit News, but Green was always (I'm going back to the mid-60s as a regular reader) a vastly better sportswriter than Falls. Falls was demonstrably somebody who just typed up a column rant invented out of his head on the verge of a deadline with no regard to facts or reality...probably in an alcoholic fog, a print version of Bill Bonds...but I digress. Green is a deserved legend, and it's sad to see him pass.
March 24th, 2023 at 12:38 PM ^
Keith needed company. RIP. Institution. Not many of those.
March 24th, 2023 at 12:47 PM ^
What happened to Keith?
March 24th, 2023 at 12:58 PM ^
...um...nothing... Ask your Father.
Gotta go.
Oh, Keith. Obviously Keith. You know - good old Keith.
Keith who? Keith Gave?
Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick
Keith with the green teeth.
WHOA NELLY!
March 24th, 2023 at 12:42 PM ^
Grew up reading Jerry from the time I was a kid falling in love with sports in my formative years in the early 70's.
RIP Mr. Green, loved your writing and articles, you were a legend!
March 24th, 2023 at 12:42 PM ^
Double post.
Go Blue!!!
Green was the last remaining reporter who had covered every Super Bowl. I believe this years SB was the only one he missed.
RIP.
Think about covering football in Detroit all those seasons and the damn Lions couldn’t make it there once?! Hey Leo’s win one for JG
I read his "Year of the Tiger" about the 1968 team when I was a child. Strongly recommend it if you can find a copy.
Grew up in Free Press(morning)family and read Joe Falls and Gil Thorp daily.Green was legend with the News(afternoon)
March 24th, 2023 at 11:57 PM ^
Jerry Green was legit. Marty Moon on the other hand ...
Marty Moon was the comic strip version of Drew Sharp.
From Tony Paul’s piece on Green this morning:
“I got a tremendous break starting out with Michigan football," Green told Crain's. "It was like a rookie reporter getting to cover the New York Yankees."
"Jerry Green was able to catch the national sports editor of the Associated Press, a man named Ted Smith in 1956, and Smith recommended him for a job in Ann Arbor, which he accepted. He started covering Michigan football for AP."
RIP Jerry Green
I always liked reading his stories, he was a talented writer. And I never feel good about 'upvoting' a death notice, but it's a worthy board post to identify the passing of a Detroit area sports legend.
It does seem weird to 'upvote' a death notice, but I think of it as a thank you to the poster for letting us know.
Green and Falls were the old guard when I started reading the News in the early 80s so I had to read them in order to be able to argue with my dad and my uncles. It was Shelby Strother who I was drawn to. I remember him writing about visiting a leper colony in Louisiana when he was covering a Super Bowl in New Orleans and it blew my mind.
March 24th, 2023 at 11:37 PM ^
SS was my favorite when he appeared on the scene. I wish we could have enjoyed his writing longer, he died way too soon. I have a book of his columns and stories that I still pull out from time to time. Incredibly talented writer.
End of an era: Jerry Green, Joe Falls, George Puscas.
In January of 1993, my dad and I attended the Detroit Tiger Fantasy Camp in Lakeland. Jerry was writing an a feature about the camp (it marked the 25-year celebration of the ‘68 world champs) and was assigned to our team. He refused to use an aluminum bat, insisting on hitting with a wooden bat instead (he brought his own).
Jerry’s reflections on his career (to that point) were almost as fascinating as the stories told by the ‘68 players.
Eh. I feel sorry for his daughter.
I wanted to live the life of Oscar Madison; sportswriting, baseball games & the race track and the company of eager women.
Fall '71, a parents' night of some sort at school. Bro & I get dragged along I think because.... I don't remember. After the happenings in my particular classroom I walk up to Mr. Green, introduce myself and ask how I can become a sportswriter when I grow up.
Green opened his mouth and I got a whiff of what was likely a brown liquor. He mumbled something, followed by "get out of my way kid".
I do not mourn his loss.
Falls was always a clown, but Green was a deserved sportswriting legend. RIP
March 25th, 2023 at 10:04 AM ^
Freep had the better comics, News had the better sports. I'd always skip the freep sports page and wait for the News to show up. RIP Jerry.