My long-winded story is I went out to Oregon for vacation, first stop was to see Hayward Stadium sort of the mecca for running. Talked to a guy guarding the gate as they prepped for a Diamond league event the next day, Little Italian guy and we talked... he had owned tickets to the Dodgers, Lakers and Rams so a real sports guy. Out of the blue he says, I wish they hadn't traded Frank Howard (to the Senators) I looked him incredulously "He was my favorite player as a kid" He asked me if he was still alive and i told him I think so, because I hadn't seen the Washington Post with a banner across the top announcing his passing and of course a big sports section on him etc. Several months later Frank Howard did pass away (one of those weird years with coincidences like that) and there it was: the banner across the top, a short front page article and a whole spread on him. So there you go, the last great mythical WaPo sports article for me. You're right a lot of great sports writers on the WaPo, I will complain they all seemed like they wanted to be in the editorial page rather than the sports page and will never forgive Wilbon for calling VT just another southern running team. (he was pretty chauvinstic about Chicago) And oh yeah, I delivered the WaPo for a few years. ** Edited by `lag at 1/27/2026, 10:40:22 AM