there is just very little writing that so routinely manages to convey such tragedy with such restraint as what you find in a sports magazine. maybe that says something about being men’s men who write about men’s men all the time, or maybe it just says something about having a beat that requires years of practice writing with great, grand strokes of confidence while never overstating the devastation of loss.

there are so many beautiful turns of phrase in here i barely know where to start quoting, but beyond that is a story that those men’s men still haven’t heard enough. pass it on.