Reilly was to sportswriting in the late 80s/early 90s what Bill Simmons is today, but his well ran dry a long time ago. Ever since SI gave him the back page every week (he used to alternate it with 4-5 other guys), his work has deteriorated. The weekly columns about cancer survivors, storm refugees, etc. (that at best have tenuous connections to sports) are too rote anymore to be inspirational. And yet Reilly is still revered in the sports writing community (witness the numerous awards he's stolen at the expense of his SI colleagues). It's refreshing to see that others here share my opinion of him.