ESPN fans: Ralph Wiley has died

[WilliamPitt]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=1821759

Ralph Wiley, one of the original Page 2 columnists and former senior writer for Sports Illustrated, died Sunday night at his home in Orlando of heart failure. He was 52 years old.

Wiley joined Page 2 at its inception in November 2000 and had written more than 240 columns for ESPN.com.

"For the past three and a half years, Ralph has produced a body of work that was both exceptional and insightful and arguably the best sports commentary on the web," said John Walsh, executive vice president and executive editor, ESPN.

Wiley also had appeared on ESPN's "Sports Reporters" since 1990. He provided regular commentary for ESPN's SportsCenter and formerly worked as an NFL analyst for NBC.

"Through his perspective and experience, Ralph developed one of the most creative lead voices in the American sports chorus," added ESPN.com vice president and executive editor Neal Scarbrough. "We were lucky to have him as a big part of ESPN.com."

Wiley was born in Memphis, Tenn., on April 12, 1952. His mother, Dorothy, who taught humanities at S.A. Owen Junior College, made an early habit of reading great books to her son: Alexandre Dumas, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and Richard Wright. His father, Ralph H., a veteran of the Korean War, died young.

[sasquatch]

1. I heard about it last night

He was a good columnist and a freethinker. I liked watching "Dick Schaap Sports Writers" because him, Dick Schaap and all of the writers made it one hell of a show.

[lazarus]

2. here's something chilling

From a chat he did with Bill Simmons a few days ago:
http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=5412

Wiley at one point lost his internet connection. HEre's an excerpt about that:

Mike (Everett, MA): Seriously, is Ralph dead? Did his heart give out while writing another thesis in a chat room?

Bill Simmons: I told you, we had to sedate Ralph after the White Magic comment. He's resting comfortably.