We can think of no greater evidence of the stifling nature of daily journalism than the evolution of Matt Mosley. At
The Dallas Morning News, Mosley was an irritating Bill Simmons wannabe whose on-the-scene Cowboys game-day reports, replete with pop culture musings and first-person anecdotes, were not one-tenth as funny as he thought they were. Left with little space and too much or too little editorial direction, Mosley's writing was, on his best day, trifling. Then, somehow the young journalist winds up on the most popular sports Web site in the world,
ESPN.com, where he becomes one of the site's best writers, a legitimate rival to the legendary Mr. Simmons himself. From his reports on the Cowboys to his football blog to his appearances on local talk radio, Mosley has become a smart, informed and entertaining personality. His well-sourced reporting on the Cowboys (Tony Romo texts him on the golf course) is a boon to
ESPN.com's national audience, while his ability to shift from commentator to storyteller makes him one of the most interesting sports bloggers around.