It's a wonderful (sports) life.

• Author: Fischer, Raymond L.
• Position: SPORTS SCENE - Frank Deford

FOLLOWERS OF SPORTS journalist Frank Deford expect enlightening details of sports couched in humor, whether listening to a Deford speech or commentary on National Public Radio s "Morning Edition," watching him on HBO's "Real Sports" with Bryant Gumbel, or reading from most of his 18 books. His latest, Over Time: My Life as a Sportswriter, is no exception--a chuckle or laugh comes from nearly every page; even many of the pictures elicit a humorous response. Not just a sports term, "over time" puns on over the time of Deford's professional career (1962-present), and his going beyond his usual sports journalism to write about those years--his own overtime in recording for posterity a particular era of sports journalism. Dubious about writing his memoir, Deford deferred to his wife, who suggested he write about the things he includes in his speeches--"Those stories I've heard you tell guys over drinks."

In Baltimore, Md., where Deford grew up, he gained a "distaste for the smug and high-hat," a cultural assessment that influenced his interviewing style. Moreover, he never understood why writers "rebel" so in their pain of writing about subjects they like. Deford wrote about sports for his high school paper and, at Princeton University, for the daily Princetonian.

His big break came when he saw a notice announcing a Time Incorporated interview on campus. In a strikingly hilarious account, Deford recalls that, as a "snotty young apostate," he told the Time Inc. editors he did not want anything to do with them; he wanted to work for Sports Illustrated, which Time's brass considered "declasse" for its "sweaty content" and its financial difficulties. When the editor of Sports Illustrated heard about him, Deford "became an instant hero" and was hired immediately.

Self-proclaimed as "old and cranky," Deford believes sportswriters now tend to "celebrate the loudmouths," the "wide receivers in football," who qualify as "characters," but whom Deford terms "obnoxious jerks." In contrast, Deford's stories feature achievers who exemplify the best in sports. For instance, basketball Hall-of-Famer Bob Cousy was among the first white players to play with blacks. He was "a prince among men" to his African-American teammates. When Chuck Cooper, the first black player to be drafted by the National Basketball Association, joined the Boston Celtics in 1950, Cousy immediately befriended him. When, "around 2000," Deford interviewed Cousy at home, a very sentimental...