Drew Bruno Can Really Tell a Story

During my reading of the Missourian this semester I have found sports writer Drew Bruno to be the writer with the best material on a consistent basis. His article on the St. Louis Cardinals home opener at new Busch Stadium is no exception. He weaves a great profile-type story of the events that occurred on opening day. Touching on several different accounts from fans, not to mention depicting a funny scene in the Cardinals dugout about locating the bathroom in the new stadium, as well as being able to incorporate quotes from manager Tony LaRussa. It was an enjoyable article, and even though I am not a Cardinals fan, I was able to smile at their experience on their home opener.

Despite all it's good I felt the article had one downfall. It seemed like there were too many voices in the story. Bruno touched on about four or five different groups of fans, and after a while their stories became intertwined, and I couldn't really remember who was doing what, or who each person was. There was a family with their eight year old daughter, a family from Kansas City who had taken their two sons out of school to attend the game, and then there was discussion from the first person in the ballpark as well as some other fans mixed in. After a while, I was just reading the quotes and didn't really care who was saying it or who they were. I think that isn't necessarily the best thing. I think Bruno could have eliminated one of these groups of people and it would have cut down on some of the confusion. But even with a little confusion, it is still a compelling and well-written story, just like every other one of his stories have been this semester.

Publish Date: April 11 in the Missourian. Sports Section Front Page.