Ted Kluck on ESPN’s No Clothes Mag

I’m very pleased that Christianity Today online now has Ted Kluck writing periodic “open letters” on sports related topics. Ted is a terrific writer, a solid Christians, and actually knows sports too. Kluck’s latest installment is an open letter to ESPN the magazine about their upcoming “no-clothes” issue.

Here’s the gist:

Nudity is the most over-ridden pony in mass media. I dare say that nakedness is more available to the masses today, thanks to technology, than it’s ever been. It’s not difficult to find pictures of people without their clothes on, but it is, ironically, increasingly difficult to find good sports writing. That’s where you come in. The apostle Paul had some good advice that would seem to apply to many spheres of life: “Whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” I think that adage works for great sports writing—and sports magazines.

Not to sound overly biblical, but I think you’ve lost your first love, ESPN (assuming, of course, that your first love was ever sports to begin with). There’s real beauty in one of Kobe Bryant‘s playoff performances, or Marc-Andre Fleury‘s game seven. It’s the kind of beauty that, regardless of your rooting interests, makes you feel sort of proud to be a human being, and proud to be a sports fan. It transcends, for a moment, the overriding need to move product that is the backbone of our economy and has become the glaringly obvious point of all sports media.

So before you throw your hat into the nudity-saturated, lad-mag ring (or, ironically, remove your hat, as it were), consider the ramifications of your decision, particularly for the young male readers who idolize the Adrian Petersons and Lebrons on your pages. Ask yourself if what they need is more nudity and sexuality at increasingly younger ages, or perhaps more greatness—in the form of great performances and, more important to me, truly great writing.

 

Read the whole thing.