Rick Reilly

Hermosa Beach, Orem, Sedona

Contributing Columnist at ESPN

Sportswriter, author, screenwriter, speaker, wanna be lounge pianist.

Articles

I have decided never to go outside again

1 month ago | washingtonpost.com | Rick Reilly

I have decided never to go outside again (washingtonpost.com) I have decided never to go outside again By Rick Reilly 2025051510151000 I could feel it building inside me for a while, so I just said it out loud. "Jax, I don't want to go out there." Good idea, sir. The forecast calls for another 1.3 inches of rain. Stay home and enjoy the game. The Nuggets are leading — "No, Jax," I said. "I mean, I don't want to go out there … ever again. Outside this house.
President Trump 'wins golf club championship' then makes surprise admission

Mar 17, 2025 | todays-golfer.com | Alex Perry |Rick Reilly

President Trump is once again the club champion at Trump International. Donald Trump is once again a club champion. (According to the man himself, at least.)He also thinks it will be his “last”. The US president posted on Truth Social on Sunday to announce the news. “I just won the Golf Club Championship, probably my last, at Trump International Golf Club, in Palm Beach County, Florida,” the 78-year-old wrote.
Ash-scattering is getting out of hand. Please, cremain in place.

Mar 11, 2025 | washingtonpost.com | Rick Reilly

5 minCan you do me a favor? Can you stop scattering your dearly departed's ashes all over my favorite golf course? I want to play Pebble Beach, not your grandpa. For that matter, stop dumping your meemaw's sandy "cremains" on Disneyland rides. Last year, somebody on Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance pulled the stunt, forcing the ride's shutdown for cleaning. What are parents in the next car supposed to tell the kids when a cloud of human ash hits them in the face? Luke, that is not your father.
Apocalypse Los Angeles

Jan 10, 2025 | jhnewsandguide.com | Rick Reilly

Scenes from the worst 24 hours in the history of Los Angeles... Four wildfires transform into massive flamethrowers, fueled by 99 mph Santa Ana winds. They swallow trees, cars and lives in their paths. A man shoots video on his phone from inside his mostly glass house, flames raging on three of four sides. He tilts the camera down to his dog, whose eyes are huge.
RICK REILLY: Los Angeles has seen riots and earthquakes but nothing compares to these wildfires

Jan 9, 2025 | thewest.com.au | Rick Reilly

Four fires transform into massive flamethrowers, fuelled by 99 mph Santa Ana winds. They engulf three football fields every minute, swallowing trees, cars and lives in their paths. A man shoots video on his phone from inside his mostly glass house, flames raging on three of four sides. He tilts the camera down to his dog, whose eyes are huge. A local TV station cameraman in Pacific Palisades shoots live with one hand and holds a garden hose on a burning house with the other. You do what you can.
The new phantom menace isn't as bad as you think. Waymo rocks!

Jan 7, 2025 | washingtonpost.com | Rick Reilly

The driverless Waymo robotaxis now serving a handful of cities have their critics. I'm not one of them. I'm going to try to do two things here. One: defend Waymo, the driverless taxi a lot of people seem to want to send off a cliff. Two: not make a single pun on the name. Both will be hard. Okay, so these robotaxi Waymos can give you the willies. They're roaming around Austin, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco with nobody at the wheel. Are they plotting something with our Roombas?
LeBron James needs to please pull the plug on this father-son farce

Oct 29, 2024 | pressherald.com | Rick Reilly

If your dad is Tom Hanks, you get to act in movies. If your dad was Robert F. Kennedy, you get to run for president. But sports is not like that. Sports is the last true meritocracy. Nobody puts you in the Yankees’ lineup just because your last name is Mantle. You don’t get to quarterback in the NFL because you grew up an Elway. They aren’t called the Denver Broncos and Sons. But all that somehow doesn’t seem to apply to the LeBron James family.
LeBron James and his son Bronny made NBA history. I feel bad for the kid. - The Washington Post

Oct 28, 2024 | washingtonpost.com | Rick Reilly

October 28, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. EDTIf your dad is Tom Hanks, you get to act in movies. If your dad was Robert F. Kennedy, you get to run for president. But sports is not like that. Sports is the last true meritocracy. Nobody puts you in the Yankees’ lineup just because your last name is Mantle. You don’t get to quarterback in the NFL because you grew up an Elway. They aren’t called the Denver Broncos and Sons. But all that somehow doesn’t seem to apply to the LeBron James family.
Forget the Olympics. The Palio in Siena, Italy, is my favorite sports event. - The Washington Post

Aug 12, 2024 | washingtonpost.com | Rick Reilly

The Palio in Siena, Italy, is an insane horse race with a bloodline going back more than half a millennium. Sorry, a summary is not available for this article at this time. Please try again later. August 12, 2024 at 5:45 a.m. EDTIf you like the Kentucky Derby, demolition derbies, and Shark vs. Jets gang fights and you’re wondering, “Hey, could all these things possibly be combined?”The answer is yes. It’s called the Palio.
Biden and Trump golf ‘handicap’ squabble at debate was giant divot - The Washington Post

Jul 2, 2024 | washingtonpost.com | Rick Reilly

Democracy Dies in DarknessThe dumbest debate in presidential history plumbed its dumbest depth when President Biden and former president Donald Trump started squabbling over, of all things, golf. What were they saying? Well, since I’ve written five golf books — including “Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump” — allow me to translate. It began when CNN moderator Dana Bash brought up their ages, which are just slightly older than igneous rock.