In the naked quest to forage inspiration for myself that my “editorial responsibilities” at Ragged Band generally constitute, I regularly find myself reading, viewing, or otherwise consuming the work of men and women more talented, recognized, or well-compensated than I am and daydreaming about how they got to where they are now. The bright-eyed search for an answer to that question is the guise under which I have secured several of the interviews on this site. “Care to share with other younger aspirants about how they can attempt to follow in your footsteps?”

But in reflecting on that strategy over recent weeks, and on the focus that comes with it, I’ve been reminded of how trying to zero in on how others have done what they’ve done can quickly become an exercise in despair and envy. While I remain confident that the niche aim of this blog, to ferret out information and inspiration about the art of making art, is a worthwhile endeavor, I’ve also been reminded that part of trying to foster endurance and hope while getting sandblasted by the storm-clouds forever hovering above the creative path demands that we not only get down to brass tacks about the practical aspects of how lofty goals get accomplished in the real world (“How do I put myself in the right place at the right time?; …actually get the first draft of my novel out onto the page?; …pursue an internship?; …build my network?; …figure out where to start in making a film?”), but also remember to continually surround ourselves with good work.

You know, garbage in garbage out. You can only read so many blog posts about how to develop your personal network or increase your creative output before starting to wonder how the tines of that fork lying on the counter over there would feel if you jammed them into your eyeball.

Enter Brian Phillips, a staff writer for Grantland operating in his own self-contained nexus zone at the edge of mainstream American sports reporting. Folks, this is the kind of writing that makes me want to keep writing. Phillips combines Grantland’s colloquial style with his own ephemeral touch to create work that is honest without being self-important, and funny without feeling vacuous. The site, a subsidiary of ESPN, offers up long-form reporting and features on pop culture and sports. In addition to an expected focus on the most popular topics in modern American sport—football, basketball, baseball, and the personalities and exploits of the athletes and owners who populate their respective national leagues—the editors make room for a healthy range of fringe coverage. This is the realm Phillips operates in.

His first passion is soccer, which he covers with vigor and pathos for both Grantland and The Run of Play, where he serves as editor. But Phillips is not daunted by the constraints of expertise. He seems up for anything, bringing the same razor wit and eye for humanity to his coverage of the National Rodeo Finals as he does to his take on the current state of world-wide soccer in the wake of Europol’s recent damning report on match-fixing. Two of my favorite pieces he’s written over the last year include his reflections on Felix Baumgartner’s mind-blowing astronaut skydive, and his epic five-part series of dispatches from Wimbledon.