On the scene: A lifetime in sports spent racing against the clock

The slowest person on the Philadelphia Eagles practice field has remained with the team for almost four decades.

And the most devout and literary sports fans from the City of Brotherly Love wouldn't want it any other way.

Ray Didinger has been covering the city's pro-sports teams since he was 23 years old, and has become the media equivalent of versatile ex-NFLer Kordell Stewart: sportswriter, radio personality, TV commentator and NFL Films producer rolled into one.

Now Philly's unofficial pre-eminent football writer is following up on his first book, The Eagles Encyclopedia, which he co-wrote with sports historian Robert Lyons.

Didinger gave an anecdote-laced speech at the Free Library of Philadelphia last Wednesday to promote his just-released One Last Read: The Collected Works of the World's Slowest Sportswriter.

Notorious for pushing deadlines to the very edge, Didinger has a simple explanation for being stamped with such a superlative.

"I tried to make every single word I ever wrote perfect," he said.

The Collected Works, which compiles old columns and articles that graced the pages of The Daily News and the now-defunct Philadelphia Bulletin, is evidence of that.

But what the book might not make clear is the consequence of writing at a snail's pace.

"I've been locked into every NFL stadium at one time or another," Didinger said, adding that he knows the nooks and crannies of places like Candlestick Park and Texas Stadium better than any member of their maintenance crews.

Few besides Didinger know the stress of racing against the sun to make the presses. During his years at the Bulletin, an afternoon publication, he once found himself writing a recap of a baseball game - which ended hours earlier - as the sun peeked over the Baltimore horizon.

Only a stop at a convenience store on the way back to Philadelphia would assuage his worries - he had made the print edition, but just barely. It was hardly his only close call.

While Didinger's introduction to The Collected Works harps on the sheer luck of his ascent to King of Philly Sportswriters, it's hard to begrudge his dream job. Not just because he's so good at what he does, but because he's the only man for the job.

When other families headed to the Jersey Shore for summer vacation, the Didingers headed to Hershey, Pa. to check out Eagles training camp, which is now a highway-clogging ritual performed every summer. When most Philadelphians had to make a tough choice every Sunday during football season - Eagles or church? - young Ray and his family didn't let one tradition take away from the other.

"I couldn't tell you where the religion left off and the football began," he said.

Didinger went from football-worshipper to an icon himself in 1995 when his name was added to the Writers Honor Roll in the Pro Football Hall of Fame after winning the prestigious Dick McCann Memorial Award, which recognizes long and distinguished reporting in the field of professional football.

When Didinger took the microphone last week, it didn't matter that the crowd was relatively sparse. He captivated the audience members, most of whom were pre-Baby Boomers, by offering a unique, reminiscent viewpoint of the sports scene that has been so kind - and cruel - to a city for generations.

So, Philly sports fans, if you've got the stomach to retread the last few decades of your town's sports scene from another fan's perspective, The Collected Works might be for you.

After all, Didinger put a lot into these columns over the years.

It took "a lot of love and a lot of care," said the World's Slowest Sportswriter. He paused for a second.

"And a lot of time."

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