Editing Ralph Wiley (section)

== Career ==
Upon graduation, Wiley earned a position at the ''[[Oakland Tribune]]'', where he quickly climbed up the ranks from [[copy boy]] to beat writer and eventually became a regular columnist. In 1980, he coined the famous phrase "Billy Ball" to describe the managerial style of [[Billy Martin]].<ref name=":1" /> In 1982, he was hired by ''Sports Illustrated'', where he wrote 28 cover stories over a nine-year period,<ref name=":1" /> mainly about [[boxing]], [[American football|football]], and [[baseball]].

Wiley published several books during the course of his career, including ''[[Serenity, A Boxing Memoir]]''; ''[[Why Black People Tend To Shout]]''; and ''[[By Any Means Necessary: The Trials and Tribulations of Making Malcolm X]]'', with [[Spike Lee]].

Additionally, Wiley wrote articles for ''[[GQ]]'', ''[[Premiere (magazine)|Premiere]]'', and ''[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]''. He was a weekly contributor to ESPN's Page 2, where he wrote more than 240 columns. His presence on TV included [[ESPN]]'s ''[[The Sports Reporters]]'' and regular guest appearances on ''[[SportsCenter]]''.

=== Style ===
Wiley was famous for his well-regarded essays on race in America.<ref name=":0" /> He was known for his ability to mix street vernacular with literary references, and for his witty, erudite, and sometimes forceful writing style.<ref name=":1" /> When writing for ESPN's Page 2, in skirting the line between sports journalism and literary fiction, Wiley wrote many articles in the third person, featuring discursive, jazz-inflected prose and dialogue conducted between himself and a fictionalized character whose identity the writer left deliberately obscure.{{Citation needed|date = May 2015}}