Sportswriters, typically the most curmudgeonly house in the Fourth Estate, range from concerned to blase. Steve Politi, a sports features writer for Newark’s Star-Ledger, called the Madrid train bombings a wake-up call. “Now we’re hearing about bombs in [soda] bottles,” said Politi, whose wife worries about his assignment, “and I think a course like this isn’t a bad idea.” Star-Ledger sports editor Chris D’Amico said his writers are eager for the course: “It’ll scare them and ease their minds at the same time.” Others are more sanguine. Filip Bondy of the Daily News says, “I really think there are more dangerous assignments than being embedded with the gymnasts.”
