By John Bednarowski, APSE Fourth Vice President
The team from the Hartford Courant won first place in the Associated Press Sports Editors 2014 for its project in the 75,001-175,000 circulation category.
The team of Dom Amore, Mike Anthony, John Altavilla, Desmond Conner, Paul Doyle, Jeff Jacobs, Lori Riley, Tom Yantz, Matt Conyers, Colin McDonough, Matt McDonough, Jeff Otterbein, Scott Powers and Jeff Smith. They will be presented a first-place plaque at the 2015 APSE banquet. The banquet and awards dinner concludes the APSE Conference June 24-27 at The Westgate Hotel in San Diego, Calif.
The Courant team edged runner-up Dirk Chatelain of the Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald. Steve Jones and Adam Himmelsbach of the Louisville Courier-Journal placed third.
Sports editors in the Over 75,001-175,000 category submitted 17 project entries.The contest is open to APSE members. Click here to join.
Contest chair Mary Byrne numbered each entry, assuring they had been stripped of headlines, graphics, bylines and any other element that would identify the writer or news organization.
In early February, preliminary judges at the APSE Winter Conference in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., selected a top 10, with each judge ranking the entries in order from 1 to 10 separately on a secret ballot. Entries were given 10 points for a first-place vote, nine points for second and so on down to one point for a 10th-place vote. The final 10 were given to a second judging group, which ranked the entries 1-10 in the same fashion. The winner and final rankings are determined by tallying the ballots.
The Project Reporting category judges a collection of articles that sheds new light on personalities and issues in the news, including trends and original ideas. Entries were limited to 10 stories, with optional material allowed to be read at the discretion of judges.
The top 10 is listed below with links to writers’ Twitter pages, APSE member websites and winning entries:
1. Dom Amore, Mike Anthony, John Altavilla, Desmond Conner, Paul Doyle, Jeff Jacobs, Lori Riley, Tom Yantz, Matt Conyers, Colin McDonough, Matt McDonough, Jeff Otterbein, Scott Powers, Jeff Smith, Hartford Courant, 51 points, 2 first-place votes
Morgan Bulkeley: The Biggest Sportsman To Come From Hartford
From Gehrig To Bagwell, A Proud History Of Baseball In Connecticut
Pep Bashed Boxers, Lee Punched Out Copy In Hartford’s Heyday
Hartford Kid Struck Out 25, But Never Got Chance At The Majors
Funeral For A Friend: The Day The Whalers Left Hartford
Camp, Calhoun And Auriemma Stand Above All Other Coaches
No Team Sparkled On Hartford’s Diamonds Like The Savitt Gems
Aetna, Travelers Put A Premium On Girls Basketball In 1920s
Travelers Championship Shells Out Big Bucks, Has Huge History
2. Dirk Chatelain, Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald, 46 points, 1 first-place vote
Excess pitching fuels explosion of elbow injuries
Greater velocity has led to more elbow reconstruction surgeries
New approach could help lessen arm woes
Long toss: Is it toxic or a tonic?
3. Steve Jones and Adam Himmelsbach, Louisville Courier-Journal, 46 points, 1 first-place vote
The numbers behind Nike’s basketball shoe kingdom
Shoe companies pay millions for walking ads
Club team, Nike reap benefits of sponsorship
Athletes, coaches, parents talk shoe affiliation
4. Aaron Portzline, The Columbus Dispatch, 41 points, 1 first-place vote
No Link
5. David Hall, Harry Minium, Ed Miller, Bob Molinaro, Tom Robinson, Larry Rubama, Lee Tolliver, The Virginian-Pilot, 35 points
Whatever happened to… Blake Cullen?
Whatever happened to … track star Tim Montgomery
Whatever happened to … the fishing boat Therapy
Whatever happened to … bodybuilder Lynn Conkwright
Whatever happened to … surfing legend Pete Smith?
Whatever happened to … athletes Fayton and Treherne
Whatever happened to … high school star Ryan Pond
For Tides records holder, success is all in the mind
Whatever happened to… W&M QB Shawn Knight
Whatever happened to … ODU standout Mark Poag
6. Andrew Carter, The News & Observer, 31 points
No Links
7. Berry Tramel and Jenni Carlson, The Oklahoman, 27 points
Oklahoma State basketball: Remembering the shot that ‘sneaked’ the Cowboys into Final Four
NCAA Tournament: Remembering the 25 most memorable shots in 75 years of the NCAAs
Where are they now?: Saint Joseph’s Tyrone Barley, the player who was defending John Lucas’ shot
Ivan McFarlin and the 2004 Cowboys left their egos at the door
Oklahoma State basketball: How the 2003-04 Cowboys brought OSU’s campus together
8. John Hoover, Tulsa World, 27 points
Sports concussions remain a problem at every level
Game Point: Research, reports show it’s time for soccer players, coaches to re-examine headers
Oklahoma lawmakers getting serious about sports concussions
Oklahoma House votes down concussion legislation
Making a case for safer athletes
9. Amy Moritz, The Buffalo News, 19 points
Why not us? Can Canisius and Niagara become major players in college hockey?
Conference affiliations remain subject to change
HarborCenter giving Canisius hockey a home of its own
Atlantic Hockey tries to keep up with the big schools
Limits on scholarships handicap Atlantic Hockey
10. Mark Alesia, Tim Evans, Bob Kravitz, Stephen Holder, Mike Chappell, Zak Keefer, Cathy Knapp, Stephanie Wang, Phil Richards, Indianapolis Star, 17 points
Kravitz: Jim Irsay fighting for his life, needs help
Irsay’s arrest is the latest glimpse at his battle with addiction
Kravitz: NFL should require drug testing for Colts owner Jim Irsay
Colts’ owner Jim Irsay carrying $29K cash when arrested
Carlie Irsay-Gordon: The woman now running the Colts
Colts owner Jim Irsay’s troubles could go beyond March arrest
NFL suspends Colts owner Jim Irsay for 6 games
Jim Irsay must testify in divorced couple’s child custody case
The first look at the association between Jim Irsay and Kimberly Wundrum
Colts owner Jim Irsay on his suspension: ‘I paced and I watched’
(John Bednarowski is sports editor of the Marietta (Ga.) Daily Journal and fourth vice president of APSE. Contact him at johnbednarowski@gmail.com)
