By Tommy Deas
APSE President
Nicholas Talbot of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal won first place in the Associated Press Sports Editors 2016 contest in Columns category for the Under 30,000 circulation category.
Talbot won for his portfolio of five columns. The winner in each category will receive a plaque at the 2017 APSE Summer Conference at the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans June 26-29. (Click here to register for the conference.)
The banquet and awards dinner will conclude the APSE Summer Conference, which takes place June 26-29 at The Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans
Matt L. Stephens of the Fort Collins Coloradoan placed second. Brice Cherry of the Waco Tribune finished third.
Sports editors in the Under 30,000 category submitted 51 entries in the column writing category. The contest is open to APSE members. Click here to join.
Contest chair Jeff Rosen and fellow APSE officers Tommy Deas, John Bednarowski and Robert Gagliardi 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 February, preliminary judges at the APSE Winter Conference in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., and off-site around the country, 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 Columns category is judged based on style, writing quality, originality and local appeal.
The top 10 is listed below, with links to writers’ Twitter pages, APSE member websites and winning entries.
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Nicholas Talbot, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 44 points (2 first-place votes)
Kingsbury’s contract could be saving his job
Red Raiders, Kingsbury could benefit from showing a little more heart
Is college football finding a moral compass?
Grobe, Baylor can’t keep ignoring sexual assaults
Bowlsby’s phone is busy with expansion opinions
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Matt L. Stephens, Fort Collins Coloradoan, 42 points (2 first-place votes)
JUCO coach there in Emmanuel Omogbo’s time of need
Wyoming’s Josh Adams the Border War villain who isn’t
CSU not getting its money’s worth from Mike Bobo
We’re all the punchline to CSU’s Hayden Hunt
Obituary: Hughes Stadium, 1968-2016
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Brice Cherry, Waco Tribune, 40 points
Baylor’s assistant coaches owe team, fans some answers
For Seth Russell, a painful — yet classy — end
Let’s play the name game for Waco’s new pro baseball team
Former Lady Bears star Whitaker now proudly protects her native Dallas
Briles’ win-at-all-costs approach fails Baylor
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Cecil Hurt, The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News, 37 points (1 first-place vote)
Lesson from Baylor – Don’t let it happen here
Remember Turner, Lyda for how they lived
This game had it all, including a sweet win for Alabama
LSU still where they were five years ago – looking up at Alabama
Deontay Wilder can’t afford to rush next fight
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John Bohnenkamp, The Hawk Eye, 35 points
Nobody has it better than Harbaugh
Hawkeyes need to get control – and soon
Another head-shaker, with no answers
The party didn’t belong to the Hawkeyes
Trine ready for next challenge
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Aaron Reiss, Columbia Missourian, 34 points
Understanding the Missouri football boycott’s legacy and the issues that remain
There’s a lot in Aarion Penton’s name
Missouri wrestling’s J’den Cox displays unifying power through Olympics
Even Eastern Michigan football fans find irrational optimism
Goodbye the the best teacher I, and so many others, have had
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John Bednarowski, Marietta Daily Journal, 33 points (1 first-place vote)
GHSA avoiding questions about basketball tournament discrepancies
Golf’s ‘King’ shows signs of mortality
Berenato heeds the call to come to KSU
(Only links available)
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Scott Petrak, The Chronicle-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio), 30 points
Browns’ Jackson handling losses like a champ
Corey Kluber has a frosty, frustrating day
Latest failed drug test shows it’s time for Browns to cut ties with Josh Gordon
Changing the culture is fine, but it will take more than that to turn the Browns around
Hue Jackson wants trust; fans deserve an answer at QB
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Chris Stevens, Midland (Mich.) Daily News, 18 points
‘The Bird’ was the word 40 years ago
Three older gentlemen with inspiring attitudes
These days, Tiger is just another aging legend
In this scary era, get to know your child’s coach
It’s time for Kaepernick to stand up or shut up
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Brad Elliott Schlossman, Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald, 17 points
UND’s Athletics committee is problematic
Just read between the lines
UND’s pointless charade is demeaning
Enjoy the present with this UND team
In NHL, draft doesn’t dictate future earnings
