Will Hobson and Steven Rich of The Washington Post took first place in the Associated Press Sports Editors 2015 contest in Investigative Reporting.
Through Freedom of Information Act requests and review of thousands of pages of documents, the reporters’ winning entry exposed instances of extravagant spending within some of the nation’s largest athletic departments at a time when tuition costs are soaring and academic departments are facing unprecedented budgetary shortfalls.
Hobson and Rich will be presented a first-place plaque at the 2016 APSE banquet. The banquet and awards dinner concludes the APSE Conference June 22-25 at the Omni-Charlotte Hotel in Charlotte, N.C.
Hobson and Rich garnered 50 points and one first-place vote in the final balloting to best runners-up Teri Thompson, Mary Papenfuss, Nathaniel Vinton, Christian Red and Michael O’Keeffe of the New York Daily News (46 points, three first-place votes). Walt Bogdanich, Joe Drape, James Glanz, Jacqueline Williams and Agustin Armendariz of The New York Times finished third with 44 points and one first-place vote.
Sports editors submitted a total of 17 Investigative entries. The contest is open to APSE members. Click here to join.
Contest chair Tommy Deas 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 late February and early March, preliminary judges at the APSE Winter Conference at Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, 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 Investigative category recognizes the best single article or best series of articles displaying investigative sports journalism. Judging is based on the entry’s enterprise, initiative, documentation, resourcefulness and original reporting in uncovering newsworthy and significant facts and developments that otherwise might not have been reported. Impact and aftermath of the work are considered.
The Top 10 is listed below with links to writers’ Twitter pages, APSE member websites and winning entries.
- Will Hobson and Steven Rich, The Washington Post, 50 points, 1 first-place vote
Why students foot the bill for college sports, and how some are fighting back
College sports’ fastest-rising expense: Paying coaches not to work
The latest extravagances in the college sports arms race? Laser tag and mini golf
As college sports revenues spike, coaches aren’t only ones cashing in
- Teri Thompson, Mary Papenfuss, Nathaniel Vinton, Christian Red and Michael O’Keeffe, New York Daily News, 46 points, 3 first-place votes
IRS still after former U.S. soccer bigwig Chuck Blazer over millions in unpaid taxes
Disgraced ex-soccer bigwig Chuck Blazer has FIFA president Sepp Blatter in fear of U.S. prosecution
Informant Chuck Blazer is key player in FIFA arrest scandal
FIFA VP Jack Warner’s ticket-scalping son sang to federal investigators
Departing Sepp Blatter marked man in FIFA investigation built around Chuck Blazer
FIFA informant Chuck Blazer admitted to taking bribes for World Cup bids
EXCLUSIVE: New Jersey sports marketing company ISM entangled in FIFA bribery, kickback scandal
Sepp Blatter’s downfall: Tracking the last 5 years of shameful wheelings and dealings at FIFA
Wise Guys: Jeffrey Webb and Enrique Sanz took over CONCACAF with same Mafia ways as predecessors
FIFA scandal widens as U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch charges 16 more soccer official
- Walt Bogdanich, Joe Drape, James Glanz, Jacqueline Williams and Agustin Armendariz, The New York Times, 44 points, 1 first-place vote
Cash Drops and Keystrokes: The Dark Reality of Sports Betting and Daily Fantasy Games
Finding ‘Who’ and ‘Where’ Within the Sports Cyber-Betting Universe
The Offshore Game of Online Sports Betting
DraftKings Leaves Door Unlocked for Barred Fantasy Sports Players
For Addicts, Fantasy Sites Can Lead to Ruinous Path
Scandal Erupts in Unregulated World of Fantasy Sports
In Fantasy Sports, Signs of Insiders’ Edge
DraftKings Cuts Its Ties with Top Poker Series
17 People In Three States Are Held In Online Gambling Ring
Attorney General Tells DraftKings and FanDuel to Stop Taking Entries in New York
Massachusetts Attorney General Proposes Fantasy Sports Regulations
Fantasy Sports Site Closes Digital Loophole Ahead Of Hearing
N.F.L.’s Deal Over Data Blurs A Line On Gambling
- Josh Liebeskind and Mike Baker, The Seattle Times, 40 points, 1 first-place vote
Bellevue High’s football success aided by ‘diploma mill’
Bellevue football coaches wooed middle-school athletes
‘You think you scaring me?’: Videos show controversial Bellevue football trainer
Bellevue School District requests state probe of football program
- Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham, ESPN.com, 39 points
Spygate to Deflategate: Inside what split the NFL and Patriots apart
T6. Brian Davis, American-Statesman (Austin), 26 points
UT audit finds Longhorns staff used prime seats to play favorites, help ticket brokers
Complementary material:
Texas officials email season ticket holders about investigation
Unpopular Texas football ticket resale policy will continue
T6. Rachel Axon, Erik Brady, Steve Berkowitz and George Schroeder, USA TODAY Sports, 26 points
Did Penn State really face the death penalty?
- Scott M. Reid, Orange County Register, 24 points
Matt Leinart Flag Football League to pay Costa Mesa nearly $25,000 in back field rental fees
Matt Leinart Flag Football League will repay Irvine more than $60,000
Matt Leinart Flag Football League received almost $160,000 in improperly reduced field rental fees
- Bob Hohler, The Boston Globe, 20 points
Questions linger over Tom Brady’s relationship with ‘body coach’
- Paul Pringle and Nathan Fenno, Los Angeles Times, 15 points
Pat Haden has his hands full at USC, and it’s not his only job
