Welcome to SPJ Blogs Sign in | Join | Help

Sports (RSS)

Olympic Dreams

NPR is running some inspiring stories about athletes who hope to compete in this summer's Olympics. "Olympic Profiles: Bound for Beijing" stories describing the Iraqi sprinter who dodges sniper fire as she trains, a shot-putter

Scenes From a Recovery

Bill Reiter, sports reporter at The Kansas City Star, visited storm-ravaged Iowa to report on the recovery efforts. The result, "Iowans Are Reclaiming Their Lives and Their Sports," uses scenes from Des Moines, Parkersburg, West Des Moines, Ames, Waterloo

Throwing Their Dreams Away

To protect pitchers' arms, major-league managers usually restrict the number of pitches they can throw in a single game. But, as Tom Wyrwich of the Seattle Times shows in "Former High School Pitcher Hopes Rules Are Changed to Protect Young Arms," high

Flames on Planes

Reporter Phil Williams of WTVF Channel 5 in Nashville used the Freedom of Information Act to do an investigative story of national significance. Williams obtain Federal Aviation Administration videos and reports indicating that two kinds of wiring commonly

Winning Pictures

The National Press Photographers Association has finished its 2008 competition, and the winners show us the best of photojournalism on the Web. John Moore of Getty Images captured first place in the still photo category for a portfolio showing the causes

When Daddy Goes to War

In "Bedtime Stories for Catherine," Wright Thompson of ESPN.com offers us a haunting portrait of Matthew Conley, a high school quarterback from Alabama who joined the Marines, went to Iraq and didn't come back alive. Thompson shares Conley's

The Boxer

Richard Hoffer of Sports Illustrated proves he is one of the best sportswriters around with an amazing profile of middleweight boxing champion Kelly Pavlik. Hoffer's "Forged to Fight" weaves Pavlik's story with that of his hometown, Youngstown, Ohio,

Should Sports Writers Blow the Whistle?

Ken Armstrong and Nick Perry of the Seattle Times have written an outstanding series, "Victory and Ruins," on the troubled University of Washington football team that won the Rose Bowl in 2001: An unprecedented look behind the scenes — based largely

Song of Grace

Bill Reiter of The Kansas City Star has written a lovely article, "Virginia Tech Band Replies to a Terrible Day With a Song of Beauty," on how the school's marching band responded to last spring's shootings in which band member Ryan Clark was killed.
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Filed Under: ,

The Death of a Basketball Player

Wright Thompson of ESPN has written a powerful narrative about a former college basketball star who disappears into the wilds of Brazil. "The Last Days of Tony Harris" follows Harris as he plays his last days for a Brazilian team and runs from
posted by jonmarshall | 1 Comments
Filed Under: , ,

Best Gems of 2007

When we sat down to create the Top 10 News Gems of 2007, we ended up with an initial list of more than 40 favorite stories. We had a hard time deciding among the many outstanding examples of journalism from magazines, broadcast outlets, Web sites and

A Fragile Strength

In "Autistic Powerlifter's Quest," Rex W. Huppke of the Chicago Tribune does a fine job in maintaining dramatic tension to the very end of this moving narrative. The story follows Jamie Smith, 24, as he prepares to compete at the Special Olympics World
posted by jonmarshall | 0 Comments
Filed Under: ,

A Story that Isn't a Story

Nearly all writers face instances when they can't figure out how to organize their stories. J.R. Moehringer takes this writers block and uses it to his advantage with "23 Reasons Why a Profile of Pete Carroll Does Not Appear in this

Pumping Pills

In an excellent special report, "Broken College System Lets Drug Cheats Slip Through the Cracks," Michael C. Lewis and Nate Carlisle of The Salt Lake Tribune show that college athletes can go their entire careers without being tested for steroids and

New Horizons

Here are two nice stories on second chances. In "The Last Resort," Michael Leahy of the Washington Post tells how Clayton Beaver, a 40-year-old Hawaiian struggling to support his family, decided to join the Army. Beaver isn't sure he can survive boot
More Posts Next page »