HERE WE GO
By Mike Donoghue
NSSA National Board President
The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press
(800) 427-3124, Ext. 1845
AND THE WINNERS ARE: On behalf of the entire NSSA membership, the National Board extends congratulations to each of the national and state winners, along with our two Hall of Fame selections. You are tops in your fields.
The full list of winners is displayed below.
It was another exciting year of voting. Thank you to those who took the time to vote on the state, national and Hall of Fame nominees.
For first-time winners, you are in for a wonderful three-day stay in Salisbury, N.C. The dates are Saturday, May 3, to Monday, May 5. The city of Salisbury and Rowan County really roll out the red carpet for the NSSA each year.
If you have won before but never got to Salisbury, this is the time to come. And for those returning winners, another wonderful program is in store for you.
Longtime Program Director Barbara Lockert and the rest of the crew are busy putting the final touches on the program. If you have any thoughts, wishes or questions about the program, please let us know. You can reach us at: Barbara Lockert at sloegin@bellsouth.net; or (704) 633-4275 or mdonoghue@smcvt.eduor (802) 660-1845.
VIOLATING THE FIRST AMENDMENT: Legislation has been introduced in both the House and the Senate in Illinois to prevent the Illinois High School Association from blocking traditional newspaper coverage at state tournament games.
The IHSA has said it will offer press passes to post-season tournaments to newspapers only if they agree not to sell extra photos from the event. They dislike the thought of newspapers offering photo galleries from the tournament.
The last I knew, high school sports were public events in public facilities. The ISHA has a contract with an out-of-state photo company (Wisconsin) that apparently provides free photos of the administrators from the ISHA.
The Illinois Press Association, on behalf of its 600 members, also has sued the IHSA. The ISHA has filed a counter-suit against the state press association.
Some newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, notified readers in advance that they would not be seeing pictures from the state championships.
The NSSA continues to monitor this situation in several states. We stand ready to offer our voice so we can do our jobs.
If you are aware of anything like this happening in your state, please drop me an e-mail with any details. We are keeping a list of these cases. This includes charging newspapers a fee for each press pass issued to a staff member.
You can reach me at mdonoghue@smcvt.edu.
THE ANNUAL NSSA BOARD MEETING: The 49th annual NSSA National Board meeting is set for 9:15 a.m. on May 4 during the Awards Program. All are welcome.
Among the agenda items are: planning for the 50th NSSA Awards Program in 2009 and whether to switch the annual voting from paper ballots to electronic voting.
We have received some wonderful ideas for the 50th annual celebration, but they will cost money, so fundraising and sponsorships need to pick up.
As noted in past newsletters, some serious concerns have been raised by dues-paying members about moving away from paper ballots to some type of electronic voting in future years. It sounds like things went smoothly this year. If you have any thoughts on the issue, please let me know
ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER: This newsletter is coming out a little early, partly because the list of winners is available now.
We continue to get positive comments and words of encouragement from the NSSA members and others. This is your newsletter. Please help fill it with your news items, ideas, and thoughts.
A special thanks goes to Ryan Dulude, a May 2007 graduate of St. Michael’s College, who helped create and design the NSSA electronic newsletters for the past year.
THE ANNUAL NSSA WINNERS ANNOUNCED: Jim Nantz of CBS Sports and Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe have been selected the top National Sportscaster and Sportswriter of the Year, respectively.
Nantz and Ryan were elected in voting by the membership of the NSSA, the largest national journalism group focusing on both the crafts of sportscasting and sportswriting. The NSSA also selected state winners for the top sportscasters and sportswriters.
Harry Kalas, longtime broadcaster for the Philadelphia Phillies, and Mary Garber, a pioneer female sportswriter, also will be inducted into the NSSA Hall of Fame.
NSSA Program Director Barbara Lockert said all the winners will be honored during a weekend celebration May 3-5, with the awards presented during the 49th annual NSSA banquet at the historic Salisbury Depot on May 5.
Click here for state winners:
Update from Salisbury
By Glenn Hudson
Greetings from Salisbury! We're looking forward to having all our winners join us May 3-5 for what should be a great weekend.
I met recently with our friends at the National Athletic Trainers Association in Dallas, and they have told me that they intend to address the issue of steroids during the Sunday luncheon this year. I'm sure our members in attendance will benefit greatly from this presentation. Also, we will be given information on MRSA, a highly contagious infection that has made the news recently in the sports world.
Also, the Sporting Goods Manufacturer's Association will be joining us again this year, and their director of communications, Mike May, is working with us to get some of the SGMA member companies interested in our program for possible sponsorship.
Finally, I would like to thank all our members who stepped up and voted for the American Heart Association's Bear Bryant College Football Coach of the Year this year. Our numbers were way up over last year. The Bear Bryant Award gives our organization an opportunity for some good exposure as we continue to make the NSSA more relevant in the sports world.
See you in May.
CHANGES TO THE MARRIOTT VIP PROGRAM: Marriott has made a change to its VIP program that will require action on the part of NSSA members who want to continue to receive discounts from the hotel chain.
NSSA members who wish to participate now must go online at Marriott.com and sign up for a Rewards account. They must then e-mail their account number to nssahalloffame@aol.com. We will need to provide this number to Marriott when submitting a new master list of our members. Please include your first and last names with this number.
Marriott has never required NSSA to release our mailing list for us to participate in this program. That has not changed. When you go online to sign up for your Rewards account, simply put in the Post Office Box address for the NSSA as your address. (P.O. Box 1545, Salisbury, N.C. 28144.) We also submit this address to Marriott on the master form, so your personal information is safe.
We would ask that you to please go online and activate your Rewards account by March 1 so we can get new VIP cards as quickly as possible for our membership. For those of you who joined recently or whose cards were not in the first batch that we received from Marriott last year, we have added you to the master list and will send you your cards.
Click herefor more news items.
The National Athletic Trainers Association will be offering its annual seminar during the 49th annual NSSA Awards Weekend May 3-5.
This year’s session will once again be on a timely topic: steroids. NATA members across the country have been a valuable resource to sportscasters and sportswriters trying to present informative pieces.
NATA also plans to discuss MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), a highly contagious infection that has made crept into the sports world. The germs can be fatal.
Kansas Jayhawks head football coach Mark Mangino has been named the 2007 Paul "Bear" Bryant College Coach of the Year by the members of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.
The Paul "Bear" Bryant College Football Coaching Awards are held annually to benefit the American Heart Association and honor excellence in coaching while raising funds to fight heart disease and stroke. The NSSA serves as the official voting body for the honor, which was presented Jan. 17 in Houston.
In 2007, Mangino led his team to a 7-1 record in Big 12 Conference play (11-1 overall, a school record for most wins in a season) as well as an Orange Bowl victory over Virginia Tech.
National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association (NSSA) President Mike Donoghue, who helped present the Bryant Coach of the Year award, said Coach Mangino is well-deserving.
“It was a difficult choice for the NSSA members to pick from the list of finalists provided because they each show what is so special about college football. Coach Mangino has certainly demonstrated that hard work pays off by always having his players well prepared for every game. Paul Bear Bryant would have been proud to know and watch Coach Mangino,” said Donoghue, a staff writer at The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press.
In addition to his success this year, Mangino has guided the Crimson and Blue to a trio of bowl contests, including the 2008 BCS Orange Bowl, and has given the Jayhawk faithful a renewed sense of pride.
This year's team set a number of school records, including most wins in a season, while achieving its highest national ranking in school history when the Jayhawks reached second in every major poll in November. This season, Mangino's team was one of the nation's best statistically, ranking among the country's elite in scoring offense, total offense, scoring defense and total defense. The well-disciplined Jayhawks also top the country in fewest penalties and turnover margin.
Mangino’s success can be seen on and off the field. In 2007 a new all-time attendance record was set as the Jayhawks drew 46,784 fans per home outing. It is the third consecutive season an attendance record has been set, which is just another sign that Mangino has the Kansas program firing on all cylinders.
The seven finalists for the 2007 Paul “Bear” Bryant College Football Coach of the Year, in alphabetical order, were:
--- Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech
--- Sylvester "Sly" Croom, Mississippi State University
--- June Jones, University of Hawaii
--- Mark Mangino, University of Kansas
--- Les Miles, Louisiana State University
--- Gary Pinkel, University of Missouri
--- Ron Zook, University of Illinois
Shortly after the award presentation, Fox Sports Net (FSN) affiliates began airing a special program on the Paul "Bear" Bryant Awards, featuring interviews from the finalists, highlights from the awards ceremony, and a tribute to Lifetime Achievement recipient Tom Osborne of Nebraska.
The NSSA has lost another great friend.
We are sorry to report that J. Michael McDuffie, 49, lost his battle with cancer on Jan. 14. Mike McDuffie and his wife, Kathy, personify what people in Salisbury are all about.
Everybody knows what a great air traffic controller Mike was by him getting all of us in and out of Salisbury on time. But above all, Mike was just one of those kinds of people that you are proud to call your friend. He had a wonderful sense of humor and remained positive at the NSSA awards weekend last year.
Mike donated his time to countless local programs and projects, including the Kiwanis, youth baseball and Special Olympics. Mike was a master at everything he did. He will be missed. Elizabeth Cook of the Salisbury Post wrote a wonderful column memorializing Mike.
We extend our condolences to Kathy and the rest of the McDuffie family.
Don’t forget to send items for the next NSSA newsletter to: mdonoghue@smcvt.edu