In 2006 Rushin was named the National Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. He is a 4X finalist for the National Magazine Award and the author of five books. His first, Road Swing, was judged Top 100 Sports Books of All Time by SI.

In a world swirling with Hot Sports Opinions, Steve Rushin offers this: New Orleans Is the Super Bowl’s Spiritual Home. He bolsters his position with anecdotes from the Big Easy in the ‘70s that laid the foundation for the spectacle we know today. Read it: www.si.com/nfl/new-orle...

Rooney has published several works of short fiction and poetry in addition to her novels. Her writing has been recognized with Costa Book Award, the Irish Book Award and the Encore Award. In 2022, Time Magazine named her among the 100 most influential people in the world.

Ronnie O’Sullivan is the greatest snooker player in history—what he can do, no one has ever been able to do. And no one can even explain how he does it. Sally Rooney spins up a smart story on O’Sullivan’s autobiography in the New York Review. Read it: www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

Surendran’s first story was about basketball. Sports led her to writing and writing has led her back to sports. Surendran was an 2022-23 ESPN-American University Fellow during graduate school. She has bylines in The Associated Press, WBUR, The New Indian Express and The Hindu.

Lavigne won a Sports Emmy for "Untold". She received a Peabody Award, investigating sexual assaults within Michigan State athletics, and an Alfred I duPont-Columbia University Award, investigating a youth football gambling ring. Full ESPN Pressroom bio: espnpressroom.com/us/bios/paul...

Fainaru-Wada has been with ESPN since 2007. "League of Denial" won the 2014 PEN Award for Literary Sports Writing. A companion documentary for PBS’s “Frontline” won the prestigious George Polk and Peabody awards. Professional backstory: redwoodbark.org/98379/lifest....

Merrill is the lead writer of this ESPN story that includes 17 credits for editorial staff, video production and a Creative Studio team. Left to her own devices, however, she'd be content to be a "writer in the middle of nowhere." Here's her Longform page: longform.org/archive/writ...

Nearly four decades after playing in the NFL, the 1988 New Orleans Saints still cherish their bond while confronting the cruel toll exacted by the toughest game. ESPN team of writers, illustrators and producers delivers the story. Read They Were All Young: www.espn.com/espn/feature...

Kumar has developed a specialty in long-form storytelling over her nine years at ESPN. Based in Hartford, her work has also been published in National Geographic, Vice, Independent Media and The Hindu. She teaches (online) long-form and profile writing workshops as well.

Human endurance isn't only gauged on the racecourse or field of play. For Inside NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams' Journey through Space, ESPN's Aishwarya Kumar unpacks an International Space Station experience that changed from sprint to marathon. Read it: www.espn.com/espn/story/_...

Grossman caught the sportswriting bug, reporting on fan reaction to the Steeler's 2006 Super Bowl win for Penn State's student newspaper. ESPN hired her in 2011. She shifted to reporting/writing in 2016. Her work has been cited for the Front Page Award and the Folio: Eddie Award.

Dawn Staley has blazed an unprecedented path and set a winning standard and both a basketball player and coach. The Naismith Hall of Famer started that journey some 40 years ago in north Philadelphia. Hallie Grossman tells that story. Read it: www.espn.com/womens-colle....

Fader writes about people who happen to play sports, telling the backstories that shape the complex personalities of athletes. She has written biographies on Giannis Antetokounmpo and Hakeem Olajuwon. Another on Larry Bird is forthcoming. All the info: www.mirinfader.com.

The Detroit Pistons earned a number one seed with the best record in the Eastern Conference. That came largely through Cade Cunningham’s performance and leadership, which figures to have been little surprise to Mirin Fader. Don’t Sleep on Cade Cunningham: www.theringer.com/2025/02/27/n...

Culpepper has covered 61 CFB playoff/bowl games, 51 golf majors, 25 tennis majors, 12 Super Bowls and 10 Olympics. Also, one camel race, one tractor pull, and one round-the-world sailing race, He wrote “Bloody Confused” about following Portsmouth in the English Premier League.

Chuck Culpepper profiles the staff and clients at Stable Recovery, a Kentucky drug rehabilitation facility. Hundreds of men have been impacted by the "uncanny 5,000-year relationship between humans and horses." Read the article: www.washingtonpost.com/sports/inter....

Collins is an Atlanta-based essayist and sportswriter. His published writings have been recognized with the Wabash Nonfiction Award and Lamar York Award. Esquire author page: www.esquire.com/author/25925.... Complete bio and clips: jeremycollinswrites.com.

Jeremy Collins profiles Barry Bonds in the Atlantic. As the subhead states: “He was baseball’s ultimate slugger—and its biggest heel. Two decades after the steroid scandal that upended his career, America still doesn’t know what to do with him.” Read it: www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025....

Based in Philadelphia, Pavlína Černá is Senior Features Editor for Hearst Magazines, which includes Runner's World. She is a native of the Czech Republic and earned a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism from Temple University. See her full bio and portfolio at pavlinacerna.com.

Pavlína Černá profiles a 77-year old marathoner in "Jeannie Rice Knows Something the Rest of Us Don’t". It's not about talent. It's not about training. Rice has tapped into an ineffable force that defies her age and will never stop chasing it. Read: runnersworld.com/preview/runner…

Andrade Franco is an ESPN writer. He is a four-time Best Sportswriting finalist and has had is work included in the Best American Sports Writing anthology. He maintains a Substack at substack.com/@robertojose..., where he writes "about the things I don’t write about at work."

The 2025 Terrance Crawford/Canelo Álvarez fight for the undisputed super middleweight championship of the world was epic from many points of view. Prizefights, however, are waning, as @randradefranco.bsky.social observes. Read his Crawford/Álvarez story: espn.com/boxing/story....

The work cited for the inaugural Jenkins Medal for Best Sports Book illustrate the breadth of American sports culture. The authors are all first class and the stories they tell are fascinating. See the nominated work at jenkinsmedsl.com.

In 2026, we'll introduce two new Jenkins Medal awards. For the inaugural Best Student Sportswriting medal, I'm delighted to celebrate these outstanding finalists!

We're excited to launch the Dan Jenkins Medal for Student Sportswriting, which is open to any student publishing on any platform. Check out the work from these five finalists at jenkinsmedal.com, representing UFlorida, UMaryland, UOregon, UColorado, and PSU-Bellisario.

Miren nomas al compa @randradefranco.bsky.social being rightfully recognized

The stories cited as Jenkins Medal Best Sportswriting finalists are powerful, hilarious and enlightening. All are reported and written by tremendously talented professionals. Profiles, features and deep dives. See all the nominated work at jenkinsmedal.com.

See the 2026 nominees for the Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting. In addition to Best Sportswriting, we have created new awards for Student Sportwriting and Best Sports Book. www.jenkinsmedal.com Mark your calendars for the awards dinner: September 17 in Austin.

Congratulations Raymond Reyes! #CSCMseniorspotlight

Congratulations Giorgy Ruiz! #CSCMseniorspotlight

Congratulations Grabiel Silva! #CSCMseniorspotlight

Congratulations Bria Latzsch! #CSCMseniorspotlight

Congratulations Ale Burkle! (a.k.a. Alejandra Merodio Burkle) #CSCMseniorspotlight

Join us this afternoon. (With refreshments!)

It was great fun chatting with Tom Ricketts last week. I did my best not to let my @cubsbot.bsky.social fandom get in the way!

Here's the video from the 2026 McGarr Symposium on Sports and Society, featuring Chicago Cubs Executive Chairman Tom Ricketts. youtu.be/rHw79rjDYsA H/T Cappy McGarr

Thanks, again, to Tom Ricketts for speaking to students and faculty last week at the McGarr Symposium on Sports and Society. Translating success in the business world to success on the playing field has frustrated many owners. Ricketts said he loves the challenge.

NEW EVENT: Join us next week for a talk by CSCM Visiting Scholar Dr. Estee Fresco. Fresco, on leave from York University in Ontario, studies strength culture and the media practices that shape it — including muscle magazines, barbells, iron, steroids, and protein supplements.

Real talk from Tom Ricketts on the opportunities and challenges of running a beloved big league club. Breaking a 100+ year World Series drought validated his take on the baseball business model. Growing interest and investing in the game continues to be his enduring concern.

Fun fact: The Cubs are the oldest active MLB team still playing in the same city in which they started. The first official use of the “Cubs” moniker came in 1907, the same year that the franchise won the first of back-to-back World Series. Join us tomorrow for Tom Ricketts!

Ricketts earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago in 1987 and his MBA from Chicago Booth in 1993. He went on to create Incapital, an electronic investment bank specializing in the underwriting of debt products to the retail market.

Running a business with $600M in revenue in one thing. Running a business valued at $5B (fourth highest in MLB) is another. Iconic brand. Legendary ballpark. Big market. Dedicated media outlet. Great fans. What more could and Executive Chairman want? Hear Tom Ricketts next week.

When I first decided to write about sports, the first name my dad mentioned was Frank Deford. It was an honor to deliver this year’s Deford Lecture at @ut-cscm.bsky.social Thursday afternoon. Thanks to all who helped make it so special for me. youtu.be/E7hwq3NyePE?...

UP NEXT! Celebrate baseball season with us.

Lecture video: youtu.be/E7hwq3NyePE

@sethwickersham.bsky.social @SethWickersham was great! #nosurprise Video coming soon. Here are some stills, courtesy of mtdphotography.com.

Join us tomorrow for the 2026 Frank Deford Lecture in Sports Journalism, featuring ESPN Senior Writer Seth Wickersham (@sethwickersham.bsky.social). DMC 2.106 at 4pm. Free and open to the public. More info at defordlecture.org.

Wickersham is a five-time finalist for the Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting (2x with a co-author), the most for any sportswriter. In 2018, he was a finalist for the National Magazine Award for Reporting. He's been on a team, winning the NMA for General Excellence 3x.

The 2026 Deford Lecturer keeps working his beat.