APSE Awards

That is one strange fucking list.

 

You could make that case, but also make the case that at least they're reading each columnist for the merits of their entries and not always figuring out the usual suspects and just sticking them in there.

 

I read all those guys a lot more than three times a year, SF. (Is that still the entry number for columnists?) Doyel, Jenkins and Miklasz deserved the recognition. Kovacevic and Politi are fine choices. I'm stunned by the other five picks. I'll leave it at that.

 

It's five now, but point understood.

 

I love reading Ian O'Connor...great wordsmith IMHO

 

I won't comment on the columnist awards, except to say I was surprised by a couple of 'em, too, both pleasantly and otherwise. The one top 10 that really jumped out at me was the Sunday Globe. I've been reading that paper since 1974. Today, the Sunday Globe sports is a hollow shell. Four full pages of the notes columns which were the first thing the Internet made obsolete in sports journalism, one big feature (often quite good), wire service roundups and much New England small college and high school agate (quite useful). I used to read it first on Sunday. Now it's maybe fifth, fighting for that ranking with the Times Arts & Leisure.

 

PROJECTS OVER 175,000

Top 10:
Peter Abraham, Amalie Benjamin, Nick Cafardo, Chad Finn, Daigo Fujuwara, Sean Smith and Jaiver Zarrachina, Boston Globe
Terry Frei and Mike Chambers, The Denver Post
Kent Babb, Bob Duton, Pete Grathoff, Sam Mellinger, Terez A. Paylor and Tod Palmer, Kansas City Star
Michael O’Keeffe, Christian Red and Teri Thompson, New York Daily News
John Branch, The New York Times
Frank Fitzpatrick, Philadelphia Inquirer
John C. Cotey, Joey Knight, Bob Putnam and Eduardo A. Encina, Tampa Bay Times
Steve Berkowitz, Steve Wieberg, Jodi Upton, Erik Brady, Jay Weiner and Calder Silcox, USA Today
Dan Steinberg, Sally Jenkins, Michael Lee and Payton Craighill, Washington Post
Jay Hart, Dan Wetzel, Les Carpenter, Michael Silver, Nick Cotsonika, Dave Meltzer, Kevin Iole and Eric Adelson, Yahoo! Sports

 

You can't say your surprises on the column list and not come across as an asshole? Come on, has civilized discussion here taken that much of a turn for the worse that we can't talk about columnist preferences without someone's feelings getting hurt? They're columnist, ferrcrissakes. They hear worse from readers if some trollish clod does jump on here and it gets out of line.

 

Do it on another day. Let them have this moment. Good for them. All 10 winners in that category have had great careers and produced high-quality work, some more frequently and recently than others.

 

Explanatory Reporting, 75,001-175,000

Top 10
Kirk Bohls and Randy Riggs, Austin American-Statesman
Michael DiRocco, Florida Times-Union
Stefanie Loh, Harrisburg (Pa.) Patriot-News
Andrew Gribble, Knoxville (Tenn.) News Sentinel
Eric Crawford, Louisville Courier-Journal
Brian T. Smith and Mike Gorrell, Salt Lake Tribune
Josh Kendall, The State (Columbia, S.C.)
Lorne Chan, San Antonio Express-News
Joey Johnston, Tampa Tribune
John Hoover, Tulsa World