Best beat writer in the nation

You would be hard-pressed to think of a paper that covers a team, both in quantity and quality, than the JS does the Packers. I always judge Packers fan on which coverage they like better: the Gannett conglomerate or the JS. If they prefer Gannett, he/she is nothing more than a fanboy who wants press box cheerleaders. A Packers fan who prefers the JS is a football fan who likes the Packers and wants to read the real story, warts and all.

 

Jerry Tipton, Lexington Herald-Leader's Kentucky hoops guy. Hometown pressure, national interest, incessant speculation and recruiting rumors make that a very difficult job. To have done it and done it well for 20 years is remarkable. He's in the USBWA Hall of Fame. Deservedly so.

 

Packers fans can read? [/couldn'tresist]

 

;D

 

David Haugh (Bears) for Chicago Tribune. Not exactly a beat writer, more like an beat columnist/enterprise man who reports and analyzes and dissects. He was great when the Bears sucked and he's even better now that he has a decent team to cover. And a really nice guy too. Tribune got a gem when they hired him from South Bend. He's what beat writers should/will morph into as we modernize while breaking away from the traditional trappings of beat coverage.

 

I'm not sure who currently ranks as the best beat writer.

But I am going to check my list of effin' studs as soon as I can.

 

McGinn is outstanding. There are many who think Tom Silverstein is better...

 

Quick is outstanding...

 

The defections to ESPN, Yahoo, Sportsline and NFL Network make this a tougher question to answer...

A few years ago I would have said that Adam Schefter and Jason Cole were the best NFL beat writers out there... Well, not Schefter is at the NFL Network and Cole is at Yahoo! I think Mark Schlabach may be the best college football guy out there, but he is at ESPN now. Do they still count?

Olney was the obvious baseball answer when he was at the NYT.

Tipton is the obvious answer on college hoops.

 

Perfect synopsis, PDB.

 

What Mizzou said...
Do you include the online folks or is it just print?
But for national college football I'd say Chris Dufreense (SP?) at the LA Times. For national/SEC football, it would be Tony Barnhart and for SEC team beat I like the Tennessean's Chris Low.
For college hoops it has to be Jerry Tipton.

 

Before he got bitch-slapped with all that ESPN money, Jason Stark was far and away the best at Sunday column-type stuff for MLB. Funny as hell, every week, without fail. You could tell he was a great reporter because of the quotes he got, because of how much insight he got. I damn near cried when he went to ESPN.