NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Sports Writers Association released the winners of the annual writing contest this week. All of the first, second and third-place winners will be recognized during the Hall of Fame dinner and banquet on Thursday, July 11, in Baird Chapel at Cumberland University. Thanks to Ron Higgins for again coordinating the judging for all of the categories in the annual writing contest.
TSWA 2019 WRITING CONTEST RESULTS
Entries were from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019
DIVISION I
GARY LUNDY WRITER OF THE YEAR – 1. Erik Bacharach, The Tennessean: Not one weak link in his three-story package. Wrote about three challenging subjects that required some real reporting, investigative work and multiple interviews. Tore down some walls revealing both sides of late Titans quarterback Steve McNair’s less-than-perfect life. 2. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean. 3. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free Press.
BEST COLUMNIST – 1. John Adams, Knoxville News-Sentinel: Columnists should deliver opinions. They should not straddle the fence. They should avoid writing features and present them as columns. This best columnist winner brings it in every column. He surgically takes apart his subjects. Always delivers with bite, wit and logic. 2. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free Press. 3. None entered.
BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Erik Bacharach, The Tennessean: Fearlessly tackled delicate subjects such as how the Titans thoroughly vetted Jeffery Simmons before drafting him and the double-life of late Titans quarterback Steve McNair. Delivered superbly reported and tightly written features filled with balance and perspective. This was a tough call between the winner of this category and the runner-up. 2. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean. 3. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free Press.
BEST EVENT WRITER – 1. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean: Clear, concise ledes transitioning into three smoothly written deadline stories, including Vandy’s CWS championship clinching win. This writer did a phenomenal job providing context and background in a story on postgame dust-up between Vandy basketball coach Jerry Stackhouse and an Austin Peay assistant. 2. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free Press. 3. Teresa M. Walker, Associated Press.
BEST NEWS WRITER – 1. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean: A trio of stories with multi-voices, multi-sources and each story answered every question a reader could imagine. The stories on TD Ameritrade Park officials threatening to toss the Vandy whistler and the unexpected death of Vandy AD David Williams were strong. 2. Teresa M. Walker, Associated Press. 3. None awarded.
Note: There were not enough entries in Division I to judge categories for best section, best special section, prep writer of the year, best investigative series, best individual layout and best outdoor writer.
DIVISION II
GARY LUNDY WRITER OF THE YEAR – 1. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal: Had two outstanding features but what separated him from the field was his willingness to tackle an enterprise story on why Tennessee high school athletes don’t have mandated heart screenings. 2. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger. 3. Scott Wilson, Cookeville Herald-Citizen.
BEST SECTION – 1. Cleveland Daily Banner: Big, bold color photos dominated this paper’s daily sections that were loaded with staff written stories. These are sections that serve its local readership well. 2. Union City Messenger 3. None awarded.
BEST SPECIAL SECTION – 1. Union City Messenger: Packs a ton of information and stories into separate high school and college sections highlighted by colorful, splashy graphics. It may not be a slick-magazine type entry like others, but substance wins over style. 2. Cookeville Herald-Citizen. 3. Cleveland Daily Banner.
BEST COLUMNIST – 1. Jimmy Hyams, WNML Radio: Love a columnist who takes a clear side in an issue and backs it up with an avalanche of facts and logic. 2. Joe Cannon, Cleveland Daily Banner. 3. None awarded.
BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Scott Wilson, Cookeville Herald-Citizen: There is something to be said for the winner in this category who entered three short features. The winner didn’t overwrite them, didn’t over-dramatize them, but he had three good hooks, especially the female high school football player. 2. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal 3. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger.
BEST EVENT WRITER – 1. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger: Short, snappy ledes led to well-organized, stories that told the reader exactly why one team won and why the other lost. Simple, clear, but not boring writing. 2. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal. 3. Joe Cannon, Cleveland Daily Banner.
BEST NEWS WRITER – 1. Jimmy Hyams, WNML Radio: Excellent, detailed reporting in each of his three stories. Did a nice job explaining how Rick Barnes was almost hired by UCLA and then about the NCAA’s proposal to take a second look at the graduate transfer rule. 2. Scott Wilson, Cookeville Herald-Citizen. 3. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger.
BEST PREP WRITER – 1. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal: Easily had the best variety of stories, but the feature on the Oakland High school soccer players from Venezuela was well-written, riveting reading. 2. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger. 3. Joe Cannon, Cleveland Daily Banner.
NOTE: Did not have entries to judge best individual layout.
DIVISION III
GARY LUNDY WRITER OF THE YEAR – 1. Jimmy Hyams, WNML Radio: This writer had incredibly strong column on the Jeremy Banks arrest, a solid two-part feature on Tee Martin returning as a Tennessee assistant coach and heartfelt personal column of attending the Cooperstown induction of his former American Legion teammate Lee Smith. 2. Russell Vannozzi, Robertson County Connection (Main Street Media). 3. Charles Pulliam, Williamson Herald.
BEST SPECIAL SECTION – 1. 2019 High School Football Preview, Weakley County Press: Twice as much information as the other entries. Smartly written stories, excellent graphics and the back cover schedule grid was a great idea. 2. 2019 Williamson County Football Preview, Joe Williams. 3. 2019 High School Football Preview, Macon County Times.
BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Craig Harris, Macon County Times – Three well-written features on three subjects that didn’t have tragedy, incurable disease or maladies that almost every writer in this category decided to enter. The winner wrote about two lifelong friends who became high school officials, two marathoners who ran 300 marathons in a year and on a high school golf program that produced 10 college golfers in 13 years. 2. Mark McGee, Shelby Times-Gazette. 3. Russell Vannozzi, Robertson County Connection (Main Street Media).
BEST NEWS/EVENT WRITER – 1. Bill Sorrell, West 10 Media: Loved the feature approach angle on all three of the category winner’s event stories. For any non-daily paper, it’s the perfect approach to cover events. Captivating ledes, great context in each story. 2. Russell Vannozzi, Robertson County Connection (Main Street Media) 3. Craig Harris, Macon County Times.
DIVISION IV
BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Thomas Corhern, Tennessee Tech Athletics: You could tell how much legwork, care and sheer perfection the winner injects into three unique stories, topped by the former Tech lineman turned singer who appeared on “The Voice”. 2. Chad Bishop, Vanderbilt. 3. Mark McGee, Lipscomb University.
BEST EVENT WRITER – 1. Jimmy Hyams, WNML Radio: Not a big fan of any story – especially event stories – that have too many short choppy paragraphs. It’s like stringing together a bunch of tweets. But the winner compensated with well-organized entries that made sense of the events covered. 2. Michael Wottreng, Carson-Newman University. 3. Lauren Moore, Lincoln Memorial University.