Sporting News
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| Sporting News | |
|---|---|
| Categories | Sports |
| Frequency | Weekly |
| First issue | 1886 |
| Company | American City Business Journals |
| Country | United States |
| Based In | St. Louis, Missouri |
| Website | http://www.sportingnews.com |
Sporting News (previously The Sporting News, and known colloquially as TSN) is an American-based sports weekly magazine, book publisher, and radio network headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball – so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball".
The main sports TSN currently covers are Major League Baseball, National Football League, National Hockey League, National Basketball Association, NASCAR, and NCAA basketball and football, with occasional coverage of other sports.
As part of its baseball coverage, TSN sponsors its own annual Player, Pitcher, Rookie, Manager, Reliever, and Comeback Player of the Year awards. Prior to 2005, the TSN Comeback Player Award was generally recognized as the principal award of its type, as MLB did not give such an award until that year.
Contents |
[edit] History
TSN was founded by Alfred H. Spink, a director of the St. Louis Browns and former writer for the Missouri Republican daily newspaper. Each number was 17 by 22 inches, eight pages, price five cents (Cooper 1996). The Browns were champions of the American Association, one of two major leagues in baseball, with a claim to the championship of the United States or the world based on the disputed 1885 World Series contest with regional rival Chicago, and the undisputed 1886 win. Meanwhile the sporting weeklies Clipper and Sporting Life were based in New York and Philadelphia. By World War I, TSN would be the only national baseball newspaper. Al Spink had long turned it over to his brother, first hiring Charles as business manager, then selling his stock, and finally departing from writing and editorial work in 1899 (Cooper 1996).
Throughout much of the 20th century TSN was decidedly non-glamorous, consisting of black-and-white newsprint with staid graphics. However it was the only vehicle for serious sports fans to follow teams from around the nation. For example, each week it printed a box score and blurb for every baseball game played in the major leagues and numerous minor leagues. Similarly, every issue had a report on each major league baseball team, usually written by a local newspaper's beat writer for that team.
With the advent of national sports media in the 1980s such as USA Today and ESPN, and of comprehensive web sites run by the major sports leagues in the 1990s, TSN lost this unique role. Consequently, it evolved into a more of a conventional, glossy sports magazine in both appearance and contents. Box scores disappeared from its pages in the late 1980s, but were still made available to subscribers in a separate publication for an undetermined period of time afterwards.
In 1999, TSN conducted polls to determine "The 100 Greatest Baseball Players" and "The 100 Greatest Football Players." They subsequently published special issues with the lists and books providing more detail on the honorees. Babe Ruth was voted number 1 in baseball, Jim Brown in football.
In 2001, the company acquired the One on One Sports radio network, renaming it Sporting News Radio.
In September 2006, American City Business Journals, Inc., agreed to acquire Sporting News magazine, its online and book publishing units and Sporting News Radio Network from Vulcan Sports Media Inc. Terms of the acquisition, which was completed in early October, were not disclosed.
"Sporting News is a strong brand that we believe has considerable upside in print, online and on-air platforms," said Ray Shaw, American City Chairman and CEO. American City is headquartered in Charlotte, N.C.
[edit] Sportsman of the Year
Since 1968, the magazine has selected one or more individuals as recipients of this honor. On four occasions, the award has been shared by two recipients. Twice, in 1993 and 2000, the award has gone to a pair of sportsmen within the same organization. In 1999, the honor was given to a whole team. No winner was chosen in 1987.
On December 18, 2007, the magazine announced New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as 2007 Sportsman of the Year, making Brady the first to repeat as a recipient of individual honors. Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals was also honored twice, but shared his second award with Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs.
- 2007 - Tom Brady, New England Patriots
- 2006 - Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat
- 2005 - Matt Leinart, USC football
- 2004 - Tom Brady, New England Patriots
- 2003 - Dick Vermeil, Kansas City Chiefs, and Jack McKeon, Florida Marlins
- 2002 - Tyrone Willingham, Notre Dame American football
- 2001 - Curt Schilling, Arizona Diamondbacks
- 2000 - Marshall Faulk and Kurt Warner, St. Louis Rams
- 1999 - New York Yankees
- 1998 - Mark McGwire, St. Louis Cardinals, and Sammy Sosa, Chicago Cubs
- 1997 - Mark McGwire, St. Louis Cardinals
- 1996 - Joe Torre, New York Yankees
- 1995 - Cal Ripken, Baltimore Orioles
- 1994 - Emmitt Smith, Dallas Cowboys
- 1993 - Cito Gaston and Pat Gillick, Toronto Blue Jays
- 1992 - Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University basketball
- 1991 - Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls
- 1990 - Nolan Ryan, Texas Rangers
- 1989 - Joe Montana, San Francisco 49ers
- 1988 - Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Olympics
- 1987 - None
- 1986 - Larry Bird, Boston Celtics
- 1985 - Pete Rose, Cincinnati Reds
- 1984 - Peter Ueberroth, Olympics organizer
- 1983 - Bowie Kuhn, Major League Baseball commissioner
- 1982 - Whitey Herzog, St. Louis Cardinals
- 1981 - Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers
- 1980 - George Brett, Kansas City Royals
- 1979 - Willie Stargell, Pittsburgh Pirates
- 1978 - Ron Guidry, New York Yankees
- 1977 - Steve Cauthen, horse racing
- 1976 - Larry O'Brien, National Basketball Association commissioner
- 1975 - Archie Griffin, Ohio State football
- 1974 - Lou Brock, St. Louis Cardinals
- 1973 - O.J. Simpson, Buffalo Bills
- 1972 - Charlie Finley, Oakland A's
- 1971 - Lee Trevino, golf
- 1970 - John Wooden, UCLA basketball
- 1969 - Tom Seaver, New York Mets
- 1968 - Denny McLain, Detroit Tigers
[edit] Writers
- Troy Aikman
- Tim Brando
- Clifton Brown
- Greg Cosell
- Matt Crossman
- Mike DeCourcy
- Sean Deveney
- Tom Dienhart
- Ryan Fagan
- Mike Florio
- Tricia Garner
- Dan Graf
- Steve Greenberg
- Matt Hayes
- Bob Hille
- Todd Jones
- Bob Leverone
- Stan McNeal
- Bob Pockrass
- Michael Russo
- George Winkler
- Carmen Corvez
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- Cooper, Mark (1996). "Alfred Henry Spink". Baseball's First Stars. Edited by Frederick Ivor-Campbell, et al. Cleveland, OH: SABR. ISBN 0-910137-58-7
