Pantagraph Sports Coverage Awards

[MadBird]

I don't feel strongly one way or the other about the Pantagraph sports coverage - seen better, seen worse - but given all the crap the paper and Benson have taken on the board, I thought it was interesting to see the paper received awards from the Illinois Press Association for its sports coverage in its division (Small to mid-size dailies).

• First Place in Sports news: Jim Benson for his reporting on former men’s basketball coach, Dan Muller, being fired from Illinois State University
• Fourth Place Sports section: the sports staff, including Justin Conn, Jerry Smith, Jim Benson, Randy Reinhardt, Anderson Kimball and Clay Jackson

In fact, the Pantagraph was awarded first place for general excellence in its division.

I couldn't find the story on the web site, so here's the link to the e-edition of today's paper, where I'm reading this.

Page A3

View the Pantagraph for Saturday, June 10, 2023

pantagraph.com

 

[Bird Friend]

The cynic in me wonders if this was a retirement gift for Jim. The bewildered cynic in me wonders when the article was written, ‘cuz Dan was fired in Q1 2022. The skeptic me thinks the cynic in me is right. The nice guy in me thinks “aww, that’s nice!” The intrigued guy in me wonders how many pages this thread would’ve consumed if it had been put in the bball forum.

Probably a good move to put this in the off-topic forum where views will be fewer.

 

[MadBird]

The cynic in me wonders if this was a retirement gift for Jim. The bewildered cynic in me wonders when the article was written, ‘cuz Dan was fired in Q1 2022. The skeptic me thinks the cynic in me is right. The nice guy in me thinks “aww, that’s nice!” The intrigued guy in me wonders how many pages this thread would’ve consumed if it had been put in the bball forum.

Probably a good move to put this in the off-topic forum where views will be fewer.

I woulda put it in hoops if the Benson award was the only story, but since the whole sports section got something, thought I'd put it here. I debated tho, with the little man on my shoulder.

 

[cubird]

Covering high school sports is the lifeblood of any mid size newspaper.