Bill Dwyre

Last updated
Bill Dwyre
Born (1944-04-04) April 4, 1944 (age 80)
Sheboygan, Wisconsin, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater University of Notre Dame
SubjectSports

Bill Dwyre (born April 7, 1944, in Sheboygan, Wisconsin) is a sportswriter and former newspaper sports editor. Notable for his long tenure as sports editor of the Los Angeles Times beginning in June 1981, he moved to the writing ranks full-time in June 2006, [1] but for virtually his whole career he has worked as both an editor and writer, and today[ when? ] writes several weekly columns for the LA Times. [2]

Contents

After a high-profile, multi-sport athletic career at Sheboygan North High School, Dwyre went to the University of Notre Dame, where he was a member of the tennis team and sports editor of ND Voice, the forerunner of the university’s current daily paper, The Observer. He graduated in 1966 with a degree in Communication Arts and began his journalism career shortly thereafter, as a sports copy editor for the Des Moines Register until 1968. From 1968 to 1981 he worked at the Milwaukee Journal , where he was made sports editor in 1975. He moved to the Los Angeles Times as assistant sports editor, and three months later was promoted to sports editor.

Professional awards and recognition

Dwyre rose to national prominence with the Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics, for which he mobilized a staff of more than 100, including 59 credentialed reporters, at that time the largest of its kind for Olympic coverage. The staff published 24 special daily editions, most of them 44 pages, of Olympic coverage in addition to the paper’s regular sports section. It was an unprecedented display of newspaper Olympic coverage for which Dwyre had seemingly boundless budgetary and personnel resources. The success of the ’84 Summer Games as reflected in the excellence of the L.A. Times’ coverage garnered Dwyre several awards, including National Editor of the Year from the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.; the National Headliner Award from the Press Club of Atlantic City; and the Los Angeles Times Award for Sustained Excellence, all conferred in 1985.

Recognition for Dwyre’s work on the 1984 Summer Olympic Games has been bookended by a host of local, regional and national honors. The most prestigious was the Red Smith Award from the Associated Press Sports Editors in 1996 for service to sports journalism. [3] Other accolades include: the Wisconsin Sportswriter of the Year (1980); the Loyola Marymount Pride of Lions Award for Service to the Community (1993); the Powerade Sports Story of the Year from the National Assn. of Sportscasters and Sportswriters for his Los Angeles Times Magazine cover story on college basketball coach and social icon John Wooden (1999); the U.S. Tennis Writers Assn. Column of the Year award (2000) for Australian Open coverage; the California Sportscasters Good Guy Award (2000); the California Golf Writers Good Guy Award (2003); the Arkansas Subiaco Academy Literary Award of Merit (2004); the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission Ambassador Award of Excellence for contributions to the city of Los Angeles (2005); the Associated Press Executive News Council’s top award for sports writing (2007); the John Wooden Pyramid of Excellence Award, in conjunction with the annual Wooden Classic Basketball Tournament (2008); California Sportswriter of the Year for 2009 from the National Assn. of Sportscasters and Sportswriters (2010); [4] [5] the BNP Paribas Open Media Award, given annually in Indian Wells, Calif., one of two tennis tournaments, Miami Open the other, deemed only a notch below the four majors (2011); [6] the David F. Woods Award honoring the best Preakness Stakes story for the previous year (2011). [7]

Professional and civic activities

Dwyre is a past president of the Associated Press Sports Editors; [8] a member of the Advisory Board of the University of Notre Dame's John W. Gallivan Program in Journalism, Ethics and Democracy; and a member of the board of directors of Casa Colina Hospitals for Rehabilitation in Pomona, California. [9] He has spoken at journalism classes at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles, as well as more than a dozen times at the American Press Institute in Reston, Virginia. [10]

In addition to writing as a staff member, Dwyre wrote a monthly column for Referee magazine from 1972–2002, and has contributed articles to the Huffington Post, TWA Ambassador magazine and The Korea Times . Having been the editor for the Los Angeles Times’ late Pulitzer Prizewinning sportswriter Jim Murray, Dwyre edited a book of Murray’s columns shortly after Murray’s death in 1998, titled The Last of the Best.

Dwyre is married to the former Jill Jarvis and has two children, Amy and Patrick. He lives in San Dimas, California.

Related Research Articles

<i>Los Angeles Times</i> American daily newspaper in California

The Los Angeles Times is a regional American daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles, California in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles area city of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States, as well as the largest newspaper in the western United States. Owned by Patrick Soon-Shiong and published by California Times, the paper has won more than 40 Pulitzer Prizes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Michaels</span> American television sportscaster (born 1944)

Alan Richard Michaels is an American television play-by-play sportscaster for Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video and in an emeritus role for NBC Sports. He has worked on network sports television since 1971, with his most recent work being with NBC Sports after nearly three decades (1976–2006) with ABC Sports. Michaels is known for his many years calling play-by-play of National Football League (NFL) games, including ABC Monday Night Football from 1986 to 2005 and NBC Sunday Night Football from 2006 to 2021. He is also known for famous calls in other sports, including the Miracle on Ice at the 1980 Winter Olympics and the earthquake-interrupted Game 3 of the 1989 World Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports journalism</span> Form of journalism that reports on sporting topics and competitions

Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1980s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the news business with newspapers having dedicated sports sections. The increased popularity of sports amongst the middle and lower class led to the more coverage of sports content in publications. The appetite for sports resulted in sports-only media such as Sports Illustrated and ESPN. There are many different forms of sports journalism, ranging from play-by-play and game recaps to analysis and investigative journalism on important developments in the sport. Technology and the internet age has massively changed the sports journalism space as it is struggling with the same problems that the broader category of print journalism is struggling with, mainly not being able to cover costs due to falling subscriptions. New forms of internet blogging and tweeting in the current millennium have pushed the boundaries of sports journalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Schaap</span> American sportswriter, broadcaster, and author (1934–2001)

Richard Jay Schaap was an American sportswriter, broadcaster, and author.

<i>The Daily Pennsylvanian</i> Student newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc. is the independent student media organization of the University of Pennsylvania. The DP, Inc. publishes The Daily Pennsylvanian newspaper, 34th Street magazine, and Under the Button, as well as five newsletters: The Daily Pennsylvanian, The Weekly Roundup, The Toast, Quaker Nation, and Penn, Unbuttoned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Smith (sportswriter)</span> American sportswriter (1905–1982)

Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith was an American sportswriter. Smith’s journalistic career spanned over five decades and his work influenced an entire generation of writers. In 1976, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. Author David Halberstam called Smith "the greatest sportswriter of two eras."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Deford</span> American sportswriter (1938–2017)

Benjamin Franklin Deford III was an American sportswriter and novelist. From 1980 until his death in 2017, he was a regular sports commentator on NPR's Morning Edition radio program.

Lesley Candace Visser is an American sportscaster, television and radio personality, and sportswriter. Visser is the first female NFL analyst on TV, and the only sportscaster in history who has worked on Final Four, NBA Finals, World Series, Triple Crown, Monday Night Football, the Olympics, the Super Bowl, the World Figure Skating Championships and the U.S. Open network broadcasts. Visser, who was voted the No. 1 Female Sportscaster of all time in a poll taken by the American Sportscasters Association, was inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association's Hall of Fame in 2015 and the International Sports Hall of Fame in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Broeg</span> American sportswriter

Robert William Patrick Broeg was an American sportswriter and newspaper editor who covered the St. Louis Cardinals for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for forty years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Canzano</span> American sports journalist

John Canzano is an American sports columnist, radio talk show host on Portland's 750 AM "The Game". The show is also syndicated in Eugene, Medford, Roseburg and Klamath Falls, Oregon. He now writes his column at JohnCanzano.com and hosts a daily radio show called The Bald-Faced Truth. From 2002 to 2022, he was the lead sports columnist at The Oregonian and a sports commentator on KGW-TV, Portland's NBC affiliate.

James Patrick Murray was an American sportswriter. He worked at the Los Angeles Times from 1961 until his death in 1998, and his column was nationally syndicated.

David Israel is an American television producer, writer, former sportswriter and general columnist. A 1973 graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Israel wrote for the Chicago Daily News, Washington Star, the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. He is known for violating the "old bylaw" of neutrality in journalism when he announced at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics hockey game at which the American team eventually beat the Soviets, "Gentlemen, there will be cheering in the press box." He was right.

David Poole Anderson was an American sportswriter based in New York City. In 1981 he won a Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary on sporting events. He was the author of 21 books and more than 350 magazine articles.

Mike Downey is a retired American newspaper columnist.

The Sam Taub Award is a yearly award presented by the Boxing Writers Association of America for Excellence in Broadcasting Journalism. The award is named after Sam Taub, a journalist and radio broadcaster who is best known for his work covering boxing. It is similar to Major League Baseball's Ford C. Frick Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lindsay Rhodes</span>

Lindsay Rhodes, previously known as Lindsay Soto, is an American sportscaster, journalist, and television personality who was a host and reporter for the NFL Network.

Julie Cart, born in Louisiana, is an American journalist. She won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting, with her colleague, Bettina Boxall, for their series of stories looking at the cost and effectiveness of combating wildfires in the western United States. She has worked for the Los Angeles Times and several other news organizations. She currently covers environmental issues in the California state capitol as a writer with CalMatters

Tim Kawakami is an American sports journalist. He is the editor-in-chief for the San Francisco Bay Area edition of The Athletic, a subscription-based, sports journalism website. Previously, he was a sports columnist for the San Jose Mercury News. In addition to his print column, he maintained a blog, communicated on Twitter, and had a podcast series. He was named the California Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association in 2013. He also appeared regularly on television on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.

J.A. Adande is an American sportswriter, commentator and educator, who currently serves as the Director of Sports Journalism at Northwestern University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wendell Smith (sportswriter)</span> American sportswriter

John Wendell Smith was an American sportswriter and civil rights activist who was influential in the choice of Jackie Robinson's career as the first African American Major League Baseball player. Similarly, Smith was one of the first African American sport-writers to be a member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, and was posthumously awarded the J. G. Taylor Spink Award by the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993.

References

  1. ↑ Los Angeles Times, March 3, 2006, page D3 (announcement of move from editor to columnist)
  2. ↑ Sports Business Journal, September 17-23, 2001 (his vision of a sports editor)
  3. ↑ "Red Smith Award winners". The Dallas Morning News. 2009. Archived from the original on 20 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-03.
  4. ↑ Stewart, Larry (2009). "Laker Feud Gets National Spotlight". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  5. ↑ "Tim Lincecum asks for $13 million in salary arbitration". Tribune Company. 2010. Archived from the original on 23 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-03.
  6. ↑ "Tournament Program". BNP Paribas Open 2011. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
  7. ↑ "Preakness: Dime superfectas available for first time". Daily Racing Form, Inc. and Equibase Company, May 19, 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
  8. ↑ (President, AP Sports Editors) "APSE Past Presidents". Associated Press Sports Editors. 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-03.{{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  9. ↑ "Foundation, Board of Directors". Casa Colina Centers for Rehabilitation. 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-03-08. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  10. ↑ "About the Gallivan Journalism Program". University of Notre Dame Department of American Studies. 2007. Archived from the original on 2009-11-24. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.