DALLAS (FWAA) The results for the FWAA's 15th Annual Best Writing Contest sponsored by Insight have been determined by the judges. And three writers · Christopher Walsh of the Tuscaloosa News, Ian R. Rapoport of The Birmingham News and Pete Thamel of The New York Times · are multiple winners.
Walsh, in the Enterprise Category, and Rapoport, in the Game Story category, each garnered first-place awards. Other first-place winners are David Barron of the Houston Chronicle (Loose Deadline), Pat Forde of ESPN.com (Features), and Ted Miller of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Column).
There were a total of 236 entries by 93 people in the five categories. The three FWAA judges awarded first, second, third places and honorable mentions. All places and honorable mentions will be recognized at the FWAA Awards Breakfast on Jan. 7 in New Orleans. The first three places receive cash prizes and certificates. The five winners in each category also receive plaques.
The five winning entries are highlighted in the FWAA's August newsletter, The Fifth Down, which is on-line at fwaa.com.
Walsh's winning Enterprise entry was a piece on the Marshall University football tragedy. He also placed second in Loose Deadline. Rapoport's winning Game Story entry depicted the Alabama-Arkansas double-overtime game. He also placed third in Enterprise. Thamel was the only three-category winner with a second place in Game and honorable mentions in Enterprise and Loose Deadline.
And Barron was the only repeat winner from the 14th annual contest, with a story about Rice players and coaches viewing the destruction of Hurricane Katrina Forde's winning feature was a story on the life and times of Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith. Miller's winning column featured an account of Coach Dennis Erickson's decision to leave Idaho after a 10-month stint to take the Arizona State job.
The Football Writers Association of America, a non-profit organization founded in 1941, consists of more than 900 men and women across North America who cover college football for a living. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include gameday operations, major awards, a national poll and its annual All-America team.
• Complete results from the FWAA's 15th Annual Best Writing Contest