Brandon Scherff of Iowa with his 2014 Outland Trophy.
Brandon Scherff, the 2014 Outland Trophy winner from Iowa, was taken by the Washington Redskins with the No. 5 overall pick in the NFL Draft on Thursday.
Here are the dates and locations of pre-season football media days upcoming this summer:
Atlantic Coast Conference: July 19-21, Pinehurst Resort, North Carolina
American Athletic Conference: August 2-4, Hyatt Regency, Newport, Rhode Island
Big Ten Conference: July 30-31, Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, Chicago
Big 12 Conference: July 20-21, The Omni, Dallas
Conference USA: July 21-22, Boca Resort, Boca Raton, Fla.
Mid-American Conference: July 28-29, Ford Field, Detroit
Mountain West Conference: July 28-29, The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas
Pac 12: July 30-31, Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Calif.
Southeastern: July 13-16, Wynfrey Hotel, Hoover, Alabama
Sun Belt: July 19-20 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans
The medical examiner in Rochester, N.Y., has identified a body found Friday in Lake Ontario as Max Maisel, the 21-year-old son of FWAA member Ivan Maisel. Max had been missing since Feb. 22. The cause of death has yet to be determined.
Click here to read the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle’s story.
Bud Withers
FWAA member Bud Withers announced his retirement on Friday April 10 with the following e-mail blast to friends and colleagues:
Hey folks: Just a note to say that this is my last day of work at the Seattle Times. I’m retiring after 45 years in this biz, and it’s mostly been a blast. I’m able to go out on my own terms, which in this industry these days, is a distinct blessing.
I don’t plan to disappear, but my e-mail address is changing to casabudman@gmail.com. My cell remains 206-794-4027. I’ve enjoyed working with and around you, and if you’re in this neck of the woods, don’t hesitate to look me up. I know where the good bars are . . .
Cheers,
Bud Withers
Click here to read some of Bud’s recent stories for the Seattle Times.
OMAHA — “Happy Anniversary!’’
It’s time for all members of the Football Writers Association of America to celebrate because this year marks our 75th season of existence.
We are taking advantage of this special year to highlight our organization and the sport we follow with some newsworthy events.
The biggest?
FWAA 2015 President Lee Barfknecht.
All members will get to vote on a 75-year anniversary All-America team. With our organization’s start in 1944, this coincides with what is defined as “the modern era of college football,’’ which is from the latter stages of World War II to the present.
Three 25-man units will be chosen (first, second and third teams). To be eligible, honorees must have been a first-team FWAA All-American.
The all-time list — compiled by Ted Gangi and Josh Yonis, and with thanks to our nation’s sports information directors and the College Football Hall of Fame — is on our website in easy-to-read form and with strong detail.
Once the membership-vote deadline has been reached, a panel of past presidents, current board members and winners of our Bert McGrane Award will be asked to tabulate votes, review the results and arrange the teams.
This is going to be a sparkling argument-starter and conversation piece.
Writers and broadcasters can use it for multiple story ideas. Meanwhile, school, bowl and network TV folks can turn it into promotional pieces for their entities.
Those of us who love football and history are drooling over how this will turn out. Competition will ensue at the highest level.
Please keep an eye out for notice coming soon on when and how to vote. We hope to reveal the three teams in early summer — a great time for stories considering the year-round thirst in this country for football news.
In and around the announcement of those teams, we plan a series of stories on pillars of the FWAA — people who have had great impact on the sport in terms of how it was played, how it was coached, how it was covered and how it has been promoted.
Another way we will note our anniversary year is with a new logo.
It’s a simple and clean addition of a “75th Anniversary’’ banner to our current logo, in pigskin colors and no-nonsense lettering. It should appear on our website soon, and perhaps on some clothing.
Something else to keep watch for is a new member portal.
The FWAA and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association are partnering to create a one-stop payment site for both organizations that syncs up with the school year, plus some other features to make things more user-friendly.
Again, keep the 75th-anniversary All-America team voting in mind. It should be an energizing exercise to take part in.
Former FWAA president Ivan Maisel and his wife, Meg, are focusing on their special memories of their son, Max, a student at the Rochester Institute of Technology who disappeared Feb. 22 and is presumed dead.
Click here to read the entire story from the Fairfield Citizen.
We are having a memorial service and a celebration of Max’s life on Friday, March 27 at Congregation Bnai Israel in Bridgeport, CT. If anyone is interested in attending, please contact me at Ivan.Maisel@gmail.com.
Thanks,
Ivan Maisel
Bob Mancuso is the main reason the FWAA’s Outland Trophy Dinner has been in Omaha since 1996. His sons, Bob Jr., Mike and Joe, now run it each January. Tom Shatel, FWAA President in 2000, writes a column about Bob Sr”s legacy in Omaha.
In the March CoSIDA Digest, FWAA Executive Director Steve Richardson offered 10 tips that can help Sports Information Directors have better relations with beat writers.
Click here to read the CoSIDA Digest. Richardson’s tips are on Pages 20-21.
Steve Boda was a giant of a man in the relatively mundane world of sports number-gathering and statistic-crunching. He never sought the spotlight, but in a lot of ways, he created it.
For 40 years, Boda, a long-time FWAA member, was a statistician and researcher at the NCAA. On the side, during evenings at home, he created what may be the most extensive Notre Dame football history ever assembled.
Boda, who died with little public notice at age 90 last Nov. 14, had one wish — that those files, now locked up in a Stilwell, Kan., storage park — go to Notre Dame.
Click here to read the entire story by Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com.
The Fifth Down 