Hoosier State Press Association - The Indiana Publisher - Better Newspaper Contest
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/96748
Division 4 Best Sports Event Coverage/Category 11 First place End of the line Mike Beas, Daily Journal (Franklin) Comments: From the headline to the last graph, this story told me everything I needed to know about the team and the game ��� and struck that emotional chord that is far too often used in the wrong way in sports coverage. For this story, it added depth and context that was balanced by solid writing. Second place County celebration Beau Wicker, Pharos-Tribune (Logansport) Comments: It���s difficult to make track and field coverage engaging, but add a sister battling cancer and it���s hard not to read the story line-for-line to the very end. It melds coverage, good writing and good reporting in a balanced and pleasing way. Third place Coach itches to play Josh Chapin, Palladium-Item (Richmond) Comments: The reporter could have treated this as more a hard-news event but instead chose to compliment that coverage with an engaging and personal look at the impact the coach will have on the team. Well-done. Best Sports News or Feature Coverage/ Category 12 First place A good Buddy Mike Beas, Daily Journal (Franklin) Comments: Loved this series. Exhaustive without ever being long. Couldn���t stop reading it. I thought the profile of the screenwriter, which came last, was the best. Loved the Q&As, which gave great insight into the movie and actors. A strong idea for a series that was well-executed. Second place Great expectations Jason Recker, The Herald (Jasper) Comments: Excellent, thorough portrait of the man. Loved that Jason told both the accomplishments of the program and the reasons for the coach���s stern methods. It was more than numbers and accolades. Story stood out from the strong field due to that angle. Great art, too, but wished I could have seen the newspaper layout. Third place Summer slam Jess Huffman, The Republic (Columbus) Comments: The fantastic pictures really got me excited for this story. The one on the front really caught my eye, as did the chokehold. Well-written story went the extra mile and took readers beyond the event into the lives of the wrestlers. Loved some of the details, such as one of the stars has a day job at a Chuck E. Cheese! Well-done. Best Sports Commentary/Category 13 First place Bob Bridge, Times-Mail (Bedford) Comments: The strongest in a field of really terrific writers. Bob Bridge does a great job weaving history with current events and has a super eye for detail. Although I am not a fan of leading articles with quotes, he makes it work. Excellent job! Second place David Vantress, The Goshen News Comments: Solid and heartfelt pieces about prep athletes. I enjoyed all three pieces, especially the one about a tough end to a season. Great job! Third place Rick Morwick, Daily Journal (Franklin) Comments: Very strong and detailed pieces about the changes the Colts face. Great job; brings a great sense of history and perspective to this topic. Best Editorial Cartoonist/Category 14 See Page 67 for all divisions. Page 44 End of the line Mike Beas Daily Journal (Franklin) In time the door leading to the team���s designated locker room opened. One player stepped out. Then more, the clearly identifiable common denominator being eyes only moments removed from shedding tears. Edinburgh���s boys basketball season had come to an end. And it hurt. Starting center Jordan Burton, at 6-foot-8 the tallest of the Lancers��� seven seniors with room to spare, repeatedly found himself in the embrace of a schoolmate or loved one following the 61-50 loss to Loogootee. He would cry. They would cry. In some cases, those around them would cry. Asked about the boisterous throng of about 2,500 Edinburgh fans who were front and center for Saturday afternoon���s proceedings at Southport Fieldhouse, Jordan Burton���s eyes again began welling up with tears. ���We have the best fans in the state,��� Jordan Burton said, his words rasped by emotion. ���Everything just hurts right now.��� At some point those affiliated with Lancers basketball will be able to step back and marvel at all the wonderful things the 2011-12 Edinburgh squad was able to accomplish: a spotless 8-0 record to win the MidHoosier Conference by a full two games, a program-record 23 victories and the school���s first regional championship since 1951. Saturday was not that day. ���As I told the players after the game, there���s only one (Class A) team in the state that gets to feel good when the season is over,��� Lancers coach Drew Glentzer said. ���It obviously hurts at the moment, but as time allows we���ll be able to reflect on all of the good things,��� the Lancers��� head coach added. Contrary to what the final score might assert, many occurred against the Lions. Edinburgh led at the end of the second and third periods and twice held a five point advantage in the fourth until 14 seconds of an about-face in momentum ultimately sealed the Lancers��� fate. Consecutive baseline 3-pointers from burly 6-6 Loogootee center Conner For complete story, see www.hspafoundation.org. Click on ���Contests.��� A good Buddy Mike Beas Daily Journal (Franklin) Rummaging through his right pants pocket, Brad Long located the red-studded jewelry emblematic of the fictional character he dribbled toward fame 26 years ago. A longtime sales representative for Jostens, the Whiteland resident slid the ring across the table for a visitor to inspect. Engraved on one side is the likeness of a basketball player and the name, ���Buddy,��� while the other carries the outline of the state of Indiana. Encircling the colorful centerpiece is the message, ���1952 Indiana State Champions,��� a claim surviving members of the Muncie Central Bearcats might take issue with. In Indiana, being an original Hickory Husker has its perks. This is one of them. A 1986 release starring Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper, ���Hoosiers��� brings to life the state���s collective obsession for basketball during a much simpler era. the gum-chomping and at times impolite Buddy Walker, knows all about after getting kicked out of practice during one of the movie���s early scenes. In ���Hoosiers,��� Long���s character isn���t the team���s best player any more than he is the recipient of Hopper���s famed ���picket fence.��� Those distinctions forever belong to Jimmy (Maris Valainis) and Merle (the late Kent Poole), respectively. Nor does Long portray Hopper���s son or the lovable ex-equipment manager recruited onto the Huskers team because of an obvious dearth of players. Yet when Hickory needed a shutdown defender, someone to make life absolutely miserable for the opponent���s best scorer, it was bristle-cut Buddy Secondarily, the movie is about second chances, something Long���s character, For complete story, see www.hspafoundation.org. Click on ���Contests.��� Long, who never played for a state title before thousands of fans as a teenager attending Center Grove High School, has since done so in front of millions worldwide as a cast member of the celebrated movie ���Hoosiers.��� Unlike pretty much every one of the other 49 states, Indiana has been blessed with its own ���Wizard of Oz,��� a movie simply incapable of shedding its magnetism regardless of how many sheets of calendar paper are torn off. Altering Hoosier mindset Bob Bridge Times-Mail (Bedford) ���There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.��� ��� Niccolo Machiavelli Kevin Wilson, in his first season as head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers, is determined to change the team���s mindset. Wilson wants the Hoosiers to be stronger, tougher and more determined as tacklers and blockers. ���The real issue is a team that doesn���t play hard and play physical,��� Wilson said Tuesday during his weekly teleconference. ���That���s not talent. It���s not talent to hit somebody right. That���s a mindset and a demeanor. That, to me, is the difficult thing as a coach that we���re looking to do.��� He departed months later to take a job with the Cincinnati Bengals. Barring a titanic turnaround, IU will soon lock up its 10th consecutive losing season against Big Ten competition. In fact, the Hoosiers haven���t risen above .500 in league play since 1993. More recently Terry Hoeppner, brimming with enthusiasm and determination, claimed he would build a foundation for future success. Of course Wilson isn���t the first IU coach aspiring to raise the bar in Bloomington. Lee Corso, ESPN���s comedic color guy, led the Hoosiers onto the field in a double-decker bus back in 1973. Though funny and full of flair, Corso was 41-68-2 over a decade of disappointment. Sam Wyche shifted the insignia ���I��� sideways upon his arrival in Bloomington in 1983. He swore no opponent would kick sand in IU���s face again. ���Vince Lombardi had the seven blocks of granite,��� he explained. ���Well, guess what? We have the seven blocks of limestone.��� But fate intervened in the cruelest fashion. Hoeppner was lost to cancer before the ���foundation��� could be established. Now, it is Wilson���s turn. IU is currently 1-6 overall and 0-3 in the Big Ten. For complete story, see www.hspafoundation.org. Click on ���Contests.���