for a clean scoop on the introduction of federal gambling legislation in the U.S. Senate after a Supreme Court ruling that states could allow sports gambling. https://bit.ly/2Sb04gm
for a scoop on the burgeoning sports betting beat, revealing that major American sports leagues are divided on how to get a share of gambling revenue. https://bit.ly/2HMozj4
for using his longstanding position as one of the best-connected writers in womenâs basketball, obtaining exclusive notice that the WNBA and CBS had reached a deal to put the league on its sports cable channel, a huge victory for the struggling sports league. https://bit.ly/2W4QVIb
for a thoroughly reported story on the struggles that compulsive gamblers have with burgeoning sportsbook advertising. Parryâs credibility â and meticulous, grinding beatwork â helped him earn the trust of more than 50 people with gambling problems, gaining insights rarely seen in betting stories. The results not only enhanced the story on betting ads, it set AP up for future stories that the sports gambling team is working on related to broader issues of gambling addiction. https://bit.ly/2QNmhRF
While books and movies have shed light on the world of big-time amateur basketball, no one has published stories along the way â until now. With the first story in a series, Detroit sportswriter Larry Lage and others in a team from Sports established AP as the authority on news about Emoni Bates, a 13-year-old who stands at 6-foot-7, just started the eighth grade and is primed to be the biggest basketball prospect in the United States. The goal is to understand the high-pressure world of college basketball recruiting by following a single promising playerâs path.
Lage, hybrid video journalist Mike Householder and photographer Paul Sancya of Detroit reported with the specific intent of presenting the stories in multiple ways, then worked with Chicago sports writer Jim Litke and east regional sports editor Oskar Garcia to craft the hub presentation of the text, photos, video and audio.
For their strong, revealing work, Lage, Householder, Sancya and Litke share this weekâs Best of the States prize.
for reporting exclusively that the Houston Texans NFL team had warned its players in a private memo to avoid leaving their hotel in Mexico City ahead of Monday night's game against Oakland. http://pro32.ap.org/article/texans-urged-stay-room...
brought attention to the lack of diversity in the NHL â a league 84% white â with a set of spot stories, interviews and analysis.Sports writer Wawrow had started reporting on diversity in the NHL as the league was preparing to release a ârace report card.â In advance of that report, AP published Wawrowâs widely played story quoting a Black player who blasted the leagueâs lack of progress on diversity.AP also obtained a copy of the NHLâs report before other news organizations, setting up fellow sports writer Whyno for a full story, including interviews, on the day of the release. He then followed with an analysis piece on the leagueâs study.Read more
for spearheading a nationwide effort by AP sportswriters to report on how universities with top basketball programs were responding to a federal corruption investigation of the sport. http://bit.ly/2yOl31X
for his exclusive interview with Carl Grove, a 90-year-old record-breaking cyclist who is thought to have become the oldest person to fail an anti-doping test when he tested positive for a powerful steroid at the U.S. Masters Track Championship. Groveâs explanation was that he had eaten meat contaminated by a livestock steroid. https://bit.ly/2QSEFqO
Itâs no secret that the NCAA college basketball tournament is big business. But just how big, and how has the pie been divided?
The New York-based team of college sports reporter Ralph Russo and data journalist Larry Fenn took on that reporting and accounting challenge, making AP the first news organization to document who received more than $3 billion in March Madness payouts over two decades.
Complicating their task was the fact that the NCAA referred to payments with a complex âunitâ formula, while 32 different athletic conferences had their own rules for distributing the funds back to schools. Russo peppered the NCAA with questions, ultimately getting detailed numbers back to 1997. Fenn parsed tournament results to quantify wins and bids that qualified for payment under the system.
The work led to several stories by Russo and his colleagues in Sports detailing the money side of the annual tournament, including diminishing shares for smaller conferences, an explainer on the system itself and the value of the final invitations to the field. Fenn also collaborated on a data distribution for members doing their own stories focused on individual schools, as well as a robust interactive.
The AP-exclusive stories drew extensive play in the heat of March Madness, showcasing the power of AP when we think ambitiously and outside the box, even around annual events already in the glare of the media spotlight. For their outstanding work, Russo and Fenn win APâs Best of the Week.
for getting exclusive details from the French police on a growing tennis match-fixing scandal in Europe. Leicester revealed the names of four players being held and details of the investigation into the âMaestro,â an Armenian based in Belgium who is the alleged ringleader of a gambling syndicate suspected of fixing hundreds of matches and paying off more than 100 players from around Europe.https://bit.ly/2WiPfuShttps://bit.ly/2FNlJbV
for deflating some of the hype around the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor boxing match, supposedly the hottest ticket in sports. Dahlberg reported exclusively that thousands of tickets were still available for the fight. https://apnews.com/838bfed9855c4fe9951a25605c506ebc
for being first with interviews of relatives of more than a dozen former NFL players who were included in the largest study yet of the traumatic brain disease known to affect football players. http://pro32.ap.org/article/faces-concussions-football-families-share-lives-cte-0
In any year, coverage of the Daytona 500 is a major undertaking that presents challenges. NASCARâs biggest event stretches nearly two weeks and story planning begins a month in advance.
But this year the AP crew had to adjust on the fly as the story veered in multiple directions. First, President Donald Trump finalized a visit just 48 hours in advance. Then rain fell early in the race, eventually postponing the event until the following day. And finally, a lurid crash just short of the checkered flag resulted in a stunning finish followed by an agonizing wait for news on the condition of driver Ryan Newman.
The AP team never faltered, deftly handling everything Daytona threw at them with informed, precise reporting and outstanding images.
For constantly keeping the AP ahead during a wild weekend, writers Jenna Fryer, Dan Gelston and Mark Long, and photographers John Raoux and Chris OâMeara share this weekâs Best of the States award.
for an exclusive all-formats story on an Iceland defender prepared to meet Lionel Messi in the World Cup by working in a salt factory. https://bit.ly/2yvRMu1
for reporting exclusively that Serena Williams would not be seeded at the French Open following her return from maternity leave. https://bit.ly/2stSq5b
Jon Krawczynski and Tim Reynolds, for keeping AP out front during NBA free agency, combining for 28 bylines on trades deals, including news that Blake Griffin would stay with the Los Angeles Clippers on a $175 million five-year contract.
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for scoring the first basketball-related interview since early 2016 with former All-Star Chris Bosh, who is unable to play this year because of health problems. http://abcn.ws/2nk21H0
for an exclusive report about the NHL investing in China and for breaking the news that the U.S. women's hockey team had ended a boycott launched over a wage dispute. http://apne.ws/2nd1wTV
reported on an overlooked angle in the saga of NFL quarterback Deshaun Watson, who was fined and suspended for 11 games after he was accused of sexual misconduct with a massage therapist. Walker examined the impact Watsonâs case and the wave of coverage surrounding it has had on the massage therapy profession, which has long battled stigmas and misconceptions.Pro football writer Walker covered a national convention of massage therapists, coincidentally held just a block from the stadium where Watsonâs Cleveland Browns will play. Convention attendees were initially reluctant to speak with her, but Walker used her familiarity with massage therapy to get them to open up about the Watson case and other challenges to the profession. She also made video and photos for the multiformat package which played widely in North America.Read more
