FWAA HONORS STEVE RICHARDSON WITH BERT McGRANE AWARD

DALLAS (FWAA) FWAA Executive Director Steve Richardson
has been named the recipient of the 2005 Bert McGrane Award and will
receive the plaque in early August at the College Football Hall of Fame
in South Bend, Ind.


Richardson has been executive director of the 64-year-old FWAA since
1996 and is the organizations fourth person in that position, following
McGrane, Volney Meece and Bob Hammel.


The McGrane award is presented to an FWAA member who has performed great
service to the organization and the writing profession. It is named after
McGrane, who was the executive secretary of the FWAA from the early 1940s
until 1973.


Richardson, also a Dallas-based freelance writer, has covered sports
since the late 1970s. He worked at the Kansas City Star and The
Dallas Morning News
for more than 20 years combined. He serves as a
special correspondent for college basketball for several publications and
is currently writing the Greatest Moments in Missouri Valley Conference
History, which is his fourth book.


His other works are Ricky Williams: Dreadlocks to Ditka, Kelvin Sampson:
The OU Basketball Story, and Tales from the Texas Longhorns. He also collaborated
with Rare Air Media for ABC Sports College Football All-Time All-America
Team book in 2000.


For 25 years, he has been a correspondent for Sports Illustrated
and written freelance articles for numerous publications.


Richardson, a 1975 graduate from the Missouri School of Journalism, has
collected writing awards while working in three states. He has covered 24
Final Fours, all the traditional major bowl games, major professional sports
and two Olympics. He was the president of the United States Basketball Writers
Association in 2002-03.


Richardson's name also will be placed on a plaque in the rotunda of the
College Football Hall of Fame with the previous McGrane Award winners.


Related link:

Bert McGrane Award