The NSSA announced the winners of the Sportscaster of the Year and Sportswriter of the Year for each state, as well as nationally, this week. Both of the national winners are known, and generally well-liked, to members of the Awful Announcing community: Dan Shulman of ESPN (sportscaster) and Joe Posnanski of Sports Illustrated (sportswriter).
Shulman became the voice of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball this past season alongside Orel Hershiser and Bobby Valentine, replacing the much-maligned duo of Jon Miller and Joe Morgan. Since the baseball season ended, he’s been doing basketball for ESPN, both college and pro. Shulman has recently been involved in one of the best calls of the season with Dick Vitale, as he announced Indiana’s dramatic victory over Kentucky. Shulman had another great moment early in the baseball season, when news of Osama Bin Laden’s death broke during a Sunday Night Baseball game. He did an AA Q&A with Matt back in May and is one of our favorites. Shulman’s the ultimate pro as an announcer and is very deserving of such a high honor.
Posnanski is a (dare I say) modern day legend for his sportswriting. His personal blog features random pieces usually taken from Twitter discussions, while his writing at SI has taken a temporary hiatus while Posnanki takes up residence in State College, writing a book about former Penn State coach Joe Paterno. With all the events surrounding the program this year, it’s fitting that Posnanski, out of all possible writers, would be the one writing a book about the coach when the scandal broke. Of course. He is another person whose stature continues to grow in the sports media and is a hit with fans and media experts.
A hearty congratulations goes out to both men, as well as all the state-specific winners, and Bob Costas and John Feinstein, elected to the NSSA Hall of Fame this year.
