BamaCentral Lands Major Award from Football Writers Association of America

Christopher Walsh honored for an eighth time by FWAA with Enterprise Story of the Year

Christopher Walsh | Sep 5, 2020

Frequent past winners Ivan Maisel of ESPN.com and Christopher Walsh of BamaCentral.com joined David Hale of ESPN.com and Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated in claiming first-place honors in the 28th Annual FWAA Best Writing Contest.

It was Walsh's eighth honor from the organization, and third time placing first in the enterprise category.

The FWAA only gives out annual writing awards in four categories (column, game story, enterprise and feature), and Walsh has won an award in each since 2007.

The winners were announced Friday.

Walsh’s expansive story in enterprise explained how Nick Saban rates versus the top coaches in the history of the game.

From the judge: "Exhaustive research piece on how Alabama's Nick Saban stacks up against the all-time field of great coaches. Well-written, with excellent perspective on the intangibles that make Saban one of the best."

Maisel’s winning entry in column on the late, legendary writer Dan Jenkins drew this response from the judge: “Love everything about it (the column). It's a tall order to memorialize a writing legend. You tend to overwrite to impress. This one had just the right tone.”

In the game story category, Dellenger completely captured the essence of LSU's CFP semifinal victory over Oklahoma after a deadly game-day plane crash involving the daughter-in-law of LSU’s offensive coordinator.

From the judge: “Writer depicts the emotions in LSU's blistering of Oklahoma in a national semifinal that was tinged with tragedy. Great job of telling the story of the day and game that was like no other in LSU history.”

And Hale’s feature story on Arkansas State Coach Blake Anderson and his loss of wife Wendy to cancer prompted this from the judge: “Powerful. So detailed. After reading it, you want to go hug Blake Anderson, while wishing you’d known Wendy.”

28th Annual FWAA Best Writing Contest

FEATURE

1st Place: David Hale, ESPN.com

2nd Place: Ross Dellenger, Sports Illustrated

3rd Place: Nate Mink, Syracuse Post-Standard/Syracuse.com

HM: Ryan McGee, ESPN.com

HM: Pete Thamel, Yahoo Sports

HM: Dave Wilson, ESPN.com

HM: Andrea Adelson, ESPN.com

HM: Max Olson, The Athletic

COLUMN

1st Place: Ivan Maisel, ESPN.com

2nd Place: Ryan McGee, ESPN.com

3rd Place: David Teel, Daily Press, Newport News

HM: Anthony Gimino, AllSportsTucson.com

HM: Pete Thamel, Yahoo Sports

HM: Kirk Bohls, Austin American-Statesman

ENTERPRISE

1st Place: Christopher Walsh, BamaCentral.com

2nd Place: Stewart Mandel, The Athletic

3rd Place: Ryan McGee, ESPN.com

HM: Shehan Jeyarajah, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football

HM: David Ubben, The Athletic

HM: Dave Wilson, ESPN.com

GAME STORY

1st Place: Ross Dellenger, Sports Illustrated

2nd Place: Glenn Guilbeau, USA TODAY Network-Louisiana

3rd Place: James Crepea, The Oregonian

HM: John Bohnenkamp, HawkeyeMaven (SI)

HM: Pete DiPrimio, IUhoosiers.com

HM: David Ubben, The Athletic

Published Sep 5, 2020

CHRISTOPHER WALSH

Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of BamaCentral, which first published in 2018. He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004, and is the author of 26 books including Decade of Dominance, 100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Nick Saban vs. College Football, and Bama Dynasty: The Crimson Tide's Road to College Football Immortality. He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.