Sportswriter of the Year

Terry McDonell

February 13, 2006

Steve Rushin notices things, such as the makeup of the Boston College--Boston U hockey rivalry: "Their players range from the Irish to the Catholic to the Irish-Catholic," he wrote. With an eye and ear like that, it's no surprise that the SI senior writer was named National Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. The 39-year-old Rushin, a native of Bloomington, Minn., who has worked at SI since 1988 and written his AIR AND SPACE column since '98, is just the 11th scribe to be named Sportswriter of the Year since the award's inception in '59. SI writers have won 18 times--more than those at any other newspaper or magazine. Rushin works out of his home in Connecticut, where he lives with his wife, the sportscaster Rebecca Lobo, and their daughter.