Dear PFWA membership,

While at the Cowboys’ ribbon cutting for their new stadium, I got a tour of the press box from Brett Daniels. It is a long way from being completed, but I got a sense of the layout. It is similar to most press boxes being built these days, with seats starting at about the 20 and wrapping around into the end zone. It is four levels up -- Brett estimates 110 feet high. The giant replay board can be seen from any seat in the press box...

Dear PFWA membership,

While at the Cowboys’ ribbon cutting for their new stadium, I got a tour of the press box from Brett Daniels. It is a long way from being completed, but I got a sense of the layout. It is similar to most press boxes being built these days, with seats starting at about the 20 and wrapping around into the end zone. It is four levels up -- Brett estimates 110 feet high. The giant replay board can be seen from any seat in the press box.

The press level has its own entrance and its own elevator, which will hold approximately 20-25. There also are stairs. But we will no longer be sharing the elevator with the coaches or fans, so it shouldn’t be an issue getting down after a game. The press box elevator is closest to the visiting team’s locker room.

There is storage for bags behind every seat, the same as Texas Stadium, and the space behind the seats is wide, so folks should be able to pass easily. The elevator will have radio play-by-play but no TV. Food service is at the back of the press box, with multiple TVs o­n the walls, the same as Texas Stadium.

For accommodations, there is a Courtyard Marriott within walking distance, and the Marriott Airport South is convenient. There also is a Fairfield and a Towne Place Suites close by. You could get by without a car.

DRAFT RECAP

By most accounts, the pre-draft access at Central Park was better than in past years when the NFL has held a draft luncheon. Every player was available, and I think all of them stayed longer than the 30 minutes allotted for interviews. Commissioner Goodell also was available.

The draft went well other than a snafu with the PA not announcing when players were available downstairs for interviews. Aaron Curry was the first player announced, so several of us missed Matthew Stafford and Jason Smith. We would like to thank Mike Signora for trying to get those players for telephone interviews. Mike is aware of what happened, and it has been relayed to those who need to know.

PFWA MEETING

I represented the PFWA at the Associated Press Sports Editors meeting with Commissioner Goodell, Joe Browne and Greg Aiello. I’d like to thank all three of them for allowing me to be there. The hour-long meeting produced many questions, including several regarding access. o­ne of the sports editors told Commissioner Goodell about problems his beat writers had in getting assistant coaches to talk last season.

Some teams revealed their draft picks o­n their Websites and through Twitter before Commissioner Goodell announced the selection, and he said he would look into it.

OFFSEASON ACCESS

We have had several complaints about off-season access. We will make this our key issue at our Super Bowl meeting with Commissioner Goodell in February. This is the time teams should want us to write about them. There are no losses to dissect or controversies to report. Most of the teams get this. But there are a few who limited our access with assistant coaches and, in some cases, with players.

AWARD WINNERS

In case you missed it, here are the winners of our annual awards:
McCann: Peter King, Sports Illustrated
Rozelle: Arizona Cardinals PR staff
Good Guy: Kurt Warner, Cardinals
Horrigan: Dan Rooney, Steelers
Halas: Matt Bryant, Buccaneers

Howard has ordered plaques, which will be awarded to the winners during the season. Congratulations to all our winners as well as to the other nominees. I especially want to applaud the other four Rozelle nominees: The Falcons, Ravens, Texans and Steelers certainly also were deserving of the award. I did send each of their PR directors a thank-you email. The four of them had great seasons.

WRITING AWARDS

Here is the information for submitting stories for the Dick Connor Writing Awards. The deadline is a July 1 postmark. As long as the entries are postmarked by July 1, they will be accepted. There is no need to send entries by overnight mail to reach me by July 1.

NO ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTED WITHOUT DUES OF $50 PAID FOR 2008-2009.

All new memberships and renewals are now o­n a January-to-December basis. We welcome you to renew your membership through January, 2010 by visiting http://www.pfwa.org/ and clicking o­n the dues-payment option. The password is "access2007". Annual dues are $50. Payments also can still be made by checks addressed to the PFWA. Please send to PFWA treasurer Mike Sando at 16908 13th Ave CT E, Spanaway, WA 98387.

This year there will be five categories: Games, Columns, News, Features and Enterprise News/Features.

*Generally, the news category is for stories, other than games, that report o­n the immediacy of an event and is written for the next day. The hiring of a coach, firing of a coach, etc.

*The Features category is generally for profiles. Enterprise News/Features would include a series (submit all parts of a series), or any other work that goes beyond a basic feature.

Here are the ground rules:

**Two entries from each category are allowed per person.

**The time period for stories is from post-Super Bowl 2008 through and including this past Super Bowl.

**Copies of stories are permitted, but please clip or cross out bylines and pictures and anything that identifies the newspaper or magazine. Printouts are also eligible, as are original stories written for Internet providers.

**For shorter stories in which the actual newsprint story is sent, paste or tape to a stronger piece of paper.

**On a separate sheet, include your name, affiliation and which stories go in what category.

Send all entries to Howard Balzer, 11345 Frontage Ave., Maryland Heights, MO   63043

All first-, second, and third-place winners will receive certificates. First-place winners will also receive $50.

HELPING DR. Z

You might remember from the last newsletter that Peter King organized a May 18 dinner to help Paul Zimmerman. Sal Paolantonio put together a table that was filled with college sports journalists, and the PFWA bought two seats. Others contributing at this table were Sal, Ron Jaworski, Brian Baldinger and Lesley Visser.

I recently received an email from the two students who sat in our PFWA-sponsored seats:

My name is Matthew Stein, o­ne of two college journalists from Rutgers University that was sponsored by the Pro Football Writers of America for the Paul Zimmerman benefit dinner o­n Monday the 18th. o­n behalf of myself and Kyle Franko, the other Rutgers student journalist, I would like to thank both you and the Association for sponsoring us and giving us the opportunity to attend such an event. It proved to be a great networking tool and overall excellent experience, and we both really appreciate the gesture. Thank you very much,

Matthew Stein
Sports Editor, The Daily Targum
Rutgers University Class of 2010
(732) 688-6850
steinma@eden.rutgers.edu

PRAISE WORTHY

The Bills have become regular visitors to this space, making a strong push for the Rozelle Award for next year. Charles Robinson sent along a note praising the Bills, who made six of their area scouts available to the media over three days before the draft: “I'd love to give a big round of applause to the Buffalo Bills for making their area scouts available to the media less than o­ne week before the draft. I don't think I have ever seen a team do this to this magnitude, and I think it's a fantastic effort o­n their part. I'm really encouraged to see such an open-minded, progressive approach to the draft when so many other teams are going in the other direction.”

THIS AND THAT

We lost o­ne of our legends in April when Bob Oates, the long-time sportswriter for the L.A. Times, died. He was 93. Greg Aiello called Bob a “pioneer,” which he was. Bob covered 39 consecutive Super Bowls and was the last surviving original member of the panel of sportswriters who select inductees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. … o­nly four sportswriters have covered every Super Bowl: Jerry Green of the Detroit News; Jerry Izenberg of the Newark Star-Ledger; Dave Klein, a former Star-Ledger reporter who has moved o­n to a pro football newsletter; and Edwin Pope of the Miami Herald. … Joe Reedy has taken over for Mark Curnutte o­n the Bengals’ beat at the Cincinnati Enquirer. Mark has moved to a different department at the newspaper, so he doesn’t have to travel. Welcome, Joe. … It was good to hear from another former Bengals’ beat writer, Kevin Goohen. Kevin reports that he is taking o­n new career opportunities that, aside from the occasional freelance project, will take him away from covering the NFL. We will miss you, Kevin. … Cowboys beat writers Todd Archer, Tim MacMahon and Mac Engel were among those in the Cowboys’ indoor practice facility when it collapsed last month, as were several members of the Cowboys’ PR staff. All suffered relatively minor injuries, by comparison, and we’re grateful none was more seriously injured.

JIM MURRAY MEMORIAL FOUNDATION AND JOURNALISM SCHOALRSHIP PROGRAM

Linda McCoy-Murray asked me to pass this information o­n to you:

My late husband was Jim Murray, Pulitzer Prize-winning sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times. Soon after Jim's passing o­n Aug 16, 1998, I established the JMMF to perpetuate Jim's legacy and his love for and dedication to his extraordinary career in journalism. The Foundation’s goal is to raise funds throughout the year to provide (now) five $5,000 scholarships for second- and third-year journalism students. As of 2008, 63 Murray Scholars have each received a $5,000 scholarship.

Annually, the Foundation coordinates a nationwide essay competition, with winners decided by a panel of nationally known journalists. Many of your pro football writers have been judges. NFL writers Sam Farmer, Bob Ford and Nancy Gay are three of our five judges this year. Vic Carucci, Senior Columnist/NFL.COM, will be a judge in 2010.

The NFL Charities and the St. Louis Rams support the JMMF with a Five-for-Five Patron grant of $25,000, payable over a period of five years. Each renewed its commitment three years ago. Buffalo Bills Assistant Coach/Special Teams, Bobby April, is a huge advocate of the JMMF. Last month at a dinner in Buffalo, Bobby received the 2009 JMMF Ambassador of the Year Award.

It is my mission to involve all the pro football writers, retired players associations and NFL teams to support the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation. Jim inspired young (and old) sportswriters for nearly four decades. He wrote well over 10,000 columns during his 37 years at the Los Angeles Times covering athletes, celebrities, and every major sporting event.

My good friend and Pulitzer Prize-winner, Dave Anderson of The New York Times, noted, "Jim Murray is not merely a great sportswriter. He is a great American writer who deserves to be thought of with Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway and John Updike as well as Red Smith and Jimmy Cannon."

The JMMF is nurturing a new generation of young sportswriters and we need the help of those who, like Jim Murray, are paving the way for our Murray Scholars. Sustaining our fundraising efforts is key to providing the scholarships.

Please visit the JMMF website ... jimmurrayfoundation.org ... and please feel free to call or email me anytime. W: 760-771-8972 or Cell: 310-770-4547. I can be reached at this email address OR murrayscholars@aol.com.

Regards,

Charean Williams
PFWA President