Happy Postseason! I hope your teams are happy, healthy and done with their coaching search. And if your team is still playing, good luck. We're on the home stretch.
TIME TO RENEW
You probably have gotten a renewal notice from treasurer Mike Sando. It is time to renew your PFWA membership. You need to renew online (pfwa.org) by Jan. 15 to receive your membership card. As for the Athletic VIP card, we have been told by Marriott that they are evaluating the program and will know the direction they are going to take by the end of this month...
Dear PFWA membership:
Happy Postseason! I hope your teams are happy, healthy and done with their coaching search. And if your team is still playing, good luck. We're on the home stretch.
TIME TO RENEW
You probably have gotten a renewal notice from treasurer Mike Sando. It is time to renew your PFWA membership. You need to renew online (pfwa.org) by Jan. 15 to receive your membership card. As for the Athletic VIP card, we have been told by Marriott that they are evaluating the program and will know the direction they are going to take by the end of this month.
Membership is $50 for the year. Membership chairman Sean Jensen will be working this offseason to secure some new perks to offer to our members.
PRO BOWL AND SUPER BOWL INFO
Michael Signora, the NFL's director of media relations, has sent along the following information about the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl:
As you all are no doubt aware, the 2010 Pro Bowl will be played on Sunday, January 31, 2010 at Dolphin Stadium in South Florida, one week before Super Bowl XLIV takes place on the same field. Broadcast live on ESPN at 7:20 p.m. ET, the Pro Bowl will for the first time be held prior to the Super Bowl and serve as the signature kickoff event of Super Bowl week.
Pro Bowl players on the Super Bowl competing teams will not play in the game, but will attend the Pro Bowl to take part in pregame player introductions. The NFL will schedule a media availability with these players during the pregame time period, most likely from 5 to 5:45 for one team and 5:45 to 6:30 for the other.
For those organizations granted Super Bowl and/or Pro Bowl credentials, please log on and complete steps 1 and 2 to secure any credentials your organization was granted.
If you were allocated a hotel room, you must reserve this room in step 3. The deadline to reserve hotel rooms was January 9.
If you do not need rooms that were allocated to your organization, please send an email to eventcredentialhelp@nfl.com so that these rooms can be removed from your webpage.
POOL REPORTERS
SI's Peter King and FOXSports.com's John Czarnecki have volunteered to be our pool reporters for the Super Bowl again. Ashley Fox of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports will fill in for the Saturday walk-throughs when King and Czarnecki are in the Hall of Fame meeting. Thanks to all four of them.
WORTHY OF PRAISE
Thanks to all the teams that held teleconferences with their players who were elected to the Pro Bowl. The NFL didn't do us any favors when they moved the announcement to a Tuesday a few years ago, but it was nice of those teams that made their players available on an off day for most. I know the 49ers and the Texans were among the teams that put their Pro Bowlers on teleconferences. … Mark Gaughan, the beat writer for the Bills, sent along season-ending praise for the job the team's PR staff did. He said, "The Bills' PR staff did an outstanding job all season in producing game-day transcripts from the locker room. Even in the season-ending game, they passed out 20 pages of quote sheets. And they were thorough and accurate quotes. It is much appreciated." … Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune sent along his thanks for the job that Robbie Bohren, Dwight Spradlin and the rest of the Titans' staff did on Christmas Day. A computer problem prevented the gamebooks from going on NFL.com or NFLgsis.com, but, Jay says, "Bohren & Co. went the extra mile to get the book to us. In fact, when they noticed the first fax number I gave them wasn't working, they went to one of our writers on-site to get another number that worked." … Thanks to the Chargers for having a national conference call with Philip Rivers on Dec. 22. Bill Johnston reports that about a dozen writers participated.
The Saints saved me not once, but twice, in my two visits there in December. Their IT guys got my cell phone working again on my first visit. on my second, a virus shut down my computer, and they let me borrow a computer to use that night on deadline. I can't thank them enough. I couldn't have done it without them. … Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had a similar problem at Soldier Field on Dec. 13: "My laptop went kaput an hour before the game started. I asked Rob Crane from the Packers PR staff if they had an extra laptop. They did not, but he went and asked Bears PR and one of their assistants came back with a notebook that they use for transcribing notes and let me use it. I had Word on it, so I was able to type my stories and then save them on a mini-drive and have one of my colleagues send it in. I stayed very late, and they didn't rush me at all. That's the kind of help that is invaluable to a writer." … Another day, another computer problem. Ron Borges had a computer problem before the New England-Denver game. "Jim Saccamano, the Broncos PR staff and their IT department went well beyond the norm to help me when the Patriots played there earlier this season. My computer exploded, dying a violent death the night before Pats-Broncos. I arrived at Mile High without a clue how I would file. The Broncos first tried to find me a laptop. Failing that, they set me up with my own PC, big as a house, and a well-appointed work area in the press box. Best set up I've had since the Radio Shacks went to the great beyond. It was an example of a group of people really going the extra mile to help out a visiting writer."
Much thanks to Carl Francis, the director of communications for the NFLPA, for the monthly conference calls with DeMaurice Smith. And thanks for the NFLPA executive director for making himself available. … Thanks to the Cowboys staff -- Rich Dalrymple, Scott Agulnek, Jancy Briles and Joe Trahan -- for making so many players available during the week leading up to the wild-card game against the Eagles. The locker room had players in it during the media access period every day leading up the game. … Thanks to Derek Boyko and his Eagles staff on getting conference calls set up with both Donovan McNabb and DeSean Jackson for the Dallas media. This was above and beyond during a busy playoff week.
GOOD GUY AWARDS
Cleveland Browns linebacker David Bowens and wide receiver Joshua Cribbs each earned awards from the local chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA) for the 2009 season. Bowens was named the PFWA Dino Lucarelli "Good Guy Award" winner and Cribbs was named the PFWA Player of the Year. The honor marks the second "Good Guy Award" for Bowens, as he also won the award in 2004 as a member of the Miami Dolphins. Bowens and Cribbs will be honored at the 30th annual Akron Browns Backers banquet on May 17, 2010 at the Tangier Restaurant.
… The Miami chapter of the PFWA awarded its annual Good Guy Award to receiver Greg Camarillo. Camarillo, who became somewhat of a cult hero to Dolphins fans after catching the touchdown pass in overtime to give Miami its only win in 2007, has turned into a leader on the team. Before that play, Camarillo only had two other catches during his career. Fortunately for us, he has not forgotten about his roots -- and is among the most consistent players when it comes to providing thoughtful, revealing quotes during good and bad times. … Cowboys receiver Roy Williams was the winner of the first Good Guy Award from the local chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA) for the 2009 season. Five players earned votes from beat writers who regularly cover the team, but Williams received the most votes because of his accessibility even through his struggles this season. As one voter said, "With so many worthy candidates, I decided to consider why they shouldn't get it. And that's where Roy emerges. If anything, he had lots of reasons NOT to talk to us but always did and was usually pretty quotable." Williams had a disappointing season personally, with 38 catches for 596 yards and seven touchdowns. Yet, he never shirked his media responsibilities. For that, the DFW chapter of the PFWA would like to honor Roy Williams.
The storyline for the entire 49ers offseason was the quarterback competition. Through it all - minicamps, offseason program, training camp and the regular season -- quarterbacks Alex Smith and Shaun Hill were consummate professionals. When Hill was named the starter toward the end of training camp, Smith was available to the media and answered every question. And when Hill was demoted after the start of the regular season, he gave the media as much time as they needed. Both players spent a lot of time in the locker room and were always available for serious questions and small talk. Hill and Smith were named by the San Francisco Chapter of the Professional Football Writers of America as the co-winners of the Garry Niver Award for cooperation and professional style in dealing with the media. … Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka has been voted the winner of the ninth annual George Young Good Guy Award by the Giants' chapter of the Professional Football Writers of America. The award, named for the late general manager of the Giants, is given annually to honor a Giants player for his consistent and outstanding cooperation with the writers who cover the team on a daily basis. Kiwanuka, in his fourth NFL season, distinguished himself by being constantly available to the media and patiently answering questions, even in a difficult season for the Giants' defense. Even on days when many of his defensive teammates would be missing in action, Kiwanuka could always be counted on to stand up and talk. Kiwanuka is the second member of the Giants' defensive line to win the award in the last three years, joining Justin Tuck.
ELFIN LEAVES
Former PFWA president David Elfin is looking for work after The Washington Times ended its sports section at the end of the year. He spent 23 years at The Times, 18 of those covering the Redskins or the NFL. In his goodbye to readers, Elfin said, "As you know, we're shutting down our sports section after today. Amazing. I came to the 4-year-old Times in 1986, wondering if it or I would last more than a couple of years. But Washington was home and I could only take so many winters in Syracuse, so I gambled." We hope Elfin returns to us soon. Until then, he will be missed. His contact information remains the same, so drop him a line at elfind@verizon.net or call him at 240-731-7838.
THIS AND THAT
Sean Jensen recently left the St. Paul Pioneer Press for the Chicago Sun-Times. … Peter King had a recent update on Paul Zimmerman from Zimmerman's wife Linda. The note from Linda read: "Things have been moving right along. Paul is stronger every day and just as determined to improve. He has started 'restraint therapy' ... using his weaker hand/arm and NOT using his stronger hand/arm. Five hours a day five days a week ... but Paul is really working on it seven days a week ... kind of spreading the hours out! This is in addition to his 3 days a week at Kessler." Linda is keeping a blog about Dr. Z's recovery on: http://baileyzimmerman.blogspot.com/ … Jeff Caplan left the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for ESPN Dallas, where he is covering colleges and the Mavericks. He was replaced on the Cowboys beat by veteran beat writer Jan Hubbard. … Howard Balzer is writing about the NFL and assisting on the Rams for the online rebirth of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat (www.globe-democrat.com), which stopped publishing 23 years ago. … Congratulations to Kevin Cooper, the Texans' director of public relations, and his wife Allison, who recently had their first child, Alexa Mi-Carmen Cooper. Alexa weighed 5 pounds, 13 ounces.
RELIEF FUND
Please don't forget about our relief fund, which was started in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and is designed to help members affected by natural disasters. Please make checks payable to the PFWA and send them to Mike Sando at 16908 13th Ave. CT E, Spanaway, WA 98387. His email is mikejsando@gmail.com.
Respectfully yours,
Charean Williams
PFWA President
