2009 Iowa Hawkeyes football team
The 2009 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa and the Iowa Hawkeyes athletic program during the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team played its home games at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa. 2009 marked Kirk Ferentz's 11th year as head coach of Iowa. The Hawkeyes finished the season as the 2010 Orange Bowl Champions; the Hawkeyes came off a 9–4 season in 2008, including a win over South Carolina in the Outback Bowl and a 24–23 upset of Big Ten champion of Penn State. The Hawkeyes played 13 opponents in the 2009 season, finishing 11–2 and defeated Georgia Tech in the 2010 Orange Bowl; the Hawkeyes struggled early. After trading field goals, UNI took a 10–3 lead after quarterback Pat Grace threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Mahaffey; the Hawkeyes woke up in the second half, going 70 yards in six plays and getting an 11-yard touchdown run from Adam Robinson with under 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Iowa would regain the lead early in the fourth quarter when Tony Moeaki caught a touchdown pass from Ricky Stanzi.
After a Billy Hallgren field goal, the Panthers threatened late in the game, with Grace leading them down the field in the final minutes to set up a potential game-winning kick and an upset. Hallgren's first attempt was blocked, but the officials ruled the ball went behind the line of scrimmage and UNI recovered with one second left. Jeremiha Hunter blocked the second kick; this was the first time in FBS history. Despite the win, Iowa's struggle against a Football Championship Subdivision opponent knocked them out of both the Associated Press and USA Today Top 25 polls until their upset of #5 Penn State at the end of the month; the Cyclones scored first with a 46-yard field goal from Grant Mahoney in the first quarter. But Iowa was able to capitalize on good field position resulting from an onside kick attempt by Iowa State and took the lead for good on a one-yard pass from Ricky Stanzi to Brett Morse; the Hawkeyes benefitted from six turnovers. Tyler Sash had three of Iowa's five interceptions.
The Hawkeyes scored with a 2-yard touchdown run by Adam Robinson. But Arizona tied the score at 7 after Trevin Wade returned a Ricky Stanzi interception 38 yards into the end zone. Iowa's defense would again prove to be the difference-maker in this game, not allowing a touchdown until 1:53 was remaining in the game, with the Hawkeyes well ahead. Tyler Sash netted his seventh interception in five games. ESPN's College GameDay was in State College for the Saturday night Big Ten opener; the Hawkeyes fell behind early, 10–0, after a 79-yard pass from Daryll Clark to Chaz Powell on Penn State's first play from scrimmage and a 20-play drive by the Nittany Lions that led to a Collin Wagner field goal. But Iowa would score 21 unanswered points after that to stun Penn State for the second consecutive year; the defense shut down the Nittany Lions in the final three quarters, forcing four turnovers, the turning point in the game came when Penn State punted, clinging to a 10–5 lead in the fourth quarter, Adrian Clayborn blocked a punt and ran it back 53 yards for a touchdown to give the Hawkeyes the lead.
With the momentum changed, they were more able to move the ball on their final two drives. For many Penn State fans, the way the game played out reminded them of the games from their dismal 3–9 season with many close losses in 2003, but for many Iowa fans, the way the game played out brought back memories of 2003, reminding them of their 2003 season where they finished #8 in the nation and beat Penn State 26–14 at home, during a span of three years where they were #8 for three consecutive years and won a share of the conference championship in two of those years; the win at Penn State on prime-time network television catapulted Iowa to a number 13 ranking in the AP Poll and a number 17 ranking in the Coaches' Poll. At year's end, it would prove to be a selling point for choosing the Hawkeyes over the Nittany Lions for an at-large bid in the Bowl Championship Series. Iowa jumped out to a 14–0 lead behind two touchdown passes by Ricky Stanzi. Unlike Stanzi, the offense would stall, which allowed the Red Wolves back into the game before the first half ended, with quarterback Corey Leonard connecting with Brandon Thompkins for a score.
The Hawks would answer back in the second half, as Tyler Sash's fifth interception on the year set up a 43-yard TD pass from Stanzi to Marvin McNutt. Stanzi was picked off twice, the second interception going 75 yards for a touchdown. Daniel Murray extended the lead to 10 with a 20-yard field goal, but Arkansas State wouldn't go away, they took the ball 68 yards in a 17 plays and nearly 8 minutes to close the gap within 3. The Hawkeyes would hold on though to improve their record to 5–0, with Michigan coming to town in a prime-time national telecast next; the scoring began with Stanzi's third pick-six of the year, with cornerback Donovan Warren taking the intercepted pass 40 yards to give Michigan an early 7–0 lead. Iowa would respond, with Stanzi finding tight end Tony Moeaki for a touchdown to cap a nine-play, 57-yard drive; the Wolverines committed five turnovers to the Hawkeyes' one, the most crucial being an interception by Brett Greenwood with 46 seconds remaining in the game to seal Iowa's 10th consecutive victory, the second-longest winning streak in the nation behind Florida.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Badgers jumped to a 10–0 lead after freshman running back Montee B
2012 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team
The 2012 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Bo Pelini and played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska; the Cornhuskers finished with 10–4 overall, 7–1 Legends, to become Big Ten Legends Division champions. In the postseason, the team was invited to their first 2012 Big Ten Football Championship Game, where they lost to Wisconsin, lost to Georgia in the 2013 Capital One Bowl; the Cornhuskers became known for their comebacks this year, as they came back after trailing by double digits during four conference games. These wins included a 30–27 victory over Wisconsin, Michigan State, Penn State. No spring scrimmage game was played prior to the season, cancelled due to weather concerns and player conflicts, it was the first year that Nebraska did not hold a spring scrimmage since they started playing them in 1950. The Huskers started the 2012 football season off with a home win against Southern Miss.
The Huskers are now 3–1 against the Golden Eagles with the only loss being from the last time these teams faced each other in 2004. This game started a three game home-away-home series with additional meetings in 2013 and 2015; the 2013 meeting was scheduled to be played at Southern Miss, but the game was moved to Lincoln as an attempt to earn more money. Southern Miss thought about scheduling the game in New Orleans or Kansas City before deciding to give Nebraska an eighth home game in 2013; the Huskers went on the road for the first time in their second game of the season to face UCLA in Pasadena, California. The two teams have faced each other ten times, with the Huskers having six wins to UCLA’s four coming into the game; the last time these teams faced each other was in Lincoln in 1994 where the Huskers defeated UCLA 49–21. This game started a home series that will be concluded during the 2013 season. With this win UCLA is 4–2 at home against the Cornhuskers; the third game of the season brought the Huskers home to Lincoln to face Arkansas State, led by head coach Gus Malzahn, for the second time in history.
The Huskers defeated the Red Wolves in 2009 with a score of 38–9. During the first half of the game Pelini began feeling ill. At halftime he was sent to a local hospital for a series of precautionary tests that revealed no major health concerns. Defensive coordinator John Papuchis took over head coaching duties in the second half in Pelini's absence; the fourth and final game before conference play paired the Huskers against Idaho St. for their first meeting in history. The Bengals are from the Big Sky Conference. Nebraska began its second season of Big Ten conference play with a home game against Wisconsin, the team that defeated them 48–17 in their first Big Ten conference game in 2011; the all-time series coming into the game was tied 3–3 with Nebraska having last hosted Wisconsin in 1973. This game was marked as "The Quick and The Red" as both schools went against tradition and wore alternate uniforms created by Adidas. Nebraska wore a black helmet white, an all red uniform with black stripes on both shoulders and down the side of the leg, a black "N" on the front instead of the number.
Wisconsin wore a red helmet white, with a traditional "W" on it, all white uniform, shoulders covered in red, red stripes down side of legs with a red "W" where the numbers are. The Huskers traveled to Columbus to face Ohio State, who were playing their first season under new head coach Urban Meyer. In 2011, Nebraska defeated the Buckeyes, 34–27, on the strength of a historic second-half comeback after being down 27–6; this game marked the Huskers' first visit to Columbus since 1956. There would be no comeback in this one, as the Buckeyes, after trailing 14-7 after the first quarter, pulled away by halftime to win 63-38. Nebraska came into the game leading the all time series 3 wins to 2 losses; this game was the Huskers first game in Evanston since 1931. Michigan came into the game leading the all time series at 4–2–1; this was the Wolverine's first trip to Lincoln since a 6–6 tie in 1911. Nebraska came into the game having never lost to the Spartans, leading the all time series 6–0; this was the Huskers first visit to East Lansing since spoiling Nick Saban's first game, a 50–10 Nebraska win in 1995.
This was Penn State's first trip to Lincoln since 2003 where the all time series between the two coming into the game was 7–6, with Nebraska having the advantage. The Golden Gophers lead the all time series 29–21–2, but have not won a game in Lincoln since 1960; the last Minnesota team to play at Nebraska was the victim of a 56–0 loss in 1990. The win ensured Nebraska's first unbeaten home season since 2001. Nebraska leads the all-time series 27–12–3; the last Husker team to visit Iowa City opened the 1999 season with a 42–7 victory. This game marked Nebraska's first appearance in the Big Ten Championship game. Nebraska's last appearance in a conference championship game was in 2010 their last season in the Big XII conference. Nebraska defeated Wisconsin 30–27 in the regular season. Wisconsin won the game and received the conference berth in the 2013 Rose Bowl
National Football League Draft
The National Football League Draft called the NFL Draft or the Player Selection Meeting, is a one time event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. The basic design of the draft is that each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order relative to its record in the previous year, which means that the last place team is positioned first. From this position, the team can either select a player or trade their position to another team for other draft positions, a player or players, or any combination thereof; the round is complete when each team has either selected a player or traded its position in the draft. Certain aspects of the draft, including team positioning and the number of rounds in the draft, have seen revisions since its first creation in 1936, but the fundamental method has remained the same; the draft consists of seven rounds. The original rationale in creating the draft was to increase the competitive parity between the teams as the worst team would, have chosen the best player available.
In the early years of the draft, players were chosen based on hearsay, print media, or other rudimentary evidence of a player's ability. In the 1940s, some franchises began employing full-time scouts; the ensuing success of their corresponding teams forced the other franchises to hire scouts. Colloquially, the name of the draft each year takes on the form of the NFL season in which players picked could begin playing. For example, the 2010 NFL draft was for the 2010 NFL season. However, the NFL-defined name of the process has changed since its inception; the location of the draft has continually changed over the years to accommodate more fans, as the event has gained popularity. The draft's popularity now garners prime-time television coverage. In the league's early years, from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, the draft was held in various cities with NFL franchises until the league settled on New York City starting in 1965, where it remained for fifty years until 2015; the 2015 and 2016 NFL drafts were held in Chicago, while the 2017 version was held in Philadelphia and 2018 in Dallas.
The 2019 NFL Draft will be held in Nashville. In recent years, the NFL draft has occurred in early May; as background, Stan Kostka had a huge college career as a University of Minnesota running back, leading the Minnesota Gophers to an undefeated season in 1934. Every NFL team wanted to sign him. Since there was no draft back savvy Stan did the smart thing - he held out for the highest offer. While a free agent, Stan kept busy running for Mayor of Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. Although his political career did not take off, Stan's nine-month NFL holdout succeeded and he became the league's highest-paid player, signing a $5,000 contract with the NFL's team in Brooklyn, New York on August 25, 1935; as a response to the bidding war for Stan Kostka, the NFL instituted the draft in 1936. In late 1934, Art Rooney, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, gave the right of usage of two players to the New York Giants because Rooney's team had no chance to participate in the post-season. After the owner of the Boston Redskins, George Preston Marshall, protested the transaction, the president of the NFL, Joe F. Carr, disallowed the Giants the ability to employ the players.
At a league meeting in December 1934, the NFL introduced a waiver rule to prevent such transactions. Any player released by a team during the season would be able to be claimed by other teams; the selection order to claim the player would be in inverse order to the teams' standings at the time. Throughout this time, Bert Bell, co-owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, felt his team's lack of competitiveness on the field made it difficult for the Eagles to sell tickets and to be profitable. Compounding the Eagles' problems were players signed with teams that offered the most money, or if the money being equal, players chose to sign with the most prestigious teams at the time, who had established a winning tradition; as a result, the NFL was dominated by the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers and Redskins. Bell's inability to sign a desired prospect, Stan Kostka, in 1935 led Bell to believe the only way for the NFL to have enduring success was for all teams to have an equal opportunity to sign eligible players.
At a league meeting on May 18, 1935, Bell proposed a draft be instituted to enhance the possibility of competitive parity on the field in order to ensure the financial viability of all franchises. His proposal was adopted unanimously that day, although the first draft would not occur until the next off-season; the rules for the selection of the players in the first draft were, that a list of college seniors would be assembled by each franchise and submitted into a pool. From this pool, each franchise would select, in inverse order to their team's record in the previous year, a player. With this selection, the franchise had the unilateral right to negotiate a contract with that player, or the ability to trade that player to another team for a player, or players. If, for any reason, the franchise was unsuccessful in negotiating a contract with the player and was unable to trade the player, the president of the NFL could attempt to arbitrate a settlement between the player and the franchise. If the president was unable to settle the dispute the player would be placed in the reserve list of the franchise and would be unavailable to play for any team in the NFL that year.
In the 1935 NFL season, the Eagles finished in last place at 2–9, thus securing themselves the first pick in the draft. The first NFL draft began at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia on February 8, 1936. Ninety names were written on a blackboard in the meeting room from; as no team had a scouting department, the lis
2014 NFL season
The 2014 NFL season was the 95th season in the history of the National Football League. The season began on Thursday, September 4, 2014, with the annual kickoff game featuring the defending Super Bowl XLVIII champion Seattle Seahawks hosting the Green Bay Packers, which resulted with the Seahawks winning, 36-16; the season concluded with Super Bowl XLIX, the league's championship game, on Sunday, February 1, 2015, at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, with the New England Patriots defeating the Seattle Seahawks, 28–24. The 2014 league year began at 4 pm EST on March 11, which marked the start of the league's free agency period; the per-team salary cap was set at a $10 million increase from the previous year. The so-called "legal tampering" period during which time agents representing prospective unrestricted free agent players were allowed to have contact with team representatives with the purpose of determining a player's market value and to begin contract negotiations, began at noon on March 8.
A total of 471 players were eligible for some form of free agency at the beginning of the free agency period. In addition, a number of paid players were released after the start of the league year to allow their teams to regain space under the salary cap. Among the high-profile players who changed teams via free agency were cornerbacks Darrelle Revis, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Aqib Talib and Alterraun Verner. Four players were assigned the non-exclusive franchise tag by their teams, which ensured that the team would receive compensation were the player to sign a contract with another team; these players were defensive end Greg Hardy, tight end Jimmy Graham, placekicker Nick Folk and linebacker Brian Orakpo. Two other teams used the transition tag, which offers the player's current team a chance to match offers from other franchises and guarantees draft pick compensation if a tagged player signs elsewhere. Players given the transition tag were Jason Worilds and Alex Mack. Mack signed a five-year, $42 million offer sheet with the Jacksonville Jaguars which included $26 million in guaranteed money and a player option to void the contract after two seasons.
The Browns retained Mack who became the league's highest paid center. One restricted free agent switched teams in 2014: wide receiver Andrew Hawkins of the Bengals was signed by the Browns. Restricted free agents are players with three or fewer seasons in the league whose contracts have expired. Teams may tender contract offers which allow them to match offers from other teams and may trigger draft pick compensation to be received from the signing team. Hawkins was tendered at the minimum level, which means the Bengals would not receive any draft compensation; the Browns signed him to a $13.6 million, four-year offer. Saints safety Rafael Bush signed an offer from the Falcons, but the Saints retained Bush by matching the offer; the 2014 NFL Draft was held May 8 -- 2014, in New York City. The draft process began with the NFL Scouting Combine, where draft-eligible players were evaluated by team personnel, held in Indianapolis on February 19–25; the draft included a record number of 98 non-seniors.
The event was delayed two weeks compared to its traditional position on the NFL calendar in late April due to a scheduling conflict at Radio City Music Hall, the draft venue since 2006. In the draft, the Houston Texans made University of South Carolina defensive end, now outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney the first overall selection. There was discussion leading up to the draft as to the future of the event in New York City, where it had been held since 1965. Given the increased interest in the draft over the past decade, there was a belief that the event may have outgrown Radio City Music Hall, the venue for the past nine drafts; the possibility of extending the draft to four days was being discussed. On October 2, 2014, Auditorium Theatre in Chicago was announced as the official site for the following year's draft. Training camps for the 2014 season were held in late July through August. Teams may start training camp no earlier than 15 days before the team's first scheduled preseason game.
Prior to the start of the regular season, each team played four preseason exhibition games. The preseason schedule got underway with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game on Sunday evening, August 3; the Hall of Fame game is a traditional part of the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame induction weekend celebrating new Hall of Fame members. It was played at Fawcett Stadium, located adjacent to the Hall of Fame building in Canton, Ohio; the game, televised in the U. S. on NBC, featured the New York Giants and Buffalo Bills, with the Giants winning 17–13. Continuing the recent trend of scheduling teams that are associated with former players be
2011 Oregon State Beavers football team
The 2011 Oregon State Beavers football team represented Oregon State University during the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach eleventh overall. Home games were played at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, they are members of the North Division of the Pac-12 Conference; the Beavers finished the season 3–9, 3–6 in Pac-12 play to finish in fifth place in the North Division. The Sacramento State Hornets defeated Oregon State in overtime on September 3, 29–28; the Hornets had second possession in overtime, after quarterback Jeff Fleming made a 6-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Brandyn Reed to pull within one point, the Hornets attempted a two-point conversion for the win. Fleming and Reed connected again for the 1-point victory. During Oregon State's possession in overtime, running back Malcolm Agnew put the Beavers ahead by 7 with a 17-yard touchdown run. For the game, Agnew ran for 223 yards and three touchdowns on 33 carries to lead the Beavers. After the Beavers trailed 14–3 at halftime, quarterback Ryan Katz was replaced by redshirt freshman Sean Mannion.
Mannion finished the day with eight completion on 12 attempts and 143 yards, while Katz managed 11 completions on 22 attempts and 87 yards. James Rodgers did not play for the Beavers due to a lingering knee injury. UCLA leads the series 40–15–4 that began in 1930 and played in Los Angeles, Corvallis and Tokyo; the Bruins won last year 17–14 on Kai Forbath's 51-yard field goal on the last play of the game. Wide receiver James Rodgers made his return to the lineup for the Beavers after being out a year with a knee injury suffered against Arizona the previous season. Fred Thompson, a true freshman defensive end, died in the early evening of December 7, 2011 in Corvallis. According to OSU officials, Thompson was playing basketball at the Dixon Recreation Center on the OSU campus when he collapsed, he was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital in Corvallis. Thompson was from California, he was 19 years old. The team finished with their worst record since 1996
2015 NFL season
The 2015 NFL season was the 96th season in the history of the National Football League, the 50th of the Super Bowl era. The season began on Thursday, September 10, 2015, with the annual kickoff game featuring the defending Super Bowl XLIX champion New England Patriots hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers; the season concluded with Super Bowl 50, the league's championship game, on Sunday, February 7, 2016, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, with the Denver Broncos defeating the Carolina Panthers 24–10. During the 2015 season, the Oakland Raiders, the St. Louis Rams, the San Diego Chargers announced their intentions to relocate back to Los Angeles in the ensuing offseason. NFL owners only approved the relocation of the Rams, by a vote of 30–2 on January 12, 2016. Thus, 2015 ended up being the Rams' last season in St. Louis; the 2015 NFL League Year began on Tuesday, March 10, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. ET. On Saturday, March 7, clubs started to contact and enter into contract negotiations with the certified agents of players who became unrestricted free agents upon the expiration of their 2014 contracts at 4:00 p.m. ET on March 10.
On Tuesday, March 10, 2015, clubs exercised options for 2015 on all players who have option clauses in their 2014 contracts, submitted qualifying offers to their restricted free agents with expiring contracts and to whom they desire to retain a Right of First Refusal/Compensation, submitted a Minimum Salary Tender to retain exclusive negotiating rights to their players with expiring 2014 contracts and who have fewer than three accrued seasons of free agency credit, "Top-51" began, all clubs must be under the 2015 salary cap, all 2014 player contracts expired at 4:00 p.m. ET and trading period for 2015 began.. A total of 453 players were eligible for some form of free agency at the beginning of the free agency period. Among the high-profile players who changed teams via free agency were cornerbacks Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie, Tramon Williams and Byron Maxwell. Four players were assigned the non-exclusive franchise tag by their teams, which ensured that the team would receive compensation were the player to sign a contract with another team.
These players were wide receivers Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas, linebacker Justin Houston, defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul. One other team used the transition tag, which offers the player's current team a chance to match offers from other franchises and guarantees draft pick compensation if a tagged player signs elsewhere; the player given the transition tag was Charles Clay. On March 19, 2015, Clay signed a five-year, $38M contract with the Buffalo Bills, after the Dolphins elected not to match the offer. An unusually large number of big name players switched teams via trade prior to the 2015 season. Eagles coach Chip Kelly used; the Philadelphia Eagles traded 2-time All-Pro running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for linebacker Kiko Alonso. The Eagles traded Pro Bowl quarterback Nick Foles along with their selection in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft to the St. Louis Rams for quarterback Sam Bradford; the New Orleans Saints traded All-Pro tight end Jimmy Graham along with their fourth-round selection in the draft to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for All-Pro center Max Unger and the Seahawks' first-round selection in the draft.
The Saints traded away Pro Bowl guard Ben Grubbs and wide receiver Kenny Stills. The Detroit Lions acquired All-Pro defensive tackle Haloti Ngata from the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for draft picks to help make up for the loss of Ndamukong Suh in free agency; the 2015 NFL Draft was held April 30 – May 2, 2015, in Chicago. The draft process began with the NFL Scouting Combine, where draft-eligible players were evaluated by team personnel, held in Indianapolis on February 17–23. On October 2, 2014, Auditorium Theatre in Chicago was announced as the official site of the draft; the previous fifty NFL drafts had been held in New York. The 2015 NFL Draft was the first to feature an outdoor component, where fans would be able to see the Commissioner on the Auditorium Theatre stage from across the street in Grant Park. In the draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made Florida State University quarterback Jameis Win
Sporting News
Sporting News is a digital sports media owned by Perform Group, a global sports content and media company. Sporting News The Sporting News, was established in 1886 as a weekly U. S. magazine. It became the dominant American publication covering baseball, acquiring the nickname "The Bible of Baseball." It is now a digital-only publication providing essential coverage of all major sports, with editions in the U. S. Canada and Japan. March 17, 1886: The Sporting News, founded in St. Louis by Alfred H. Spink, a director of the St. Louis Browns baseball team, publishes its first edition; the weekly newspaper sells for 5 cents. Baseball, horse racing and professional wrestling received the most coverage in the first issue. Meanwhile, the sporting weeklies Clipper and Sporting Life were based in New Philadelphia. By World War I, TSN would be the only national baseball newspaper. 1901: The American League, another rival to baseball's National League, begins play. TSN was its founder, Ban Johnson. Both parties advocated cleaning up the sport, in particular ridding it of liquor sales and assaults on umpires.
1903: TSN editor Arthur Flanner helps draft the National Agreement, a document that brought a truce between the AL and NL and helped bring about the modern World Series. 1904: New York photographer Charles Conlon begins taking portraits of major league players as they passed through the city's three ballparks: the Polo Grounds, Yankee Stadium and Ebbets Field. His images, many of which were featured in TSN have become treasured symbols of baseball's past. 1936: TSN names its first major league Sporting News Player of the Year Award, Carl Hubbell of the New York Giants. It is the oldest and most prestigious award given to the single player in MLB who had the most outstanding season. To this day, it remains voted on by MLB players. 1942: After decades of being intertwined with baseball, in-season football coverage is added. 1946: TSN expands its football coverage with an eight-page tabloid publication titled The Quarterback. The tab is renamed the All-Sports News as coverage of other sports is added, including professional and college basketball and hockey.
1962: J. G. Taylor Spink dies, his son C. C. Johnson Spink takes over the publication. 1967: TSN publishes its first full-color photo, a cover image of Orioles star Frank Robinson. 1977: The Spink family sells TSN to Times Mirror in 1977.1981: C. C. Johnson Spink sells TSN to Tribune Co; that year, the Baseball Hall of Fame inaugurates the annual J. G. Taylor Spink Award, given to a media member. 1991: The Sporting News transitions to a glossy, full-color all-sports magazine. 1996: The Sporting News comes online, serving as a sports content provider for AOL. The following year, it launches sportingnews.com. 2000: Tribune Co. sells TSN to Vulcan Inc. headed by tech billionaire Paul Allen. The following year, the company acquired the One on One Sports radio network, renaming it Sporting News Radio. 2002: The Sporting News drops the The and becomes just Sporting News. Subsequent magazine covers reflect the change. 2006: Vulcan sells SN to Advance Media, which places the publication under the supervision of American City Business Journals.
2007: Sporting News begins its move from St. Louis, where it had been based since its founding, to ACBJ's headquarters in Charlotte, N. C; the publication leaves St. Louis for good in 2008, when it became a bi-weekly publication. 2012: After 126 years of printing ink on paper with weekly, biweekly or monthly frequency, SN publishes its final print edition and moves to digitally only publishing.2013: ACBJ enters into a joint venture with Perform Group. Perform, which owns Goal.com, Opta Sports and other international sports data properties, buys a 65 percent stake in the company. 2015: Perform buys ACBJ's 35 percent stake and assumes 100 percent ownership of SN. 2015-17: SN expands into international markets, establishing editions in Australia and Japan. In 1962, after J. G. Taylor Spink's death, Baseball Writers' Association of America instituted the J. G. Taylor Spink Award as the highest award given to its members. Spink was the first recipient. From 1968 to 2008, the magazine selected one or more individuals as Sportsman of the Year.
On four occasions, the award was shared by two recipients. Twice, in 1993 and 2000, the award went to a pair of sportsmen within the same organization. In 1999, the honor was given to a whole team. No winner was chosen in 1987. On December 18, 2007, the magazine announced New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as 2007 Sportsman of the Year, making Brady the first to repeat as a recipient of individual honors. Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals was honored twice, but shared his second award with Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs. In 2009, the award was replaced by two awards: "Pro Athlete of the Year" and "College Athlete of the Year"; these in turn were replaced by a singular "Athlete of the Year" award starting in 2011. 2009 – Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees 2010 – Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies 2009 – Colt McCoy, Texas football 2010 – Kyle Singler, Duke men's basketball Beginning in 2011, the awards were merged back into a singular selection, Athlete of the Year. 2011 – Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers 2012 – LeBron James, Miami Heat SN sponsors its own annual Team, Pitcher, Reliever, Comeback Player and Executive of the Year awards.
Many fans once held the newspaper's baseball awards at equal or higher esteem than those of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Prior to 2005, the SN Comeback Player Award was recognized as the principal award of its type, as MLB did not give such an award until that year; the Sporting News Most Valuable Player Award (