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Sports Writers
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News |
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The
New Jersey Sports Writers Association was officially formed on Jan. 16,
1936 in Trenton
when a group of sports writers statewide met to form a social
group. Today, the NJSWA
has over 150 members who are dedicated to delivering better, faster and more accurate
news to the state's sports fans and mutual solitude to its members. The
NJSWA's biggest
annual project is its "Super Sunday" banquet honoring top
performers and notables from
the whole spectrum of sports. Held
in recent years at The Pines Manor, Route 27, Edison Township, the banquet
has been
attended by upwards of 1,000 people, making it arguably the largest
annual non-political
dinner in New Jersey. Through the years, while honoring the newsmakers in
a public trIbute to the greatest sports personalities of the state and often
the nation, the
NJSWA banquet has also been the vehicle for making news itself. In
1972, David "Sonny" Werblin chose the NJSWA banquet as the
venue to announce his vision
of a sports complex to be built in the Meadowlands area of East
Rutherford. "The
next morning, I received a phone call from Governor (William) Cahill,"
Werblin later said, "and
I became the first chairman of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition
Authority." The rest,
of course, is history. In
1982, Pittsburgh Steelers great Franco Harris appeared to recount details of
"The Immaculate
Reception," one of the most memorable moments in pro football
history. In 2001, the
50th anniversary year of "The Shot Heard Round The World,
Bobby Thomson's homer for
the New York Giants off Ralph Branca of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Thomson and
Branca appeared
at the NJSWA banquet to tell their stories of one of the greatest moments in baseball
history. NJSWA
banquet honorees run the full gamut. One of the youngest was Elaine
Zayak, world figure
skating champion, then 16, in 1982. Perhaps the oldest was Olympic
track great Abel Kiviat,
silver medalist in the 1,500-meter run at the 1912 Stockholm Olympic Games,
honored at
age 91 in 1984. Such
notables as Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto, Althea Gibson, Joe Paterno, Ara
Parseghian, Tommy
Lasorda, Mickey Walker, Joe Frazier, Jack McKeon, Larry Kelley, Milton
Campbell, Joe
Medwick, Dick Kazmaier, Alex Wojciechowicz, Doc Cramer, Horace Ashenfelter,
Larry Doby,
Willis Reed, Carol Blazejowski, Harry Carson, Nick Werkman, Cosmo Iacavazzi, Rick
Barry, Bruce Baumgartner, Lou Piniella, Giorgio Chinaglia, Tom Heinsohn and Digger
Phelps are just some of those honored at past editions of the NJSWA banquet. The
NJSWA's board of directors closely monitors the world of sports, statewide,
nationally and
internationally, and endeavors to invite the finest performers of them all to
its annual banquet. Once
again, an array of outstanding sports celebrities will be on hand at the
NJSWA's 71st
anniversary "Super Sunday" banquet on Sunday, January 28,
2007. The
banquet is open to all sports fans and members of the public. Full
banquet ticket information
is available elsewhere on this website. Dr.
Emery Konick Jr. of The Home News Tribune has served as president of NJSWA
since 1990,
a period in which the association's annual banquet has reached new heights of
popularity, Past
NJSWA presidents have been: Joe
Logue, The Trentonian, 1984-90. Chuck
Triblehorn, Red Bank Register, 1978-84. Ed
Nicheterlein, Atlantic City Press, 1963-78. Joe
Lee, Asbury Park Press, 1961-62. Herb
Stutz, Newark Evening News, 1958-60. Herb
Nebel, Paterson Morning Call, 1957. Carl
Martin, Hudson Dispatch, 1955-56. Joe
McLaughlin, Newark Evening News, 1952-54. Louis
"Bud" Bauman, Elizabeth Journal, 1951. George
Lucas, Paterson Morning Call, 1949-50. Sam
Siciliano, Asbury Park Press, 1948. Joe
Lovas, Passaic Herald-News, 1947. Louis
Greenberg, Hudson Dispatch, 1946. Sid
Dorfman, Newark Star-Ledger, 1943-45. Gene
Pinter, New Brunswick Home News, 1942. Bob
Whiting, Paterson Morning Call, 1941. Frank
J. Fagan, Newark Star-Eagle, 1939-40, Art
McMahon, Passaic Herald, 1938. Ed
Hill, Asbury Park Press, 1937. Paul
Horowitz, Newark Evening News, 1936. |
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