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Best Wrestling Journalist of the Decade

nerfstate

Well-Known Member
Oct 10, 2017
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All these silly brackets everyone is doing needs to be turned inward. Should we do a bracket? I'll set up the polls. Would need help with seeding (Jeff Byers is obviously the 1). Let's start by listing the qualifiers.
 
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Johnstonsteel, nerfstate is referring to journalism, not recruiting.

I agree he should be in the bracket, but I'll have a tought time separating one from the other.

And don't forget Shane, he had a good segment with Bo. Shane was prepared and it was a good back and forth interview with the clip.
 
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I'd put my work up against anyone tbh (surprise, surprise). JB, Earl, a couple others. CP was good when he was in the mix but he doesn't do much more than FRL any longer.

What's sort of odd is that our roles are all quite different. JB is heavy podcasts and announcing. Shane is all on camera. Andy Hamilton almost all print.

Earl and I are swiss army knives, though i've been limited by this stupid lawsuit. Earl does a ton on several fronts. it's quite impressive.

I like to think i'm light years ahead of most in the recruiting aspect. But to be sure i'm not even close in mixed media with technology and audio/video editing. Which, btw, Tony Hager is really good with. I'd put him in the mix too although he's more of a state outlet. In which case add in Eric Knopsnyder of PA Power. He had a really nice video piece on Bryan Snyder a couple weeks ago.

IDK. thanks for the mention. ^^^ those are my nominees. Probably leaving some guys out.
 
Wrestling Journalist: Easy pick for me: Jason Bryant
Radio Announcer: Jeff Byers by a country mile
TV: Shane Sparks
YouTube: Dernlan/Rudis Wrestling
Podcasts: JB. I like Klingman, too, although he seems to lean heavily towards covering Iowa.
 
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Plenty of historical figures, though not of this decade. I'll mention these only to get the names out there for recognition. All have ties to PSU Wrestling over the years;

Doug McDonald
Ron Bracken
Guy Cipriano
Jim Carlson
Jeff Byers
Andy Elder
(Town and Gown writers) Many over the years
Judd Arnold
and many others, tied to "local" newspapers such as the Altoona Mirror, Lewistown Sentinel, Clearfield Progress, Harrisburg Patriot News, Lock Haven Express and others.

I guess my age is showing a bit...for Penn State wrestling, these are the guys that provided us with great information, dating almost back to my earliest days of fandom.
 
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Lehigh Valley has produced a ton of good local writers over the years. Brad Wilson, Ted Meixell, Tom Housenick et al. Jersey does great with the hs beat too. It's great for the sport.
 
I'd put my work up against anyone tbh (surprise, surprise). JB, Earl, a couple others. CP was good when he was in the mix but he doesn't do much more than FRL any longer.

What's sort of odd is that our roles are all quite different. JB is heavy podcasts and announcing. Shane is all on camera. Andy Hamilton almost all print.

Earl and I are swiss army knives, though i've been limited by this stupid lawsuit. Earl does a ton on several fronts. it's quite impressive.

I like to think i'm light years ahead of most in the recruiting aspect. But to be sure i'm not even close in mixed media with technology and audio/video editing. Which, btw, Tony Hager is really good with. I'd put him in the mix too although he's more of a state outlet. In which case add in Eric Knopsnyder of PA Power. He had a really nice video piece on Bryan Snyder a couple weeks ago.

IDK. thanks for the mention. ^^^ those are my nominees. Probably leaving some guys out.
The Johnstown area was very fortunate to have Eric Knopsnyder around.
 
Lehigh Valley has produced a ton of good local writers over the years. Brad Wilson, Ted Meixell, Tom Housenick et al. Jersey does great with the hs beat too. It's great for the sport.
Pennsylvania really has been blessed with decades of outstanding local writers. Most if not every region can list theirs, and they would stand up to anyone nationally.

I grew up reading John Huckaby. He's been "retired" since 2001, scare quotes because he is still writing about wrestling, and he was going to cover 2020 NCAAs. As good as ever.

Mitch Rupert does a great job -- "local" reporter might be the correct job description but does a disservice to the large geographical territory he covers.
 
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Ken Wunderley of Western Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

One of my first posts was to mention Ken, this was years ago. I said I knew Ken. Every year he labored over a stats book on WPIAL which always was darn accurate and l bought one each year. Unfortunately I misspelled his last name in my post. I was hoping for a like on the post but got a correction from Roar over his spelling. Freshman poster mistake which I still make to this day.
 
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lol. context, brother. at the time people were saying, "Willie, a real journalist would do this or that." So 'don't call me a real journalist then" became my mantra.

call me whatever you want. i'm the best in the game.
Hey Willie—how much wrestling is on the radio regionally? I know about Ironside, Who else deserves to be in the same bracket as Jeff Byers?
 
I am patiently awaiting the introduction of awards / rankings for non-media wrestling engagement. Visual arts or creativity might be my only chance at ever cracking the top 25 in anything related to wrestling.
If this is Ross Bendik, I’ll paraphrase the great Bum Phillips when he was discussing Earl Campbell, the Tyler Rose

Ross Bendik may not be the best wrestling-related Visual Artist in the class, but when that class gets together, it don’t take long to call the roll.
 
I don't even know what we call journalists anymore because the medium is changing very rapidly.

JB, Timmy Hands, and Willie are extremely high on my list though. The IA Wrestle guys do some awesome things.
 
lol. context, brother. at the time people were saying, "Willie, a real journalist would do this or that." So 'don't call me a real journalist then" became my mantra.

call me whatever you want. i'm the best in the game.

And very humble!
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This thread is about the best wrestling journalist of the decade. I'll defer to the other people posting here on that one.

But if you want to name the greatest wrestling announcer of all time, there is one, and only one name who could ever be considered for the title:

Ed Aliverti

 
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