Christine Brennan (born May 14, 1958) is a

sports columnist Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...

for ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'', a commentator on ABC News, CNN, PBS NewsHour and NPR, and a best-selling author. She was the first female sports reporter for the ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'' on the

Washington Football team The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

beat in 1985, and the first president of the Association for Women in Sports Media in 1988.

Career

Brennan received bachelor's and master's degrees from the

Medill School of Journalism The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications is a constituent school of Northwestern University that offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. It frequently ranks as the top school of journalism in the Unite ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. After graduating, she began working for the ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

during their trip to the

1984 Orange Bowl The 1984 Orange Bowl was the 50th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Monday, January 2. Part of the 1983–84 bowl game season, it matched the undefeated and top-ranked Nebraska Cornhus ...

national championship game, after which she wrote her first book, ''The Miracle of Miami.'' At the game, she connected with former classmate

Michael Wilbon Michael Wilbon (; born ) is an American commentator for ESPN and former sportswriter and columnist for ''The Washington Post''. He is an analyst for ESPN and has co-hosted ''Pardon the Interruption'' on ESPN since 2001. Early life and education ...

, who recommended her to his ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'' editors; she joined the ''Post'''s sports staff shortly thereafter. She covered the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

beat for three years, then moved on to covering the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

. She worked for the ''Post'' for 12 years before joining ''

'' as its national sports columnist in 1997. She has written seven books on sports, including best-selling ''Inside Edge'', about Olympic

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

, which was named one of the top 100 sports books of all time by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...

'' in 2002. She is an on-air commentator for

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast '' ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include morning news-talk show '' Good Morning America'', '' ...

, CNN,

PBS NewsHour ''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS member stations. It airs seven nights a week, and is known for its in-depth coverage of issues and current events. Anchored by Judy Woodruff, the pro ...

, and

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

. She has covered every Olympic Games, summer and winter, since the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Advocacy

In 1988, Brennan was elected the first president of the Association for Women in Sports Media. A longtime advocate for women in sports journalism, she started AWSM's scholarship-internship program for female journalism students, which has honored more than 140 students. She funds two of the scholarships, which are named after her late parents. Brennan, a nationally known speaker, has written and spoken on issues ranging from the importance of Title IX to the behavior of professional athletes to the scourge of performance-enhancing drug use in sports. Her ''USA Today'' columns on

Augusta National Golf Club Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta or the National, is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia, United States. Unlike most private clubs which operate as non-profits, Augusta National is a for-profit corporation, and it does ...

helped trigger the national debate on the club's lack of female members. Brennan is a leading voice on many topics involving sports in society, including the Ray Rice/domestic violence story. She is among the sports journalists to publicly pledge to no longer use the Washington Redskins name in her columns.

Personal life

Brennan is from

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnat ...

. Her relationship with her father in the context of sports fandom is covered in her memoir, ''Best Seat in the House.'' Brennan is a member of the Board of Trustees of

and a national trustee at the

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of ...

Awards

*1993 Capital Press Women's "Woman of Achievement" *1995 Inductee—Ohio Women's Hall of Fame *2001 and 2003 Associated Press Sports Editors—Top 10 columnists in the category of the nation's biggest newspapers *2002 U.S. Sports Academy's Ronald Reagan media award *2003 Jake Wade Award from the College Sports Information Directors of America for outstanding media contribution to intercollegiate athletics *2004 Association for Women in Sports Media—Pioneer Award *2004 Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism Hall of Achievement inductee *2005 Woman of the Year from WISE (Women in Sports and Events) *2006 Inaugural Billie Award in Journalism *2006 Inductee—Ottawa Hills (Ohio) Foundation Hall of Fame *2006 Alumnae Award winner from The Alumnae of Northwestern University *2007 Northwestern University Alumni Service Award *2008 Inaugural Northwestern University Women's Athletics Alumnae Award *2013 Yale University Kiphuth Medal *2013 Ralph McGill Lecturer at the University of Georgia *2016 Association for Women in Sports Media-Ann Miller Service Award *2016 Washington DC Sports Hall of Fame *2017 Northwestern Athletics Hall of Fame *2020 Red Smith Award

References

External links

*
Christine Brennan Official SiteChristine Brennan's columns at USAToday.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brennan, Christine 1958 births American sportswriters Figure skating commentators Women sports announcers Medill School of Journalism alumni Writers from Toledo, Ohio Living people Women sportswriters Journalists from Ohio Red Smith Award recipients