William O'Connell McGeehan (November 22, 1879 – November 29, 1933) was an American

sportswriter 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 ...

and editor of the '' New York Herald Tribune''.

Early life

He was born to Hugh and Theresa O'Connell McGeehan on November 22, 1879 in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, and died in Brunswick, Georgia, on November 29, 1933. McGeehan entered Stanford University, but left within the first year as he enlisted in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

to fight in the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...

. After the war. he returned to San Francisco, going to work as a reporter for the ''

San Francisco Bulletin The ''San Francisco Evening Bulletin'' was a newspaper in San Francisco, founded as the ''Daily Evening Bulletin'' in 1855 by James King of William. King used the newspaper to crusade against political corruption, and built it into having the highe ...

''. McGeehan continued to work for different papers in San Francisco, including the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

''. It was during his reporter days in San Francisco that he received the nickname "Sheriff." It seems some 13 desperate convicts had escaped from

Folsom Prison Folsom State Prison (FSP) is a California State Prison in Folsom, California, U.S., approximately northeast of the state capital of Sacramento, California, Sacramento. It is one of 34 adult institutions operated by the California Department of ...

, outside Sacramento; one was killed in the escape but the other 12 headed for the state of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

. Many posses were formed and McGeehan, wanting to cover the story as a reporter, was deputized and led one of the posses into the Sierra Nevada. This group included a famous Indian Scout, Farro. They walked right by where some of the convicts were hiding and missed them. They made use of

bloodhound The bloodhound is a large scent hound, originally bred for hunting deer, wild boar and, since the Middle Ages, for tracking people. Believed to be descended from hounds once kept at the Abbey of Saint-Hubert, Belgium, in French it is called, ...

s, but the terrain got so rough that McGeehan had to help carry the dogs back downhill. The upshot was that 3 of the 12 were captured, but the rest got away. From that time on McGeehan was known to many as Sheriff. In 1910, McGeehan married

Sophie Treadwell Sophie Anita Treadwell (October 3, 1885 – February 20, 1970) was an American playwright and journalist of the first half of the 20th century. She is best known for her play ''Machinal'' which is often included in drama anthologies as an examp ...

. Treadwell was a reporter and writer who became famous in her own right for her books and plays in later years. They met while working on one of the San Francisco papers and went East when McGeehan felt it was time to move on. He claimed the old Days weren't that good not much pay, a lot of work and certainly no recognition.

Career

Although many of his columns and much of his work was related to

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

, he covered nearly all sports and write at length about his extensive travels. He fished and hunted moose in Canada, and spent much time in Europe especially in the Balkans and traveling around the Mediterranean. He was most often accompanied by his wife, although he referred to her as the woman who is driving me. McGeehan had many excellent descriptive phrases related to various activities: Boxing was the manly art of modified murder or the Cauliflower industry. He called

Primo Carnera Primo may refer to: People *DJ Premier (born 1966), hip-hop producer, sometimes goes by nickname Primo * Primo Carnera (1906–1967), Italian boxer, World Heavyweight champion 1933–1934 *Primo Cassarino (born 1956), enforcer for the Gambino cr ...

the "tall tower of

Gorgonzola Gorgonzola (; ) is a veined blue cheese, originally from Italy, made from unskimmed cow's milk. It can be buttery or firm, crumbly and quite salty, with a "bite" from its blue veining. History Historically, gorgonzola has been produced for ...

" and referred to wrestlers as

Pachyderms Pachydermata (meaning 'thick skin', from the Greek grc, παχύς, pachys, thick, label=none, and grc, δέρμα, derma, skin, label=none) is an obsolete order of mammals described by Gottlieb Storr, Georges Cuvier, and others, at one time re ...

. An Italian wrestler was described as "breathing garlic and defiance." He also often wrote of a Salmon named Alphide, a leaping champion from the Meramichi River in New Brunswick, trained as a falls jumper, but died of a broken heart at the base of

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...

. Also, Moe the Moose was named for Moe Levy, a fur salesman in Manhattan.

Death

McGeehan fell ill while visiting with

Wilbert Robinson Wilbert Robinson (June 29, 1864 – August 8, 1934), nicknamed "Uncle Robbie", was an American catcher, coach and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Philadelphia Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, and St. Louis Cardinals ...

and

Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston (July 17, 1867 – March 29, 1938) was an American civil engineer and businessman. He co-owned the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball with Jacob Ruppert from 1915 to 1923, turning them from one of the worst ...

at Robinson's hunting lodge on October 28, 1933. He died on November 29 from a heart ailment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGeehan, W. O. Sportswriters from California Writers from San Francisco 1879 births 1933 deaths Major League Baseball broadcasters Stanford University alumni