William Mark Pennington (born December 12, 1956) is an American

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, sportswriter and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

. A reporter for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' since 1997, Pennington has become best known for his sports journalism on

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, and other sports.

Career

Pennington began his career at the Bristol Press in Bristol, Connecticut, then worked for the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, the ''

Providence Journal ''The Providence Journal'', colloquially known as the ''ProJo'', is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, the largest newspaper in Rhode Island, US. The newspaper was first published in 1829. The newspaper had won four ...

'', the '' Stamford Advocate'' and '' The Record'', where he was a beat writer for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

and later a syndicated columnist. For five years at ''

'', he was the beat writer covering the New York Giants. He also received acclaim for his coverage of multiple summer and winter

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. In 2008, Pennington began starring in golf videos and writing the weekly "On Par" golf column in the ''Times''. In 2015, Pennington authored ''The New York Times'' best seller ''Billy Martin: Baseball's Flawed Genius''. Pennington is a 15-time finalist and seven-time winner of the Associated Press sports editors national writing award, writing stories about overuse injuries in young athletes, unethical medical practices in professional sports, a profile of ski racer Lindsey Vonn and Title IX abuses. His 2009 series examining the actual monetary value of an NCAA athletic scholarship won a Deadline Club award from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2009.

Personal life

Raised in central

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, Pennington graduated from Farmington High School and

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

. He lives in Warwick, New York, with his wife, Joyce, and three children.

Bibliography

Books

*''Chumps to Champs: How the Worst Teams in Yankees History Led to the '90s Dynasty'' (2019) *''Billy Martin: Baseball's Flawed Genius'' (2015) *''On Par: The Everyday Golfer's Survival Guide'' (2012) *''The Heisman: Great American Stories of the Men Who Won'' (2004) *''The Winning Spirit'' (1992)

Notable articles

* Reports on Hall of Fame defensive back Willie Wood and Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson, NFL pioneers whose post-playing careers diverged wildly due in part to Wood's repeated head injuries and subsequent memory loss issues. * An in-depth investigation on the life of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez and his suspected involvement in the murder of Odin Lloyd. * A nine-part series that examines how Haverford coaches decide whom to support in the admissions process, how the athletics and admissions offices interact, and how potential recruits view the system. * Reports on Lindsey Vonn's rise to the top of the ski racing world. * Reports on former New York Giants head coach Jim Fassel's journey to reconnect with his son, John Mathieson, put up for adoption in 1969.

References

External links

On Par
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pennington, Bill 1956 births American male journalists Boston University College of Communication alumni People from Warwick, New York The New York Times journalists Living people Sportswriters from New York (state)