William Morgan Blake (February, 1889 – July 26, 1953) was an early 20th-century American

sportswriter Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism has its roots in coverage of horse racing and boxing in the early 1800s, mainly targeted towards elites, and into t ...

in the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

who in his 24 years on the job covered seven

Rose Bowl game The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, traditionally played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl (stadium), Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on ...

s. He also taught the south's largest Sunday School class.

Early years

A law graduate and member of

Phi Kappa Psi Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania in 1852. The fraternity has over ninety chapters at accredited four-year colleges and uni ...

from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

in 1911, he began newspaper work on the '' Nashville Tennessean''. He then switched to the ''

Nashville Banner The ''Nashville Banner'' is a defunct daily newspaper of Nashville, Tennessee, United States, which published from April 10, 1876 until February 20, 1998. The ''Banner'' was published each Monday through Friday afternoon (as well as Saturdays unt ...

'' as a political writer, until eventually becoming a sports editor of the '' Atlanta Journal'' in 1916. He was converted by

Billy Sunday William Ashley Sunday (November 19, 1862 – November 6, 1935) was an American evangelist and professional baseball outfielder. He played for eight seasons in the National League before becoming the most influential American preacher during t ...

in 1922.

Sportswriter

Blake ranked Don Hutson led

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

as the best football team he ever saw. He is one proposed originator of the "Golden Tornado" nickname for

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

. He is also one for the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The offic ...

. He wrote a story about school nicknames for football teams and proposed:

''The Georgia Bulldogs would sound good because there is a certain dignity about a bulldog, as well as ferocity.''

Blake was known for his coverage of golfer Bobby Jones. He retired in 1951.

Agoga's Men's Bible Class

Teaching at the Agoga Men's Bible Class at the Baptist Tabernacle of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, his class frequently reached 2,000 and was rated as the largest in the south. He also wrote religious news columns.

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Morgan 1889 births 1953 deaths People from Fayetteville, Tennessee Writers from Atlanta Vanderbilt University Law School alumni Sportswriters from Tennessee