PSWA Dinner

The Philadelphia Sports Writers Association hosts its 106th annual Awards Dinner on Monday night, Feb. 1. The event will be held at the Crowne Plaza hotel on Route 70 in Cherry Hill, just minutes from all Philadelphia bridges. Doors open at 5 p.m., and dinner starts at 6:30. Award winners include: Brent Celek (Eagles) - Outstanding Professional Athlete Andrew Bailey (Oakland Athletics) - Native Son Red Klotz (Washington Generals) - Living Legend Willie Green (76ers) - Good Guy Award Phillies and Charlie Manuel - Team of the Year 1960 Philadelphia ... Read More

They were the team of the year for 2007 and 2008, and when the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association gathers for its 106th annual Awards Dinner, the National league champion Phillies will be recognized as Team of the Year for 2009. Tickets to the PSWA dinner on Feb. 1 are available to the public. Click here to order tickets. The season had a different look than in the two previous years when the Phillies chased down the Mets in September. In 2009, ... Read More

Joe Juliano of the Philadelphia Inquirer is a past-president of the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association, and for 29 years he has anchored the committee that selects the winner of our annual Most Courageous Athlete Award. Annually, the award is the finale of the PSWA banquet, and the identity of the winner is kept secret until the night of the dinner. We asked Joe to share some of his memories of this hallowed award. Following is the second of two posts that trace unforgettable award-winners, and ... Read More

by Jennifer Reardon / Ashburn Scholarship Winner - For 33-year veteran National Hockey League referee Kerry Fraser, professional accolades are nothing new. After working his 1500th game on Nov. 30, 2003, the NHL honored Fraser with an engraved crystal star and framed portrait sketched by New York Rangers captain Mark Messier. Since then, Fraser has worked 200 additional regular season games, a record 225 more than Hall of Fame NHL referee Andy Van Hellemond, and 257 Stanley Cup Playoff games, the most of ... Read More

by Ed Barkowitz/Philadelphia Daily News - John Runyan is a fascinating paradox. He plays the most physically demanding psort and plays it with a palpable mean streak. Opposing players who stand idly alongside a pile do so at their own peril. Runyan has picked off plenty of defensive players, most times legally. Off the field is a different story. He exchanges the aggression for a gentleneess that belies his 6-7, 325-pound frame. Runyan's benevolence hasn't touched everyone, just those who seem to need it most. It ... Read More

by LIZ SULLIVAN Unlike many world-class athletes who dream from an early age of reaching the pinnacle of their sport, the dream came a little later for Delran, NJ's Carli Lloyd. Lloyd, 25, has been a midfielder for the US Women's National Soccer Team since 2005. The Delran High School graduate and her teammates are in the midst of preparing for the 2008 Summer Olympics in China. This would be the first time Lloyd has played in the Olympics for the United States, which is ... Read More

(reprinted from mlb.com) CHERRY HILL, N.J. -- Larry Shenk had to put up with Philadelphia sportswriters for 44 years, so it was only fitting Monday night at the 104th annual Philadelphia SportsWriters Association dinner that Shenk was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his years of service as Phillies public relations director. Shenk was easily the most animated of the honored guests, which also included Jimmy Rollins (Pro Athlete of the Year) and Phillies Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Kalas, the MC of ... Read More

Richie Ashburn was arguably the most popular athlete to ever play in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Sports Writers Association keeps Richie's legend alive each year with the presentation of a scholarship in his memory. At the 2008 dinner, Jennifer Reardon won the award presented annually to a journalism student at Temple University. A junior at the time of the award, she has a 3.91 grade-point average and plans on a career as a sportswriter. She worked as a member of the Penn Relays reporting staff in ... Read More

Jimmy Rollins, whose brash declaration in January that the Phillies were "the team to beat" in the NL East, put his money where his mouth was and led the 2007 Phils to the Division Championship and their first post-season appearance in 14 years. Rollins went on to win the National League Most Valuable Player Award, succeeding teammate Ryan Howard, who took the honors in 2006. J-Ro hit .296, socked 30 homers, and drove in 94 runs. Not bad for a lead-off guy. He also scored ... Read More