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

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

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

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. A reporter for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' 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 clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

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

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

, football, and other sports.

Career

Pennington began his career at the Bristol Press in

Bristol, Connecticut Bristol is a suburban city located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, southwest-west of Hartford. The city is also 120 miles southwest from Boston, and approximately 100 miles northeast of New York City. As of the 2020 census, th ...

, then worked for the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, the ''

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

'', the ''

Stamford Advocate ''The Advocate'' is a seven-day daily newspaper based in Stamford, Connecticut. The paper is owned and operated by Hearst Communications, a multinational corporate media conglomerate with $4 billion in revenues. ''The Advocate'' circulates in S ...

'' 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 New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

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 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 vari ...

. 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 Lindsey Caroline Vonn ( ; born October 18, 1984) is an American former World Cup alpine ski racer on the US Ski Team. She won four World Cup overall championships — second only amongst female skiers to Annemarie Moser-Pröll — with three ...

and

Title IX Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...

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 the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

, Pennington graduated from Farmington High School and

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

. He lives in

Warwick, New York Warwick is a town in the southwestern part of Orange County, New York, United States. Its population was 32,027 at the 2020 census. The town contains three villages (Florida, Greenwood Lake, and Warwick) and eight hamlets ( Amity, Bellvale, Ed ...

, 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 William Vernell Wood Sr. (December 23, 1936February 3, 2020) was an American professional football player and coach. He played as a safety with the Green Bay Packers in the National Football League (NFL). Wood was an eight-time Pro Bowler an ...

and Hall of Fame quarterback

Len Dawson Leonard Ray Dawson (June 20, 1935 – August 24, 2022) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Kansas City Chiefs franchise. Aft ...

, 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 Aaron Josef Hernandez (November 6, 1989 April 19, 2017) was an American football tight end. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons with the New England Patriots until his career came to an abrupt end after his arrest ...

and his suspected involvement in the

murder of Odin Lloyd Odin Leonardo John Lloyd (November 14, 1985 – June 17, 2013) was a semi-professional American football player who was murdered by Aaron Hernandez, a former tight end for the New England Patriots of the National Football League, in North Attlebo ...

. * 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

's rise to the top of the ski racing world. * Reports on former New York Giants head coach

Jim Fassel James Edward Fassel (August 31, 1949 – June 7, 2021) was an American college and professional football player and coach. He was the head coach of the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) from 1997 to 2003. He was offensive coor ...

'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 sportswriters Living people Sportswriters from New York (state)