Dan Bickley (born September 17, 1963) is an American sports radio talk show host and on-line sports columnist in Phoenix, Arizona.

Early life and education

Bickley grew up on the

South Side of Chicago The South Side is an area of Chicago, Illinois, U.S. It lies south of the city's Loop area in the downtown. Geographically, it is the largest of the three sides of the city that radiate from downtown, with the other two being the north and we ...

, where he developed an early love for print journalism. He graduated William Fremd High School (

Palatine, Illinois Palatine () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a northwestern residential suburb of Chicago. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 67,908. As of the 2010 Census, it was the seventh-largest community in Cook Coun ...

) in 1981, and from Harper College in 1984 with a degree in journalism.

Professional career

His first job in journalism was with the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'', where he was a sports

beat reporter Beat reporting, also known as specialized reporting, is a genre of journalism focused on a particular issue, sector, organization, or institution over time. Description Beat reporters build up a base of knowledge on and gain familiarity with th ...

. He covered the Chicago Bulls and

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

during their championship runs. After leaving the Sun-Times he became a

syndicated columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the form of a short essay ...

for the

Copley News Service Copley Press was a privately held newspaper business, founded in Illinois, but later based in La Jolla, California. Its flagship paper was ''The San Diego Union-Tribune''. History Founder Ira Clifton Copley launched Copley Press c. 1905, eventu ...

. In 1998 he moved to Arizona to cover the expansion baseball team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, for the Arizona Republic. He was also a sports

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...

for the local NBC affiliate, until a change of ownership. He became the lead sports columnist for ''The Arizona Republic'' and its on-line edition, ''AZCentral.com''. After several years in Arizona, he began doing sports talk radio on KGME and in 2009 the show was voted "Best Local Sports Talk" radio show. In 2013 he moved to KMVP-FM, later branded as ''Arizona Sports 98.7 FM''. In 2018 the show was expanded to four hours, and he left print journalism. He has continued his column only on-line and exclusively for ''Arizonasports.com''. He has expressed a pessimistic view of the future for print journalism: "The Golden Age of Journalism didn't last...newspapers are dying." He now feels liberated from deadlines,

paywalls A paywall is a method of restricting access to content, with a purchase or a paid subscription, especially news. Beginning in the mid-2010s, newspapers started implementing paywalls on their websites as a way to increase revenue after years of ...

and

pop-up ads Pop-up ads or pop-ups are forms of online advertising on the World Wide Web. A pop-up is a graphical user interface (GUI) display area, usually a small window, that suddenly appears ("pops up") in the foreground of the visual interface. The pop-u ...

. He has been called the closest thing Phoenix has to a sports media superstar. Bickley has written two books, both about sports figures with strong Chicago connections,

Jerry Colangelo Jerry Colangelo (born November 20, 1939) is an American businessman and sports executive. He formerly owned the Phoenix Suns of the NBA, the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, the Arizona Sandsharks of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, the Arizona ...

and Dennis Rodman. In the 2009 ''Return of the Gold: The Journey of Jerry Colangelo and the Redeem Team'' Bickley paints a very positive image of Colangelo. He describes Colangelo's difficult Chicago upbringing and how he used his reputation and credibility to save

USA Basketball USA Basketball (USAB) is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the United States Olympi ...

after humiliating

Olympic basketball Basketball at the Summer Olympics has been a sport for men consistently since Basketball at the 1936 Summer Olympics, 1936. Prior to its inclusion as a medal sport, basketball was held as a demonstration event in Basketball at the 1904 Summer O ...

defeats in 2004. Almost a decade later he has retained his enthusiasm for Colangelo, recommending he take over the last place

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

. ''No Bull: The Unauthorized Biography of Dennis Rodman'' (1997) discussed the career and bizarre antics of Rodman. He posits that rather than his behavior being out of control, Rodman deftly manipulated the media and fans. Bickley has won multiple awards for sports writing from the Arizona Press Club. The Arizona Press Club's comment on his 2013 award:

Bickley’s London Olympics columns were superbly crafted, painstakingly researched, wonderfully insightful — and stunningly far-ranging, with great depth and breadth as he presented multiple, disparate, unique and fascinatingly comprehensive reports on the Games. He won this category in a landslide.

Personal

Bickley is married to Tamara Bickley, a professional

make-up artist A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions inc ...

, and has three children. Music has always been one of his passions; he plays

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

for the rock cover band Whiskey's Quicker. He founded the group in 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bickley, Dan American sports journalists Radio personalities from Arizona 21st-century American guitarists Musicians from Phoenix, Arizona Writers from Phoenix, Arizona Journalists from Chicago Chicago Sun-Times people 21st-century American non-fiction writers 1963 births Living people 21st-century American journalists Journalists from Arizona