Ivan Maisel is a national
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
writer.
Career
An alumnus of
Murphy High in Mobile and
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
, Maisel began his career at
The Atlanta Constitution
''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...
in 1981, where he covered
Clemson's unlikely run to the national championship.
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
hired him as a reporter (fact-checker) the following year. He began covering national college football in 1987 for the ''
Dallas Morning News
''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...
'', then moved to ''
Newsday
''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...
'' in 1994. He rejoined Sports Illustrated in 1997 as a senior writer. In 2002, ESPN.com hired him as its first college football writer. Maisel appeared on ESPN television, radio and podcasts. For many years he co-hosted the ESPN college football podcast. His regular guests included ESPN analyst
Beano Cook
Carroll Hoff "Beano" Cook (September 1, 1931 – October 11, 2012) was an American television personality who worked for ESPN. He was a college football historian and commentator. He received his B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1954.
...
(until Cook's death in October 2012),
Gene Wojciechowski
Gene Wojciechowski () is a sports writer, best known for his work with ESPN.
Born in Salina, Kansas, Wojciechowski received a bachelor's degree in communications and journalism from the University of Tennessee and began his career as a sports w ...
, and other ESPN colleagues.
Maisel served as the Editor-at-Large of ESPN College Football 150, the multi-platform project commemorating the 2019 sesquicentennial of the sport. In that role, Maisel served as the writer and host of Down & Distance, a podcast series, as a producer of The American Game and The Greatest, two 11-week series, and as a producer of Saturdays in the South, an eight-week series on the
SEC Network
The SEC Network is an American multinational sports network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications (which holds ...
.
Maisel has been honored eight times for Best Story by the
Football Writers Association of America
The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...
, most recently for a 2019 remembrance of author
Dan Jenkins
Daniel Thomas Jenkins (December 2, 1928 – March 7, 2019) was an American author and sportswriter who often wrote for ''Sports Illustrated''. He was also a high-standard amateur golfer who played college golf at Texas Christian University.
Ear ...
. The FWAA honored Maisel in 2016 with the
Bert McGrane Award, the organization’s Hall of Fame. He has been honored twice by 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. newspa ...
Sports Editors, who in 2019 named him one of the 10 best sports columnists in the nation. In 2020, the
College Sports Information Directors of America
College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) is an organization that focuses on professional development and support for sports information directors at all levels. It offers awards, scholarships, and grants in support of SIDs and pros ...
presented Maisel the Jake Wade Award for his contribution to intercollegiate athletics. Maisel also won the
Edwin Pope
John Edwin Pope (April 11, 1928 – January 19, 2017) was an American journalist known for his sportswriting at the ''Miami Herald'', where his work appeared from 1956 until his death in 2017. He covered Super Bowl I through Super Bowl XLVII. Som ...
Vanguard Media Award from the
Orange Bowl
The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...
in 2019.
Maisel announced on Twitter in November 2020 that ESPN had informed him it would not renew his contract. He left the company in January 2021. On June 1, Maisel announced that he had been hired by On3 Media for its new website. On3.com began operating on August 1, 2021
Personal life
Maisel was born to a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family in Mobile, Alabama,
the son of Freida Gutlow Maisel and real estate developer Herman Maisel.
[Alabama Press-Register: "Developer, sports standout Maisel dies at age 82" by Paul Cloos]
October 02, 2007 He has one brother, Elliot Maisel, and one sister, Kathy Bronstein.
Ivan Maisel has often joked about his odd background, being a Jewish Alabamian.
Maisel's son, Max, went missing and was last seen on Sunday, February 22, 2015 leaving his apartment complex in Rochester, NY. On Friday, April 18, 2015 a body matching Max Maisel's description was found in Lake Ontario. On April 21, 2015 Max's body was positively identified.
[: "Max Maisel's Body Identified"](_blank)
April 12. 2015, Max was a junior professional photographic illustration student at
RIT
Rit is a brand of dye
A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied i ...
.
Maisel would later say "circumstantial evidence" pointed to suicide as the cause of Max's death. In September 2018, Maisel authored a story about the death of
Tyler Hilinski
Tyler Scott Haun Hilinski (May 26, 1996 – January 16, 2018) was an American football quarterback who played college football at Washington State University. He died by suicide following his junior year. An autopsy revealed that he had stage o ...
, a Washington State quarterback who died by suicide, and Maisel's bond with the Hilinski family. Maisel serves on the board of directors of the Jordan Porco Foundation, which works to prevent suicide and promote mental health among young adults.
In October 2021, Maisel published a memoir about his relationship with Max, titled ''I Keep Trying to Catch His Eye''.
References
External links
Biographyat
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
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American sportswriters
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Place of birth missing (living people)
Stanford University alumni
The Dallas Morning News people
American Jews