Michelangelo Rucci (born 10 November 1963) is an Australian sports journalist, and writer. Of Italian descent, Rucci grew up in the western suburbs of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, and graduated from

Woodville High School Woodville High School is a secondary school in Woodville, a north western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It was opened in 1915. The school provides music, performing and visual arts and sporting programs and has achieved success in these ...

. He is a

sports writer 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 ...

in Adelaide and was the longest-serving the chief

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

writer for '' The Advertiser'', Adelaide's only daily newspaper. Rucci also covered

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

for

News Limited News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Corp. One of Australia's largest media conglomerates, News Corp Australia employs more than 8,000 staff nationwide and approximately 3,0 ...

in the

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

and

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. He also was a consultant to the president of the

International Hockey Federation The Fédération Internationale de Hockey (English: International Hockey Federation), commonly known by the acronym and initialism, acronym FIH, is the international governing body of field hockey and indoor field hockey. Its headquarters are i ...

, Etienne Glichitch, in the 1990s, and won the sport's highest honour, the President's Award, in 1997. In 1999, Rucci published and co-authored ''Dynasty'', the story of legendary Port Adelaide coach

Fos Williams Foster Neil "Fos" Williams AM (21 February 1922 – 1 September 2001) was a leading Australian rules footballer who played for and coached the Port Adelaide and West Adelaide Football Clubs and coached South Adelaide in the South Australian ...

and his family's dynasty in football. In 2022, Rucci was editor of "Chasing The Dream", the book commemorating 50 years of greyhound racing at Angle Park written by Ray Fewings. The SANFL in 2007 awarded Rucci its Gold Media Award for his outstanding contribution to covering football in South Australia. The AFL in 2006 appointed Rucci to the selection panel for Australian football's Indigenous Team of the Century. The league also had Rucci as a judge for the Norm Smith Medal at the 1994 and 2005 grand finals, the Michael Tuck Medal at the 2008 and 2011 NAB Cup pre-season grand finals and the Allen Aylett Medal at the 2008 AFL Hall of Fame tribute match at the MCG. He is also a selector for the South Australian Football Hall of Fame.Rucci, Michelangelo. (7 August 2008
SA footy salutes five greats
Adelaidenow.com.au. Retrieved on 2012-07-29. Rucci was added to the Australian Football Hall of Fame selection committee in 2011. After 22 years at Adelaide radio station 1395FIVEaa, Rucci moved in 2019 to SEN1629SA to co-host the drive-time sports show with Kym Dillon. In the same year, Rucci ended his full-time commitment with The Advertiser after a 37-year stint. He remained as a Saturday columnist and online columnist during the AFL season until April 2020. In March 2020, Rucci joined the Port Adelaide Football Club as a 'specialist content producer' for the club's website and special publications. Ending a journalistic career spanning over three decades, Rucci now writes propaganda puff-pieces for the Port Adelaide Football Club in an effort to water down the expectations of the supporters, known to be a "thorn in the side" of the league, who since 2012 have controlled the operations of the clubs board. 2012 overhaul of the Port Adelaide Football Club including the sacking of senior coach Matthew Primus and president Brett Duncanson. AFL.com.au. Retrieved on 2022-09-02 Rucci joined InDaily as a football analyst in July 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rucci, Michelangelo 1963 births Living people Australian people of Italian descent Writers from Adelaide Australian sports journalists Journalists from South Australia