Stewart Lance Mandel is an American

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 ...

for The All-American and

The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports website that provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories from top professional and college sports ...

who focuses on

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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

and

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

. Mandel was raised in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

, attending Sycamore High School, and is a graduate of

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

(1998) with a degree in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (p ...

. Writing in ''Gelf Magazine'', David Goldenberg noted that Mandel "has a broad perspective on the sport f college footballand its various constituencies". Beginning in 1999, Mandel worked for

SI.com ''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 ...

, where he wrote the "College Football Mailbag" (The Mailbag) column, numerous individual features, and analyses of various games. Mandel described his job as primarily "attempting to explain to irrational college football fan bases across the country just how illogical the current system of college football is". He also wrote about men's

. He was an AP voter in the NCAA Football AP poll, but gave the duty up to fellow SI.com writer

Andy Staples Andy may refer to: People *Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds *Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and piano ...

. In 2007, Mandel released his first book: ''Bowls, Polls, and Tattered Souls: Tackling the Chaos and Controversy that Reign Over College Football.'' A review in ''The New York Times'' complimented the book's "breezy, airy tone" and Mandel's ability to be "sarcastic without being cynical and critical without sounding jaded" during the "intricate tour through the ills of the college football world." In February 2009, SI.com announced Mandel would be taking a

sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work. The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Biblical practice of '' shmita'' (sabbatical year), which is related to agriculture. According ...

from the site "to work on other projects. He returned in early July."See the bottom of the article: Steward Mandel
From Brown to Kiffin, here are 10 offseason storylines to watch
SI.com, February 13, 2009, Accessed February 14, 2009. A practicing

Jew 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""T ...

, Mandel once held off from writing his featured SI.com sports blog during and in observance of

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day' ...

when it fell on a game day during the college football season.Stewart Mandel
Four Thoughts for Friday
SI.com, September 21, 2007. In June 2014, Fox Sports announced it had hired Mandel as a senior columnist covering college football and basketball. He wrote his first column for FoxSports.com on July 8, 2014. Mandel began working at The Athletic in 2016. He is currently the editor-in-chief of the college football site.

References

External links

American male journalists American sportswriters Medill School of Journalism alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-sportswriter-stub