Alan Schwarz
Encyclopedia
Alan Schwarz is a Pulitzer Prize
-nominated reporter at the The New York Times
best known for writing more than 100 articles that exposed the seriousness of concussions among football players of all ages. His investigative and profile pieces are generally credited with revolutionizing the respect and protocol for head injuries in almost every major youth and professional sport. Schwarz's work was profiled in an early 2011 issue of the New Yorker and was described by one Hall of Fame sports writer, Murray Chass, as “the most remarkable feat in sports journalism history.” The Times promoted him to National Correspondent for Education in July 2011.
, where he graduated in 1986. Schwarz graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania
in 1990 with a B.A. in mathematics. It was at Penn that Schwarz began covering sports for the school newspaper, The Daily Pennsylvanian
. He decided to pursue a career in journalism rather than to follow his original plan of becoming a high school math teacher.
but ESPN The Magazine
, Newsweek
and many other national publications. As a contributing freelancer to the Times, he helped begin the Sunday biweekly column "Keeping Score" – along with current Times business columnist David Leonhardt
– where they applied statistical analysis to ongoing sports news. He also was the very popular host of ESPN
's Baseball Today, the No. 1 rated individual-sport podcast on iTunes
in 2006.
In 2004, Schwarz published his first book, The Numbers Game: Baseball's Lifelong Fascination with Statistics. The book covers the history of statistical analysis in baseball, including the stories of Henry Chadwick, George Lindsey, Earnshaw Cook and Bill James
, as well as the development of The Baseball Encyclopedia in the 1960s. Drawing widespread acclaim, the book was named by ESPN the "baseball book of the year" in 2004. His second book, Once Upon a Game: Baseball's Greatest Memories, was published in April 2007.
Andre Waters
,, who recently had committed suicide at the age of 44. (The exact name of the disease is chronic traumatic encephalopathy (C.T.E.), an incurable and progressive disorder in which protein deposits gradually compromise brain function.) After gathering steam with profiles of current and retired players suffering from post-concussion syndrome and early-onset dementia, the series put concussions on the front burner of football debate and evolved to examine not just N.F.L. issues but the dangers of head trauma in high school and other youth sports, like girls' soccer and basketball. Subsequently, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee devoted three hearings to the issue of sport-related brain injuries, repeatedly citing Schwarz's work during them.
In November and December 2009, under significant legislative and public pressure, the N.F.L. ended its denials of the long-term risks of football: It revamped its rules regarding concussion management, suspended its study of retired players' cognitive decline which Schwarz had exposed as improperly designed, and accepted the resignations of the two co-chairmen of a league committee that had conducted questionable research. The N.F.L. also began running the first public service announcement warning young athletes about the dangers of concussions. Following this, state legislatures all over the nation began enacting statutes to require education and stronger rules to keep young athletes safer.
In 2010, a major investigative piece by Schwarz evidenced what were called glaring lapses in the safety testing of football helmets among players of all ages. The story prompted an investigation by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the introduction of bills in both houses of Congress covering football helmet safety and a call for inquiry by the Federal Trade Commission for false and misleading advertising by manufacturers.
In 2011, in another development in the concussion space, Schwarz covered how "former Bears
star Dave Duerson
sent text messages asking that his brain tissue be tested for C.T.E. before shooting himself in the chest." Duerson was later found by Boston University researchers to have had the disease.
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-nominated reporter at the The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
best known for writing more than 100 articles that exposed the seriousness of concussions among football players of all ages. His investigative and profile pieces are generally credited with revolutionizing the respect and protocol for head injuries in almost every major youth and professional sport. Schwarz's work was profiled in an early 2011 issue of the New Yorker and was described by one Hall of Fame sports writer, Murray Chass, as “the most remarkable feat in sports journalism history.” The Times promoted him to National Correspondent for Education in July 2011.
Background
Schwarz's background in mathematics is considered one of his strengths as a reporter, particularly in his investigation of football brain injuries. Schwarz's father taught him how to compute square roots when he was 4 years old., and after becoming interested in baseball as a teenager he wound up as the statistician for the baseball team at Scarsdale High SchoolScarsdale High School
Scarsdale High School is a public high school in Scarsdale, New York, a coterminous town and village in Westchester County, New York. The school was founded in 1917...
, where he graduated in 1986. Schwarz graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
in 1990 with a B.A. in mathematics. It was at Penn that Schwarz began covering sports for the school newspaper, The Daily Pennsylvanian
The Daily Pennsylvanian
The Daily Pennsylvanian is the independent daily student newspaper of the University of Pennsylvania.It is published every weekday when the university is in session by a staff of more than 250 students. During the summer months, a smaller staff produces a weekly version called The Summer...
. He decided to pursue a career in journalism rather than to follow his original plan of becoming a high school math teacher.
Early career
Schwarz spent five months at The National Sports Daily before being hired by Baseball America in 1991, where he served as the senior writer until he joined the Times in March 2007. He covered baseball exclusively from 1991 through 2006, writing not only for Baseball AmericaBaseball America
Baseball America is a magazine which covers baseball at every level, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in high school, college, Japan, and the minor leagues. It is currently published in the form of a bi-weekly newspaper, five annual reference book titles, a weekly podcast, and a...
but ESPN The Magazine
ESPN The Magazine
ESPN The Magazine is a bi-weekly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut in the United States. The first issue was published on March 11, 1998....
, Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
and many other national publications. As a contributing freelancer to the Times, he helped begin the Sunday biweekly column "Keeping Score" – along with current Times business columnist David Leonhardt
David Leonhardt
David Leonhardt is the Washington bureau chief of The New York Times. He joined The Times in 1999 and wrote the "Economics Scene" column, and for the Times Sunday Magazine. Before coming to The Times, he wrote for Business Week and The Washington Post...
– where they applied statistical analysis to ongoing sports news. He also was the very popular host of ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
's Baseball Today, the No. 1 rated individual-sport podcast on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
in 2006.
In 2004, Schwarz published his first book, The Numbers Game: Baseball's Lifelong Fascination with Statistics. The book covers the history of statistical analysis in baseball, including the stories of Henry Chadwick, George Lindsey, Earnshaw Cook and Bill James
Bill James
George William “Bill” James is a baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics...
, as well as the development of The Baseball Encyclopedia in the 1960s. Drawing widespread acclaim, the book was named by ESPN the "baseball book of the year" in 2004. His second book, Once Upon a Game: Baseball's Greatest Memories, was published in April 2007.
Concussion reporting
Schwarz's series on football concussions began in January 2007 with a front-page Times story on brain damage found in former Philadelphia EaglePhiladelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
Andre Waters
Andre Waters
Andre Waters was an NFL defensive back who played for the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals from 1984 to 1995. Waters was regarded as one of the NFL's hardest-hitting defenders, serving as an integral part of one of the league's top defenses...
,, who recently had committed suicide at the age of 44. (The exact name of the disease is chronic traumatic encephalopathy (C.T.E.), an incurable and progressive disorder in which protein deposits gradually compromise brain function.) After gathering steam with profiles of current and retired players suffering from post-concussion syndrome and early-onset dementia, the series put concussions on the front burner of football debate and evolved to examine not just N.F.L. issues but the dangers of head trauma in high school and other youth sports, like girls' soccer and basketball. Subsequently, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee devoted three hearings to the issue of sport-related brain injuries, repeatedly citing Schwarz's work during them.
In November and December 2009, under significant legislative and public pressure, the N.F.L. ended its denials of the long-term risks of football: It revamped its rules regarding concussion management, suspended its study of retired players' cognitive decline which Schwarz had exposed as improperly designed, and accepted the resignations of the two co-chairmen of a league committee that had conducted questionable research. The N.F.L. also began running the first public service announcement warning young athletes about the dangers of concussions. Following this, state legislatures all over the nation began enacting statutes to require education and stronger rules to keep young athletes safer.
In 2010, a major investigative piece by Schwarz evidenced what were called glaring lapses in the safety testing of football helmets among players of all ages. The story prompted an investigation by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the introduction of bills in both houses of Congress covering football helmet safety and a call for inquiry by the Federal Trade Commission for false and misleading advertising by manufacturers.
In 2011, in another development in the concussion space, Schwarz covered how "former Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
star Dave Duerson
Dave Duerson
David Russell Duerson was an American football safety in the National Football League who played for the Chicago Bears , the New York Giants , and the Phoenix Cardinals .-Early life:...
sent text messages asking that his brain tissue be tested for C.T.E. before shooting himself in the chest." Duerson was later found by Boston University researchers to have had the disease.
Books
- Alan Schwarz, The Numbers Game: Baseball's Lifelong Fascination with Statistics. New York: St. Martin's, 2004 & 2005. ISBN 0-312-32223-2.
- Alan Schwarz, Once Upon a Game: Baseball's Greatest Memories. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2007. ISBN 978-0-618-73127-5.
Awards and recognition
- 2007 Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
Sports Editors Award for Project Reporting - 2008 New York Press ClubNew York Press ClubThe New York Press Club is a membership organization of and for journalists and media professionals in the New York City metropolitan area. The club is a private, non-profit corporation and is not affiliated with any government office or agency and does not advocate or participate in any political...
Award for Journalism - 2009 George Polk AwardGeorge Polk AwardsThe George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States.-History:...
- 2009 Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
Sports Editors Award for Project Reporting - 2010 Society of Professional JournalistsSociety of Professional JournalistsThe Society of Professional Journalists , formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is one of the oldest organizations representing journalists in the United States. It was established in April 1909 at DePauw University, and its charter was designed by William Meharry Glenn. The ten founding members of...
Deadline Club Award for Sports Journalism - 2010 New York Press ClubNew York Press ClubThe New York Press Club is a membership organization of and for journalists and media professionals in the New York City metropolitan area. The club is a private, non-profit corporation and is not affiliated with any government office or agency and does not advocate or participate in any political...
Award for Journalism - 2010 Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
Sports Editors Award for Project Reporting - 2010 Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
for Public Service (Finalist) - 2011 Society of Professional JournalistsSociety of Professional JournalistsThe Society of Professional Journalists , formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is one of the oldest organizations representing journalists in the United States. It was established in April 1909 at DePauw University, and its charter was designed by William Meharry Glenn. The ten founding members of...
Deadline Club Award for Public Service