Veteran Boxing Writer Kimball Wins CJ Award for April -- Cassidy Duo Makes Runner-up Slots a Family Affair
The hits just keep on coming at The Sweet Science, the world's foremost online boxing publication. It rewards the best of the best as it appears on its website with the CJ Award, and it's no small feat to win it - the most accomplished group of writers in the world is assembled at TheSweetScience.com. George Kimball, this month's winner, is indicative of that level of accomplishment.
Elkhart, IN (PRWEB) May 31, 2005 -- George Kimball, one of the more decorated
boxing writers in the world, has added another honor to his beefy resume,
prevailing over an outstanding field of candidates to capture the April 2005 CJ
Award, as bestowed by TheSweetScience.com (http://www.thesweetscience.com).
"This was an
incredibly difficult selection process," said Charles Jay, editor-in-chief of
the website. "The stories are getting better and better every month, and it was
a sin that some of them had to be left out."
Kimball, who in addition to
his duties at The Sweet Science also writes a regular boxing column for the
Boston Herald, is a previous winner of the Nat Fleischer Award, given for
"excellence in boxing journalism" by the Boxing Writers Association of America.
But that didn't prevent him from being critical of the organization in his
CJ-winning story, "Termite Watkins, Iraq & the BWAA."
"Kimball
deserves all the credit in the world for taking his best shot at George W. Bush,
Iraq, war profiteering, and the hypocrisy of some of his less savory
colleagues," says Robert Ecksel, editor of The Sweet Science.
In the
piece, Kimball cited a "Special Achievement" award the BWAA presented to
Watkins, an ex-junior welterweight contender, who coached Iraq's national boxing
team in the wake of "Operation Iraqi Freedom," and the confusion over exactly
how Watkins wound up receiving the award.
Kimball saw Watkins' efforts as
rather self-promoting, and the accolades accorded him to be something of a
political statement. Kimball's story itself may have been construed by some as a
political statement, but as far as Jay is concerned, the articulate expression
of opinion is exactly what his online publication is looking
for.
"Whether or not I concur with Kimball's political leanings, as
exhibited in the story, is not the issue," he said. "What's important is that
the writer is taking a stand, and is not afraid to appear politically incorrect
to some. As far as I'm concerned, this is the most CJ-like story since the
inception of the CJ Award, which is to say it looks well below the surface,
takes chances, tells the hard truth - at least as the author knows it, goes
against what might be considered a popular position, and asked questions that
made his interviewees backpedal a bit, to say the least."
It was also
another good month for the Cassidy clan. Former light heavyweight
contender-turned-writer Irish Bobby Cassidy, who was the subject of March's CJ
Award-winning piece by Robert Mladinich, took home one of the runner-up
positions for "Boxing Emile Griffith," largely a first-person account of his
experiences with the three-division world champion that was posted leading up to
the air date of USA Network's outstanding documentary about Griffith.
The other runner-up citation was snagged by Irish Bobby's son, Robert
Cassidy Jr., who waxed eloquently about Cuban fighters in "Castro's Cuba &
The Spirit of Kid Gavilan." Cassidy Jr. focused not only on the late Kid
Gavilan, who had a new tombstone dedicated to him in a moving ceremony in Miami
last month, but also Johnny Sarduy, a former pro who fled Fidel Castro's Cuban
regime and struck it rich as a businessman in the Miami area. "This told me a
story I didn't know before, and demonstrated genuine passion for the subject
matter," says Jay. "That certainly represents some of what we strive to
recognize here."
Special mention went to Marc Lichtenfeld, who in
"Weekend Warrior Challenges Kassim Ouma" wrote about sparring sessions with the
junior middleweight champ. Ecksel called it "clever, fast-paced, and filled with
up close-and-personal touches." Jay says "Anyone willing to take a few punches
for The Sweet Science deserves some consideration in my book."
The CJ
Award is a monthly honor named for Jay, an acclaimed boxing scribe whose
"Operation Cleanup" books are regarded as the most hard-hitting look at boxing
from the inside. It is the only award for boxing writers that is accompanied by
money - the winner of each month's prize receives $300, with the runners-up
receiving $100 apiece.
CJ Award winners are determined by the editorial
board of The Sweet Science, a group of people involved with the sport that,
aside from Jay, includes editor Robert Ecksel, web editor Chris Gielty, and Dino
daVinci, founder of the International Brotherhood of Prizefighters (IBOP).
Editorial board members and officers of TheSweetScience.com or IBOP are
ineligible to win the CJ Award.
The Sweet Science sets the gold standard
for boxing journalism. Updated on a daily basis, it includes hundreds of
features, interviews, columns, predictions, odds, angles and more. Anyone
interested in boxing will find a treasure trove at The Sweet Science, located at
http://www.thesweetscience.com.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/5/prweb245961.htm