Bill Plaschke

Bill Plaschke, a sports columnist at the Los Angeles Times since 1996, has made nationally recognized contributions in both journalism and public service.

As a journalist, Plaschke, in his 18th year with the Los Angeles Times, has been named National Sports Columnist of the Year by a variety of organizations, including Associated Press, Sigma Delta Chi, and National Headliners. He has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and his work has been featured in several editions of the annual "Best American Sports Writing" book. He has also published a collection of his columns entitled, "Plaschke: Good Sports, Spoil Sports, Foul Balls and Odd Balls."

Plaschke was recently named Man of the Year by the Los Angeles chapter of Big Brothers/Big Sisters for his longtime involvement as a Big Brother. He has also received a "Pursuit of Justice'' award from the California's Women's Law Center for his coverage of women's sports. In 2002, Plaschke was selected to carry the Olympic Torch for a couple of blocks through downtown Los Angeles as it worked its way to Salt Lake City for the Winter Olympics.

Plaschke is also a regular panelist on the ESPN daily talk show, "Around The Horn" and made his film debut with three lines in the Will Smith movie, "Ali." In what some more cynical colleagues considered a stretch, Plaschke played the part of a sportswriter.

Plaschke was born in Louisville, KY and worked in Fort Lauderdale and Seattle before joining the Los Angeles Times in 1987.