Julia Mericle
Staff Writer
The National Sportswriters and Sportscaster Association awarded Mike Vaccaro,’89, the title of New York Sportswriter of the Year for the second consecutive year at a banquet in June 2013. Vaccaro’s sports-writing peers chose him for the recognition.
“For them to endorse my work for a second time is all the more humbling and gratifying,” Vaccaro said.
Vaccaro is the lead sports columnist for the New York Post, a job he had since November 2002. He has also worked at the Olean Times Herald, Northwest Arkansas Times, Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record, Kansas City Star, and Newark Star-Ledger.
“My current job is, in essence, to be the paper’s voice on all things New York sports, though I’ve also done 12 Super Bowls, 12 World Series, 10 Final Fours and six Olympics, among other things,” Vaccaro said.
Vaccaro credited the education and experiences the journalism and mass communication program at St. Bonaventure gave him. He noted the opportunities he seized while he was a student, which allowed him the knowledge and versatility to work in the media landscape of 2014.
“I couldn’t possibly have had a better experience as a journalism and mass communication major because the size of the school both small (student body) and large (its ambition for the JMC students) was a perfect storm for me,” Vaccaro said.
Vaccaro shared some of the most valuable lessons writing for The Bona Venture instilled in him, including the wise words of a past student editor: “Writing is a muscle. The same way you go to the gym to work on your biceps or triceps or pecs, by repetition, writing is the same thing.”
According to Vaccaro, today’s world allows young writers to practice their craft more easily through new platforms, like blogs. Consequently, inexperienced and hopeful writers can have their stories read.
Vaccaro said he has wanted to be a sports writer from a young age, and recognition from peers, as this award offers, is rewarding.
“It sends a message that all the hard work really is worth it after all,” Vaccaro said.
As a successful writer, Vaccaro offered positive words for aspiring journalists.
“It is an industry that definitely has to keep adjusting in order to stay relevant,” Vaccaro said. “But it’s also one that will benefit from fresh minds and fresh ideas, and that’s where the current generation of student journalists should embrace the opportunity to push the industry in bright, fresh, new directions.”
mericleje13@bonaventure.edu
