Hello. My name is Jim Ryan. Welcome to my blog.

In the following posts, you'll see some of the headlines and blurbs I've written as an associate editor for SportingNews.com, a position I've held since May 2006. I occasionally write stories, as well, and links to several of them are below.

I received a B.A. (American Studies) from the University of Notre Dame in 2006. In my free time, I follow Fighting Irish football religiously, play copious amounts of tennis, read voraciously (mostly American fiction) and tutor GED students.

If you have questions for me or would like to see more of my work, don't hesitate to email me at jryaniv [at] gmail [dot] com.

Writing samples

From the 2008 Wachovia Championship (PGA Tour golf):

http://www.sportingnews.com/golf/article/2008-05-04/kim-shows-promise-poise-wachovia-triumph

http://www.sportingnews.com/golf/article/2008-05-02/quail-hollow-17th-will-drive-you-drink

http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/the_sporting_blog/entry/view/8183/boo_weekley_cooler_than_every_other_golfer

From the 2008 Davis Cup (international team tennis competition) tie between the United States and France:

http://www.sportingnews.com/tennis/article/2008-04-13/roddick-leads-us-davis-cup-semis-young-talent-way

Calling for baseball to stop being reactionary and adopt instant replay (which it did, to a limited extent, no doubt because of my column):

http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/article/2008-05-26/excuses-cant-justify-refusing-try-instant-replay

Ghostwriting a college football player's weekly diary for Sporting News Today:

http://www.sportingnews.com/college-football/article/2009-12-03/oregon-states-kristick-i-really-dont-these-guys

I can do more than sports, as evidenced by these stories I wrote for Notre Dame Magazine:

http://magazine.nd.edu/news/10136-preachin-the-blues

http://magazine.nd.edu/news/10141

My favorite blurbs

http://jimryaniv.blogspot.com/2009/06/its-better-than-march-of-penguins.html

http://jimryaniv.blogspot.com/2009/07/perfect-blurb-for-perfect-game.html

http://jimryaniv.blogspot.com/2009/05/in-which-i-riff-on-espn.html

http://jimryaniv.blogspot.com/2009/05/top-story-warns-against-getting-too.html

http://jimryaniv.blogspot.com/2009/05/mr-swofford-goes-to-washington.html

Remembering Thurman Munson

Obviously, I had to use a respectful tone for this blurb about the late Thurman Munson. The story was unique in that George Steinbrenner wrote it. I wanted to make it clear that he was the author and then just summarize what he was saying and explain why he was saying it at this time (for the 30th anniversary of Munson's death.)

They call him Coach

I wanted to play the top story headline and blurb pretty straight because the story would sell itself: a ranking of the top 50 coaches of all time. I debated whether or not to reveal the No. 1 coach in the blurb -- withholding it might have enticed people to click and find out -- but I decided to mention that Wooden topped the list because readers would realize it was credible and would then want to see how other greats stacked up.

Perfect blurb for a perfect game?

After Mark Buehrle's perfect game, there were surprisingly few good photos of the celebration. So, when we wanted to change the photo we had been using for several hours, we were kind of stuck with the one above. In the headline and blurb, I did my best to create a theme around Buehrle getting a postgame pie in the face.

Football and futbol

It's not often soccer is featured on our home page, but it was on this day. I think the top story right headline conveyed the idea that the interview subject could speak intelligently about David Beckham, unlike a lot of people in the American sports media (because he literally did write a book on Beckham). I thought the top story blurb would draw readers because it claimed, contrary to popular opinion, that the Cardinals' run to Super Bowl 43 was not a fluke.

Ballin'

I don't often manage our NBA page, but I know enough about the Association to handle it. Actually, I know much more about the NBA than I do the NHL, whose page I manage all the time, kind of as a bullet to bite. Anyway, I thought the top story headline would grab people's attention, and the blurb is pretty basic as a result. The top story right is very straightforward, as well.

I can even write about bullfighting

Managing the home page this particular day, I got to write blurbs for a variety of sports in a variety of tones. In the left side of the Sporting News Exclusives section at the bottom, there's a blurb that had to be pretty straightforward due to the recent death of Steve McNair. On the right side of that same section, I was able to be a little more creative describing a photo of a bullfighter getting tossed (he was OK).