by Tim Cigelske
It was June 1998, and all eyes in the sports world were watching the NBA Finals: Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls vs. Karl Malone’s Utah Jazz. Jordan’s winning jump shot in Game 6 — with hand extended at the free-throw line and mere seconds left — helped the Bulls clinch their sixth championship, cementing their dynasty. It became the lasting image of the end of his era in Chicago. Working behind the scenes, Marquette journalism alumni captured the iconic moment. “Showing up with six people who went to your school in one room at the center of the sports world — it was pretty cool,” remembers Nancy Armour, Comm ’91, who covered the series for the Associated Press. “It just reinforced what a great education we had at Marquette because we had done pretty well for ourselves.”
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Steve Aschburner, who then wrote for The Star Tribune of Minneapolis and now writes for nba.com, put it another way. “We had a mafia from Marquette,” he says. Joining Aschburner, Jour ’78, and Armour were Mary Schmitt Boyle, Jour ’77, of The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer; Mike Nadel, Jour ’82; Chris Sheridan, Jour ’87; and Don Burke, Jour ’78. The Bulls weren’t the only dynasty on that stage. Marquette journalism alumni then and now have a legacy in the sports world, from broadcast to print to online, and are being celebrated this year with the 20th anniversary of the Pete and Bonnie Axthelm Lecture. The annual lecture, established to acknowledge and recognize the life of reporter Pete Axthelm and his sister Bonnie, rewards student sports reporters with scholarships and brings in big-name sports journalists to speak on campus. This year’s lecture will take place April 11, 2013, and feature ESPN’s Adam Schefter as guest speaker. The success of Marquette’s sports journalists is no accident. As many alumni report, the combination of Marquette’s basketball legacy, influential professors, liberal arts curriculum, and hands-on experience through internships and student media have a profound influence.
success in sports journalism
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