Eric Rueb, Jake Rousseau named Sportswriters of the Year by national media organization
Two members of The Providence Journal sports staff have been named Sportswriters of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.
Eric Rueb is the 2023 Rhode Island Sportswriter of the Year. Rueb is an East Providence native who has worked at The Journal covering high school sports since 2018. He is a 2003 graduate of the University of Rhode Island.
Jacob Rousseau is the 2023 Vermont Sportswriter of the Year. Rousseau, who joined The Journal staff last week, spent the last 2½ years working at the Burlington (Vt.) Free Press. Rousseau is a Richmond native who is a 2019 graduate of URI and a 2020 graduate of the University of Maryland, where he earned a master's degree in journalism.
In addition, John Rooke has been named the Rhode Island Sportscaster of the Year by NSMA. Rooke is the play-by-play radio announcer for Providence College men's basketball (WPRO) and he writes a weekly sports column for The Providence Journal.
"It's an honor to work with such talented print and broadcast journalists," said Journal sports editor Bill Corey. "I congratulate Eric, Jake and John for their well-deserved awards."
Last year, The Journal's Bill Koch, a Warwick native and Boston University graduate, won the honor for a fourth time.
On a national level, Kevin Harlan of CBS, Westwood One, and Turner was voted the 2023 National Sportscaster of the Year, while ESPN’s Jeff Passan was voted the 2023 National Sportswriter of the Year. It’s Harlan’s third national win, Passan’s second.
Also, sportscasters Joe Buck and Andrea Kremer, and sportswriter Jayson Stark (a onetime Providence Journal sportswriter) have been voted into the National Sports Media Association’s Hall of Fame, NSMA executive director Dave Goren announced last week. They’ll be joined by posthumous selections Tim McCarver and Roger Kahn.
The National Sports Media Association seeks to develop educational opportunities for those who are interested in pursuing a career in sports media, through networking, interning, mentoring and scholarship programs. The organization also honors, preserves, and celebrates the diverse legacy of sports media in the United States. Founded in 1959 as the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association in Salisbury, N.C., the NSSA added its Hall of Fame in 1962, with Grantland Rice as its first member. The organization rebranded to the National Sports Media Association in 2016 and moved to Winston-Salem, N.C. one year later.
The NSMA will honor this year's award winners and Hall of Fame inductees during the organization’s 64th awards weekend and national convention, to be held this summer in North Carolina.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Eric Rueb, Jake Rousseau named Sportswriters of the Year by NSMA
