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Frank Dolson, RIP

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Smasher_Sloan, Oct 9, 2006.

  1. Smasher_Sloan

    Smasher_Sloan Active Member

    Oct 8, 11:04 PM EDT

    Longtime Inquirer sports columnist Frank Dolson dead at 73

    PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Frank Dolson, the longtime Philadelphia Inquirer sports columnist who later was a New York Yankees special assistant, died Sunday. He was 73.

    Former Penn basketball player Decker Uhlhorn, a close friend, told the Inquirer that Dolson died in his sleep early Sunday at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, hours after his beloved Yankees were eliminated from the playoffs.

    Dolson, a native New Yorker, attended the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School in Philadelphia and was hired by Sports Illustrated after he graduated in 1954. A year later, the Inquirer made him the city's youngest columnist.

    After he retired from the Inquirer in 1995, he was hired by Yankees owner George Steinbrenner as a special assistant.

    "Frank was at so many games after he retired that Steinbrenner finally said, `Why don't you come work for me?'" Uhlhorn said.

    Dolson had an apartment in New York to be closer to Yankee Stadium.

    "He literally lived and breathed Yankees. Really his love in life was the Yankees. Frank's mood really was based on how the Yankees did," Yankees spokesman Rick Cerrone said. "It's a sad day. It's sad that he won't be around the press box and in the press room."

    In his columns, Dolson advocated keeping the simplicity and purity of sports, campaigning against any move toward professionalism in the Olympics and with disdain for the designated hitter and exploding scoreboards.

    "His biases were obvious and consistent," said writer Dan Rottenberg, also a Penn graduate. "He preferred amateurs over pros, athletes over administrators, minor leagues over majors, small schools over powerhouses, nice losers over pompous winners."

    In April, he established a $1.25 million endowment at the University of Pennsylvania and the Penn Relays' director position was named in his honor. Dolson covered the Penn Relays for nearly 50 years.

    ---

    Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, http://www.philly.com
     
  2. Smasher_Sloan

    Smasher_Sloan Active Member

    Here's the Inquirer obit:

    http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/obituaries/15712701.htm
     
  3. 21

    21 Well-Known Member

    Very very sad....wish the Yankees could have given him one more win.

    Rest in peace, Frank.
     
  4. casty33

    casty33 Active Member

    Frank was a very nice man and it sure is ironic that he dies on the day his beloved Yankees also expire.
     
  5. Montezuma's Revenge

    Montezuma's Revenge Active Member

    This is the same guy who lived and breathed the Yankees?
     
  6. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    Yeah, a bit ironic (I know, I know), I guess it was the one exception.
     
  7. awriter

    awriter Active Member

    Here's a link to his final column. It's a worthwhile read.

    http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/15712686.htm
     
  8. Grohl

    Grohl Guest

    RIP. I didn't know him, but he was the other reporter the first time I ever covered a story that someone from another paper also covered. He was writing a feature-y column and I was writing a gamer, so we weren't really competing with each other. But I remember going out and buying the Inky the next morning to see what he'd written. I also remember that we both rode home on the team bus, and I committed a faux pas when I took the seat next to him in the first row. Turns out that was the coach's seat. Oops.
     
  9. such a nice guy, a real pro and a gentleman

    rest in peace
     
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