Call staffer named RI Sportswriter of the Year
WOONSOCKET – Brendan W. McGair, a veteran sportswriter and columnist who covers the Pawtucket Red Sox, New England Patriots and college and high school sports for the Call and The Times, has been named Rhode Island Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association (NSSA). This is his fourth NSSA honor in the past seven years.
A Cranston native, McGair, 34, of Warwick, is one of more than 100 state sportscasters and sportswriters from 49 states and the District of Columbia who will be honored during the NSSA’s 59th annual NSMA Awards Weekend, June 2325 in Winston-Salem, N.C. Nick Coit of WLNE-TV Providence won the state’s sportscaster award.
From mid-October through mid-November, NSSA members in each state nominate up to
three state and national sportscasters and sportswriters of the year. For state categories, the top two, plus ties, are placed on the final ballot. For national categories, the top ten, plus ties, are placed on the final ballot. NSSA national board members provide nominations for the Hall of Fame categories, and 10 names are placed on the ballot for each of those categories. Final balloting takes place during the month of December. This is the fourth time McGair has been recognized by the NSSA. He won the Rhode Island Sportswriter of the Year award in 2010, 2011 then again in 2014. When he won the first time in 2010, he was the first winner from The Times to win the award since late sports editor Ted Mulcahey in 1963.
A 2003 graduate of Providence College with a degree in political science, McGair started working at the Pawtucket Times in January 2005. Before that he was a writer and copy editor for the Kent County Times.
Throughout his career, McGair has covered thousands of college and high school sporting events, as well as three NCCA tournaments and the 2013 World Series, in which the Red Sox defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in the best-of-seven playoff four games to two.
He is also a frequent guest and sports commentator on WNRI Radio.
McGair is also the recipient of several Rhode Island Press Association awards, including two first-place awards for best sports column.
In 2004, he was named Baseball Writer of the Year by the Rhode Island American Legion Baseball League.
McGair was also the recipient of the 2016 Rhode Island Athletic Association’s Media Person of the Year.
McGair, an avid golfer, is a longtime member of Words Unlimited, the statewide organization of sports writers, sportscasters and sports publicists.