Michael Wilbon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael R. Wilbon (born November 19, 1958, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American sportswriter and columnist. He began working for The Washington Post in 1980 after summer internships at the newspaper in 1979 and 1980. He covered college sports, Major League Baseball, the NFL and the NBA before being promoted to full-time columnist in February of 1990. His column in the Post, which deals as much with the culture of sports as the action on the court or field, appears up to four times a week. After contributing to ESPN's The Sports Reporters and other shows on the cable network, he began co-hosting ESPN's daily Pardon the Interruption, or "PTI" as it is affectionately known among its fans, with Tony Kornheiser in October of 2001. Kornheiser commonly refers to him simply as "Wilbon." He is also a member of ABC's "NBA Nation" (with host Dan Patrick and analyst Mark Jackson) which is the pre-game show for the network's NBA telecasts.
In his career, Wilbon has covered 10 different Summer and Winter Olympics competitions for The Washington Post, every Super Bowl since 1987, nearly every Final Four since 1982 and each year's NBA Finals since 1987.
Having grown up in the south-side of Chicago, Wilbon is a life-long fan of the Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Bears and Chicago Blackhawks. However, Wilbon has also publicly displayed fondness toward the Illinois Fighting Illini Men's Basketball team during their run to the 2005 NCAA National Championship game, as well as the Chicago White Sox during their 2005 World Series Championship run, despite the heated rivalries these teams hold respectively to the Northwestern Wildcats and the Chicago Cubs.
Wilbon lives in the Washington, D.C., area but he also has a home in Scottsdale, Arizona. He and his wife enjoy escaping from the Washington D.C. winters, and he is an avid golfer.
Wilbon is good friends with former NBA star Charles Barkley and has edited and written the introduction for his most recent books, "I May Be Wrong But I Doubt It" and "Who's Afraid of a Large Black Man?", both of which were New York Times best sellers.
In addition to PTI and his column in The Post, which appears from two to four times a week, Wilbon appears weekly on WRC-TV-4 in Washington, D.C. with WRC Sports Director George Michael, and Pro Football Hall of Famers John Riggins and Sonny Jurgensen on "Redskins Report" during the football season, and with Michael, USA Today basketball writer David DuPree and Washington Post columnist Mike Wise on "Full Court Press" during the basketball season.
Wilbon graduated from St. Ignatius College Prep in 1976 and received his journalism degree in 1980 from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. He has one brother, Donald, a Chicago-based investment banker, and is the son of Raymond (deceased) and Cleo Wilbon, retired after a long career as a teacher.
[edit] External links
- Wilbon’s recent sports columns from The Washington Post (requires registration)
