AL.com’s Ben Thomas wins Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Herby Kirby Award

AL.com’s Ben Thomas won the Herby Kirby Award for 2024 story of the year at the 53rd annual Alabama Sports Writers Association convention in Jacksonville on Sunday.

Thomas took home the award for his column about the death of his infant granddaughter, Maxi. It was the first Herby Kirby Award for Thomas, who has worked for the Alabama Media Group for 17 years and is AL.com’s high school sports editor and manager producer.

Thomas’ story on Maxi also won first place in column writing. It was one of two awards for Thomas, who also took second place in best sports story, written on a deadline, prep or amateur event for his coverage of Sylacauga football coach Chris Smelley’s safe return after being lost as sea off the coast of Florida.

AL.com won seven awards total, with Creg Stephenson winning first place in Best Enterprise or Explanatory Story for his four-part series on Birmingham baseball legends Ben Chapman, Dixie Walker, Harry Walker and Bobby Bragan and Best Baseball Feature for his story on Piper Davis and Willie Mays. Thomas Ashworth also won two-first place awards, Best Boxing or Wrestling Story for his feature on Jacksonville State football player Brock Rechsteiner (the son of WWE legend Scott Steiner) and Best General Sports Story for his feature on Jacksonville State radio announcer Mike Parris.

AL.com has now won three straight Herby Kirby Awards, following Creg Stephenson in 2023 and Michael Casagrande in 2024. The award is named in honor of former Birmingham Post-Herald sports writer Herby Kirby, who died at age 47 after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage in the press box after covering the 1973 Alabama-Notre Dame Sugar Bowl.

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