Dan Roan

Dan Roan, longtime sports anchor at Nexstar Media WGN-Channel 9, has been named broadcast recipient of the 2020 Ring Lardner Award for Excellence in Sports Journalism.

Honored with a Ring Lardner Award in the print category will be Toni Ginnetti, retired sportswriter for the Sun-Times, and honored in the posthumous category will be Cooper Rollow, the late sports editor and sportswriter for the Chicago Tribune.

Named for Lardner, a world famous sportswriter, humorist and satirist, the prestigious awards will be presented April 23 at Union League Club of Chicago, 65 West Jackson Boulevard.

Toni Ginnetti

Roan, who began his career at WCIA, the CBS affiliate in Champaign, joined WGN as sports director and sports anchor in 1984. He also hosts the Sunday night highlights show “Instant Replay.”

Ginnetti, who joined the Sun-Times in 1981 after nine years as a reporter at the Daily Herald, was among the first women to cover a wide range of professional and college sports beats — including both the White Sox and the Cubs. She retired in 2014 but continued to freelance for the Sun-Times.

Cooper Rollow

Rollow’s 35-year career at the Tribune included eight years as sports editor. He joined the paper as a sports copy editor in 1953 and became a sportswriter specializing in pro football in 1955. He attended and covered the first 32 Super Bowls in a row, according to his Tribune obituary. Rollow died in 2013.

The awards, founded in 2002 by the Chicago Athletic Association, honor broadcasters and writers who “exemplify the wit and warmth of Ring Lardner’s writing.” The dinner will include a sports memorabilia auction, with proceeds from the event benefitting the Union League Boys & Girls Clubs.

Thursday’s comment of the day: Shelby Beeler: Sad to hear about WCEV. Lycna Migala was a great steward of the many cultures that make up Chicago. We heard their best on WCEV. So many of my childhood Sundays were accompanied by their programming!