(15 entries)

Judge: Peter Spiegel, staff writer, Forbes
Spiegel heads up Forbes' coverage of the business of sports and has appeared as a regular sports business panelist on PBS' "This Week in Business."

First Place
SCOTT BORDOW
The Tribune
"D-Backs armed for deal," "Patterson's life marked by humility" and "Giving thanks for family"
"These columns were not only well written and strongly argued, they contained one thing that most other entries did not: in-depth reporting. A column that can persuade as well as shed new light on an issue offers much more to a reader than a column that does one but not the other."

Second Place
SCOTT BORDOW
The Arizona Republic
"Womack's error will linger in his heart," "Father knew best" and "No defense for running up score"
"Like the first-place columns, these also showed a considerable amount of original reporting."

Third Place
DAN BICKLEY
The Arizona Republic
"Harsh criticism cuts deep into fiery competitor," "Character emerges in despair" and "Golf -- welcome to real world"
"Strong and extremely well written. Only thing keeping this entry from one of the top two positions is an occasional reliance on over-used archetypes (the misunderstood star, the underachieving team)."