Morgan Blake
Morgan Blake | |
|---|---|
| Born | William Morgan Blake February 1889 Fayetteville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | July 26, 1953 (aged 64) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Occupation | Sportswriter |
| Alma mater | Vanderbilt University |
William Morgan Blake (February, 1889 – July 26, 1953) was an early 20th-century American sportswriter in the South who in his 24 years on the job covered seven Rose Bowl games. He also taught the south's largest Sunday School class.[1][2]
Early years
[edit]A law graduate and member of Phi Kappa Psi from Vanderbilt University in 1911, he began newspaper work on the Nashville Tennessean. He then switched to the Nashville Banner as a political writer, until eventually becoming a sports editor of the Atlanta Journal in 1916.[1][3] He was converted by Billy Sunday in 1922.[1]
Sportswriter
[edit]Blake ranked Don Hutson led Alabama as the best football team he ever saw. He is one proposed originator of the "Golden Tornado" nickname for Georgia Tech.[4] He is also one for the Georgia Bulldogs. He wrote a story about school nicknames for football teams and proposed:
The Georgia Bulldogs would sound good because there is a certain dignity about a bulldog, as well as ferocity.[5]
Blake was known for his coverage of golfer Bobby Jones.[6] He retired in 1951.
Agoga's Men's Bible Class
[edit]Teaching at the Agoga Men's Bible Class at the Baptist Tabernacle of Atlanta, his class frequently reached 2,000 and was rated as the largest in the south.[1] He also wrote religious news columns.
Bibliography
[edit]- A Sports Editor Finds Christ. Hale Publishing Company. 1952.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Morgan Blake, Columnist, Sports Writer To Retire". The Tuscaloosa News. July 29, 1951.
- ^ "Funeral Rites For Religious Writer Today". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. July 28, 1953.
- ^ Harold H. Martin (March 2011). Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of Its People and Events, 1940s-1970s. p. 202. ISBN 9780820339061.
- ^ "Golden Tornadoes". Retrieved January 28, 2015.
- ^ "Georgia Traditions from Georgiadogs.com". Archived from the original on 2013-01-18. Retrieved 2007-03-29.
- ^ "Personnel 1930-1939".