John Feinstein | |
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 Speaking at the 2014 Gaithersburg Book Festival | |
| Born | July 28, 1956 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Duke University [1] |
| Genre | Sportswriter, author, columnist, broadcaster, sports commentator |
John Feinstein (born July 28, 1956) is an American sportswriter, author and sports commentator.
Feinstein was born to a Jewish family in New York City [2] on July 28, 1956.[ citation needed ] His father was heavily involved in the arts having been the General Manager of the Washington National Opera from 1980 to 1995 and was also the first executive director of the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. [3]
 | This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources .(February 2022) |
Feinstein has written 44 books. His book A Season on the Brink chronicles a year in the life of the Indiana University basketball team and its coach, Bob Knight. In 1995, he published A Good Walk Spoiled, about a year on the PGA Tour as told through the stories of 17 players.
Feinstein has also written a sports-mystery series for young adults in which main characters Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson are reporting on major sporting events including the Final Four, US Open (tennis), Super Bowl, World Series, the Army–Navy Game, and the Summer Olympics.
A Season on the Brink was adapted to film with an ESPN production of the same title. It starred Brian Dennehy in the role of Bob Knight. During its original airing on ESPN on March 10, 2002, the film was presented uncensored for profanity, while a censored version was simulcast on ESPN2. It released to DVD later in 2002.
Feinstein's book Caddy for Life: The Bruce Edwards Story was released in 2004. It is about the life and final days of Tom Watson's caddy, Bruce Edwards, who was diagnosed with ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.) Feinstein and long-time friend Terry Hanson engaged the William Morris Agency and commissioned a screenplay in conjunction with Matt Damon's and Ben Affleck's production company, LivePlanet. In 2010, Caddy for Life was produced in documentary format for the Golf Channel. [4]
Broadcast media
On March 8, 2012, Feinstein joined SiriusXM's Mad Dog Sports Radio channel, teaming up with Bruce Murray for the sports talk show, Beyond the Brink, which aired between 10:00 am – 2:00 pm ET. [5] However, Feinstein soon left the show by the fall of 2012, as he was offered a slot of his own show on the brand new CBS Sports Radio between 9 AM to 12 noon ET. CBS Sports Radio began 24/7 all sports talk on January 2, 2013. [6] On November 14, 2014, during an interview on a Washington, D.C. radio program he announced that he had been fired by CBS from his daily radio show.
He has also been a regular on-air commentator for a number of other television and radio shows, including:
Print media
In golf, a caddie is a companion to the player, providing both practical support and strategic guidance on the course. Caddies are responsible for carrying the player’s bag, managing clubs, and assisting with basic course maintenance like repairing divots and raking bunkers. However, their role extends well beyond these physical tasks, going into emotional and behavioural moral support. In the general golf environment—whether at local clubs, public courses, or prestigious tournaments—caddies offer valuable insight on course strategy, advising on everything from club selection to reading greens and evaluating weather conditions. They often serve as a steadying presence, offering encouragement and helping players maintain focus under pressure.
James Michael Furyk is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. In 2010, he was the FedEx Cup champion and PGA Tour Player of the Year. He has won one major championship, the 2003 U.S. Open. Furyk holds the record for the lowest score in PGA Tour history, a round of 58 which he shot during the final round of the 2016 Travelers Championship, and has earned notoriety for his unorthodox golf swing.
Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias was an American athlete who excelled in golf, basketball, baseball, and track and field. She won two gold medals and a silver in track and field at the 1932 Summer Olympics before turning to professional golf and winning 10 LPGA major championships.
John Byron Nelson Jr. was an American professional golfer between 1935 and 1946, widely considered one of the greatest golfers of all time.
Thomas Sturges Watson is an American retired professional golfer on the PGA Tour Champions, formerly on the PGA Tour.
Bruce Edwards was a long-time caddie for Hall of Fame golfer Tom Watson.
Rudolph Tomjanovich Jr. is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He won two NBA Championships with the Houston Rockets and coached Team USA to the gold medal in men's basketball at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
A Season on the Brink is a 1986 book by John Feinstein which detailed the 1985-86 season of Indiana University's men's basketball team, led by the controversial coach Bob Knight. Granted almost unprecedented access to the Indiana University basketball program, as well as insights into Knight's private life, the book spawned a new genre, as a legion of imitators wrote works covering a single year of a sports franchise.
Raymond Loran Floyd is an American retired professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments on both the PGA Tour and Senior PGA Tour, including four majors and four senior majors. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1989.
Bruce Lee Fleisher was an American professional golfer.
Sports in Pittsburgh have been played dating back to the American Civil War. Baseball, hockey, and the first professional American football game had been played in the city by 1892. Pittsburgh was first known as the "City of Champions" when the Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh Panthers football team, and Pittsburgh Steelers won multiple championships in the 1970s. Today, the city has three major professional sports franchises, the Pirates, Steelers, and Penguins; while the University of Pittsburgh Panthers compete in a Division I Power Five conference, the highest level of collegiate athletics in the United States, in both football and basketball. Local universities Duquesne and Robert Morris also field Division I teams in men's and women's basketball and Division I FCS teams in football. Robert Morris also fields Division I men's and women's ice hockey teams.
Damon Bailey is an American former professional basketball player. He rose to national prominence after being recruited by Indiana coach Bob Knight as an 8th grader, an unusual move at the time. Bailey went on to become Indiana's men's all-time high school leading scorer and would earn All-America honors playing for the Indiana Hoosiers. He became a cult figure during the late 1980s and early 1990s in Indiana. Bailey was an assistant coach of the Butler University's women's basketball team from 2014 to 2017.
Michael Richard Weir, is a Canadian professional golfer. He currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He spent over 110 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking between 2001 and 2005. He plays golf left-handed and is best known for winning the Masters Tournament in 2003, making him the only Canadian man to ever win a major championship.
The St. John's Red Storm is the nickname used for the 17 varsity athletic programs of St. John's University, in the U.S. state of New York. St. John's 17 NCAA Division I teams compete in the Big East Conference, with the exception of the fencing team, which compete in the ECAC.
Evansville, Indiana is the home to two minor league professional sports teams and one amateur sports team. The city is also the home to two NCAA collegiate teams, and nine high schools that participate in the Indiana High School Athletic Association. Evansville is also the host to the annual Hoosier Nationals and Demolition City Roller Derby.
Terry Hanson is a retired American radio personality of the John Boy and Billy Big Show, a nationally syndicated radio show. He was the first head of Turner Broadcasting Sports and a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Men's Soccer Coach of the Year. He has also owned and operated the Charlotte, North Carolina-based Hanson Enterprises since 1994-2020, where he was a consultant for ESPN, Executive Search Firm, Sports Leagues, organizations and also contract negotiations for a number of Television and Radio Announcers and Talent.
Cover Up: Mystery at the Super Bowl is a mystery novel written by sportswriter John Feinstein. It is the third book in the sports beat series, along with Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery and Vanishing Act.
Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery is a young adult novel by John Feinstein. It tells the story of two young reporters, Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson, who stumble upon a plot to blackmail fictional Minnesota State basketball player Chip Graber into throwing the Final Four in New Orleans.
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