BOL Round Table

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Kirk McNair has been selected as the newest member of the Alabama Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame, the organization announced on Tuesday.

McNair becomes the 18th member of the ASWA Hall of Fame and joins an elite group of some of the most notable writers in the state of Alabama including: Benny Marshall, Zipp Newman, Bob Phillips, Sam Adams, Alf Van Hoose, Naylor Stone, Ronald Weathers, Bill Lumpkin, Jimmy Smothers, Bill Shelton, Jimmy Bryan, Bill Easterling, Clyde Bolton, Jerry Bryan, John Pruett, Wayne Martin and Charles Hollis.

The Birmingham native began his career as a writer while still a student at Ramsay High School, where he threw newspapers in the pre-dawn hours and then worked evenings on the desk at the Birmingham Post-Herald.

He then worked at The Daily Times in Maryville, Tennessee, while he attended Maryville College.

After graduating from college, he attended the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, where he went to work at the Post-Herald. He moved up through the ranks and soon became assistant sports editor.

It was at the Post-Herald that he had a chance to hone his writing skills while working for, and learning from, colorful media personalities of that era.

McNair became the sports information director at the University of Alabama in July 1970, and worked closely with legendary football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant as Alabama became one of the nation's most dominant teams during the decade of the 1970s.

He remained in that position until becoming founder and editor of "Bama: Inside the Crimson Tide", over 30 years ago in 1979, and its sister website BamaMag.com. He covers Alabama athletics as part of the Scout.com network, which is a division of FoxSports.

He is past president of the National Collegiate Sports Publications Association and of the Alabama Sports Writers Association (1988-91) and is permanent executive director of the ASWA.

McNair is the author of three books — "What It Means To Be Crimson Tide," ''Game-Changers," and "Tide Rolls" and co-author of "Always A Crimson Tide," and has contributed to several other books on Alabama football. He has written and edited numerous articles on Bryant and on Alabama football history and covers the Crimson Tide on a daily basis.

He has won national awards for program and media guide development as a sports information director and for football and basketball features as a sportswriter.

McNair will be formally inducted during the 41st annual ASWA Convention on Sunday evening in Birmingham.