• ERICA BLOCK

    As someone who inherited my love of sports from my Mom, I am especially interested in sports stories that deviate from traditional hero narratives and the image of a father and son playing catch. Much of my work focuses on the intersection of sports and culture. I'm especially passionate about baseball, which I grew up around, and competitive logging, a sport I picked up and fell in love with as a college student in Maine.

    My goal is to bring the big business of sports down to earth by humanizing players and making myself a useful conduit between athletes and those of you who like to read and learn about them.

    I currently cover the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets for the YES Network. Before that I developed content for Jomboy Media, where I wrote and helped produce the series Stats That Exist But Do Not Matter and led research efforts for shows like Talkin' Yanks, Talkin' Baseball and Farm to Fame.

    Education

    Arizona State University - Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication

    MA, Sports Journalism, 2019

    Colby College

    BA, American Studies, 2010

    minor: creative writing

    Recognitions

    AIPS Sport Media Awards 2020: Shortlist, Best Column, "A pitch got away from Ben Heller. Why was the Yankees’ reliever ejected?"

    Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism: 2nd place for coverage of Arizona nursing home deaths (2019)

    Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing: Winner, Stories for Professional Media Outlets (2019)

    SPJ Mark of Excellence Awards - Region 11: Finalist, In-Depth Reporting for coverage of Arizona nursing home deaths (2019)

    Concussion Legacy Project: CTE reporting certification (2019)