ESPN Sportswriters Olney and Scher to Speak on Campus

The event, hosted by fellow ESPN writer and SUNY Plattsburgh Journalism Adjunct Luke Cyphers, is free and open to the public.

Olney is a senior baseball writer for ESPN The Magazine and a regular contributor to Sports Center," "Baseball Tonight," ESPN.com and ESPN Radio. His daily blog serves as a virtual water cooler for the baseball industry. Prior to coming to ESPN in 2003, he covered the Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres and both the New York Mets and Yankees. He is the author of "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty," the definitive history of the dominant Yankees of the late 1990s. A native of Vermont, he graduated from Vanderbilt University.

Scher is a senior baseball editor for ESPN The Magazine. During his more than 25 years in sports journalism, Scher has covered baseball at all levels and covered NHL hockey and Duke basketball. Before becoming a senior editor at ESPN in 2003, he was managing editor of Baseball America; spent nine years at Sports Illustrated as a reporter, writer and editor; helped launch SI.com as a joint venture with CNN; and joined ESPN in 2000 as liaison between ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com. A native of Virginia, he graduated from Duke University.

"Jon and Buster are what old-time journalists call 'real pros,' who match their professionalism with a passion for baseball," said Cyphers. "They spoke to my sports reporting class last year and were a hit with the students, so the journalism department thought it would be valuable to have them share their insights with the rest of the community."

"The course will afford our students a unique opportunity to learn about this career from the pros," said Journalism Chair Shawn Murphy. "The event will benefit not only our students but also professional sportswriters in the region who will be welcome to attend, as is anyone who is interested.

"Our students are very fortunate to benefit from not only instruction from ESPN Magazine's Luke Cyphers but also the nationally known sportswriters he is bringing to campus to speak with our students," added Murphy.

The talk is sponsored by SUNY Plattsburgh's Department of Journalism, The Center for Communication and Journalism and Luke Cyphers. For more information contact Murphy at 518-564-2422, [email protected] or Cyphers at 518-324-3220, [email protected].