Mike Lupica

Michael Lupica
Born (1952-05-11) May 11, 1952 (age 72)
Oneida, New York, U.S.
Occupation
  • Columnist
  • author
EducationBoston College
SubjectsSports

Michael Lupica (/ˈlpɪkə/; born May 11, 1952) is an author and former American newspaper columnist, best known for his provocative commentary on sports in the New York Daily News and his appearances on ESPN.

Biography

Lupica was born in Oneida, New York, where he spent his pre-adolescent years, having attended St. Patrick's Elementary School through the sixth grade. In 1964, he moved with his family to Nashua, New Hampshire, where he attended middle school and subsequently Bishop Guertin High School, graduating in 1970. In 1974 he graduated from Boston College. He first came to prominence as a sportswriter in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Lupica wrote "The Sporting Life" column at Esquire magazine for ten years beginning in the late 1980s, and currently writes a regular column for Travel + Leisure Golf. He has also written for Golf Digest, Parade, ESPN The Magazine, and Men’s Journal, and has received numerous awards including, in 2003, the Jim Murray Award from the National Football Foundation.[1]

Daily News columnist

Lupica wrote several sports columns during the week for the Daily News, as well as a signature Sunday column, "Shooting from the Lip," which featured a traditional column followed by a series of short, acerbic observations from the week in sports. Later in his career he began writing a regular political column entitled "Mondays with Mike," which is strongly liberal in orientation. He left the Daily News in July 2018.[2]

Favorite Lupica targets include the New York Yankees (and will often state their massive payroll in most of his articles), James L. Dolan, Isiah Thomas, Notre Dame football, Rudy Giuliani, Michael Bloomberg, former President George W. Bush, and former Vice President Dick Cheney. Lupica has also been a harsh critic of the new Yankee Stadium and was a vehement opponent of the proposed West Side Stadium. He has likewise been highly critical of the Atlantic Yards project and the attendant construction of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Author

Lupica co-wrote autobiographies with Reggie Jackson and Bill Parcells and collaborated with screenwriter William Goldman on Wait Till Next Year and Mad as Hell: How Sports Got Away From the Fans and How We Get It Back. Lupica also wrote Summer of ’98: When Homers Flew, Records Fell, and Baseball Reclaimed America, which detailed how the 1998 and the Mark McGwire/Sammy Sosa home run chase had allowed him to share a love for baseball with his son. Lupica has been listed a vocal critic of the steroid era.[citation needed]

Lupica is also a novelist; his work includes mysteries involving fictional NYC television reporter Peter Finley. One of them, Dead Air, was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Mystery and the 1987 Anthony Award in the same category; and was also adapted into a television movie called Money, Power, Murder.[1][3] He has written a novel for younger audiences called Travel Team. Lupica’s Bump and Run and Wild Pitch were best sellers. 2003 saw a sequel to Bump and Run, entitled Red Zone.In April 2006, his second children's book, Heat, was published by Philomel. Heat is a fictional story based on the Danny Almonte scandal in the South Bronx Little League. In October 2006, Lupica's third children's novel, Miracle on 49th Street, was published. Summer Ball, a sequel to Travel Team, was released in 2007.

Television and radio work

Since 1988 Lupica has been one of the rotating pundits on The Sports Reporters on ESPN.[4] He also briefly hosted an unsuccessful television chat program, The Mike Lupica Show, on ESPN2, as well as a short-lived radio show on WFAN in New York City in the mid-1990s. He has been a recurring guest on the CBS Morning News, Good Morning America, and The MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour. Lupica has made frequent radio appearances on Imus in the Morning since the early 1980s.[5] Lupica hosted a daily radio show on WEPN-FM from May 9, 2011, until August 21, 2015.[6][7]

Works

Non-series books

Adult books

  • Reggie! (with Reggie Jackson, 1984)[8]
  • Parcells: An Autobiography of the Biggest Giant of Them All (with Bill Parcells, 1987)[9]
  • Wait 'till Next Year: The Story of a Season When What Should've Happened Didn't and What Could've Gone Wrong Did (with William Goldman, 1988)[10]
  • Shooting From The Lip: Essays, Columns, Quips, and Gripes in the Grand Tradition of Dyspeptic Sports Writing (1988)[11]
  • Jump! (1995)[12]
  • Mad as Hell: How Sports Got Away from the Fans and How We Get It Back (1996)[13]
  • Summer of '98: When Homers Flew, Records Fell, and Baseball Reclaimed America (1999)[14]
  • Yankees '98: Best Ever! (a compendium of Daily News coverage, 1999)
  • Bump and Run (2000)[15]
  • Full Court Press (2001)[16]
  • Wild Pitch (2002)[17]
  • Red Zone (2003)[18]
  • Too Far (2004)[19]
  • Best American Sports Writing 2005 (edited by; 2005)[20]
  • Fathers & Sons & Sports: An Anthology of Great American Sports Writing (2008)[21]

Young adult books

Series

Adult series

Peter Finley series
  • Dead Air (1986)[35]
  • Extra Credits (1990)[36]
  • Limited Partner (1990)[37]

Young adult series

Comeback Kids series
Game Changers series
  • Game Changers (2012)[43]
  • Play Makers (2013)[44]
  • Heavy Hitters (2014)[45]

Zach and Zoe mystery series

  • The Hockey Rink Hunt[46]
Related books

References

  1. ^ a b Speaker Page: Mike Lupica Archived October 29, 2006, at the Wayback Machine from Greater Talent Network.
  2. ^ Early Lead: Mike Lupica is leaving the New York Daily News to write detective novelsby Matt Bonesteel. The Washington Post. August 17, 2018 [1]
  3. ^ "Bouchercon World Mystery Convention : Anthony Awards Nominees". Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  4. ^ The Sports Reporters Archived February 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine on TV.com.
  5. ^ "Press release" Archived November 17, 2006, at the Wayback Machine from Boats, Books, and Brushes, May 19, 2003
  6. ^ "Mike Lupica no longer on ESPN New York Radio". Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  7. ^ "ESPN Radio shakes up mid-day lineup". New York Daily News. August 25, 2015. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  8. ^ Jackson, Reggie; Lupica, Mike (1985). Reggie. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-31216-7. OCLC 851759338.
  9. ^ Parcells, Bill; Lupica, Mike (1987). Parcells: autobiography of the biggest Giant of them all. Bonus Books. ISBN 978-0-933893-40-5. OCLC 16310516.
  10. ^ Goldman, William; Lupica, Mike (1989). Wait till next year: the story of a season when what should've happened didn't and what could've gone wrong did. New York: Bantam. ISBN 978-0-553-28226-9. OCLC 20516540.
  11. ^ Lupica, Mike (1988). Shooting from the lip: essays, columns, quips, and gripes in the grand tradition of dyspeptic sports writing. Bonus Books. ISBN 978-0-933893-60-3. OCLC 17991073.
  12. ^ Lupica, Mike; CloudLibrary (2013). Jump. Random House Publishing. ISBN 978-0-307-82996-2. OCLC 1004751259.
  13. ^ Lupica, Mike (1998). Mad as hell: how sports got away from the fans-- and how we get it back. Lincolnwood, Chicago, Ill.: NTC/Contemporary Books. ISBN 978-0-8092-3008-2. OCLC 37631204.
  14. ^ Lupica, Mike (2000). Summer of '98: when homers flew, records fell, and baseball reclaimed America. Lincolnwood, Ill.: Contemporary Books. ISBN 978-0-8092-2444-9. OCLC 57300451.
  15. ^ New York Daily News; New York Yankees (Baseball team) (1998). Yankees '98: best ever!. Champaign, IL 61821: Sports Pub. ISBN 978-1-58261-030-6. OCLC 41517004.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  16. ^ Full court press, 2013, ISBN 978-1-4692-4436-5, OCLC 852820581
  17. ^ Lupica, Mike (2003). Wild pitch. New York: Berkley Books. ISBN 978-0-425-19204-7. OCLC 883946251.
  18. ^ Lupica, Mike (2004). Red zone. New York: Berkley Books. ISBN 978-0-425-19875-9. OCLC 56620942.
  19. ^ Lupica, Mike (2014). Too far. New York: Berkley Books. ISBN 978-1-101-19184-2. OCLC 883343501. Archived from the original on January 10, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  20. ^ Stout, Glenn; Lupica, Mike (2005). The best American sports writing 2005. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-618-47019-8. OCLC 65428812.
  21. ^ Bissinger, Buzz; Lupica, Mike (2009). Fathers & sons & sports: great writing. New York: ESPN Books. ISBN 978-1-933060-70-5. OCLC 262433255.
  22. ^ Lupica, Mike (2015). Heat. New York: Scholastic, Inc. ISBN 978-0-545-79590-6. OCLC 1028750666.
  23. ^ Lupica, Mike (2014). Miracle on 49th street. New York: Puffin Books. ISBN 978-1-101-20056-8. OCLC 883343560. Archived from the original on January 10, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  24. ^ Lupica, Mike (2012). The big field. National Geographic Books. ISBN 978-0-14-241910-6. OCLC 973485190.
  25. ^ Lupica, Mike (2014). Million-dollar throw. New York: Puffin Books. ISBN 978-1-101-10905-2. OCLC 883343550. Archived from the original on January 10, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  26. ^ Lupica, Mike (2014). The batboy. New York: Puffin Books. ISBN 978-1-101-15988-0. OCLC 883343484.
  27. ^ Lupica, Mike (2014). Hero. New York: Puffin Books. ISBN 978-1-101-19837-7. OCLC 883343483.
  28. ^ Lupica, Mike (2014). The underdogs. New York: Puffin Books. ISBN 978-1-101-53568-4. OCLC 883343526. Archived from the original on January 10, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  29. ^ Lupica, Mike (2013). True legend. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-242650-0. OCLC 814454890.
  30. ^ Lupica, Mike (2014). QB 1. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-751152-2. OCLC 861478578.
  31. ^ Lupica, Mike (2015). Fantasy League. New York (N.Y.): Puffin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-751494-3. OCLC 944227689.
  32. ^ Lupica, Mike (2015). The only game. (Home team, vol. 1.). New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 978-1-4814-0995-7. OCLC 946962114.
  33. ^ Lupica, Mike (2017). Fast break. Scholastic, Incorporated. ISBN 978-1-338-16593-7. OCLC 1013185025.
  34. ^ Lupica, Mike (2017). The Extra Yard: a Home Team Novel. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 978-1-4814-1001-4. OCLC 982649965.
  35. ^ Lupica, Mike (1987). Dead air. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-30813-9. OCLC 15605317.
  36. ^ Lupica, Mike (1990). Extra credits. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-36029-8. OCLC 22377327.
  37. ^ Lupica, Mike (1992). Limited partner. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-345-37237-6. OCLC 25023505.
  38. ^ Lupica, Mike (2007). Mike Lupica's Comeback Kids: Two Minute Drill. New York, NY: Philomel Books. ISBN 978-0-399-24715-6. OCLC 731318220.
  39. ^ Lupica, Mike (2007). Hot hand. #1 #1. New York; Boston, MA: Philomel Books ; Walden Media. ISBN 978-0-399-24714-9. OCLC 972377692.
  40. ^ Lupica, Mike (2013). Safe at home: a Comeback Kids novel. Abdo Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-59961-177-8. OCLC 990315591.
  41. ^ Lupica, Mike (2013). Long shot: a comeback kids novel. Spotlight. ISBN 978-1-59961-176-1. OCLC 990323441.
  42. ^ Lupica, Mike (2018). Shoot-out. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-451-47934-1. OCLC 1004104563.
  43. ^ Lupica, Mike (2014). Game changers. New York: Scholastic Inc. ISBN 978-0-545-68784-3. OCLC 887216303.
  44. ^ Lupica, Mike (2013). Play makers. Scholastic, Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-545-38183-3. OCLC 820148200.
  45. ^ Lupica, Mike (2014). Game changers. Heavy hitters 03 03. Scholastic Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-545-38184-0. OCLC 880828232.
  46. ^ Lupica, Mike (2019). The hockey rink hunt. Danger, Chris. New York. ISBN 978-0-425-28948-8. OCLC 1060183812.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  47. ^ Lupica, Mike (2014). Travel team. New York: Puffin Books. ISBN 978-1-101-20047-6. OCLC 883343400. Archived from the original on January 10, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  48. ^ Lupica, Mike (2014). Summer ball. New York: Puffin Books. ISBN 978-1-101-20062-9. OCLC 883343559.