Bill Plaschke

As a child he attended St. Albert the Great Elementary School in Louisville. He then went on to attend Ballard High School. He spent his freshman year at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. In 1980, he received a bachelor's degree in mass communications from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where he was the sports editor for the school's paper, the Alestle. Before joining the Los Angeles Times, he worked as a reporter in Fort Lauderdale and Seattle.{{cite web|last=Plaschke|first=Bill|title=LA Times Bio|url=http://www.latimes.com/newsletters/sports/lanews-bill-plaschke-20130507-staff.html|accessdate=June 13, 2015|work=Los Angeles Times|archive-date=June 12, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150612173443/http://www.latimes.com/newsletters/sports/lanews-bill-plaschke-20130507-staff.html|url-status=live}} After joining the Times, he mainly covered the Los Angeles Dodgers.{{cite web|title=Athlete & Celebrity Marketing - Bill Plaschke|url=http://athletes-celebrities.tseworld.com/sports/sports-writers/bill-plaschke.php|website=Premiere Athlete & Celebrity|accessdate=June 13, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150615014506/http://athletes-celebrities.tseworld.com/sports/sports-writers/bill-plaschke.php|archive-date=June 15, 2015|url-status=usurped}} He became a columnist in 1996.

Plaschke is a member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America and the Professional Football Writers Association.{{cite news |last=FitzGerald |first=Tom |title=Should Bonds be in the Hall of Fame? |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2006/03/10/SPGA3HM05L1.DTL |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=March 10, 2006 |accessdate=July 21, 2009 |archive-date=March 28, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080328035327/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fchronicle%2Farchive%2F2006%2F03%2F10%2FSPGA3HM05L1.DTL |url-status=live }} He is also a regular panel member of ESPN's sports-themed debate show, Around the Horn. Fellow panelist and Denver Post columnist and author Woody Paige often refers to him as "Reverend Bill."{{Cite web |date=2025-05-31 |title=Letters to Sports: The good, the bad and the ugly with 'Around the Horn' |url=https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2025-05-31/la-times-sports-letters-around-the-horn-bill-plaschke |access-date=2025-07-12 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}

Plaschke has been named National Sports Columnist of the Year by the Associated Press four times.{{cite news|title=Bill Plaschke - Olympics blog |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2008/06/bill-plaschke.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=June 3, 2008 |accessdate=July 21, 2009| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20090628125327/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2008/06/bill-plaschke.html| archivedate= June 28, 2009 | url-status= live}}

He had a cameo in the film Ali as a sports reporter before the first fight against Sonny Liston.{{IMDb name|1099410}} Plaschke also had a recurring role in the HBO series Luck.

Plaschke was the subject of controversy while serving as a correspondent for the Los Angeles Times at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics for a column that accused U.S. gymnast Gabby Douglas of a lack of patriotism for failing to smile and place her hand over her heart during the playing of the U.S. National Anthem;{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-sp-oly-national-anthem-plaschke-20160810-snap-story.html|title=Gymnast Gabby Douglas resurrects the debate over how to act during the national anthem|first=Bill|last=Plaschke|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=August 18, 2016|archive-date=August 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818194518/http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-sp-oly-national-anthem-plaschke-20160810-snap-story.html|url-status=live}} the column was in turn described as "a stunning display of superfluous concern-trolling,"{{cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/fivering_circus/2016/08/why_gabby_douglas_has_been_the_target_of_so_much_unfair_petty_criticism.html|title=Why Isn't Gabby Douglas Smiling?|first=Rebecca|last=Schuman|date=August 17, 2016|work=Slate|access-date=August 18, 2016|archive-date=August 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818071724/http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/fivering_circus/2016/08/why_gabby_douglas_has_been_the_target_of_so_much_unfair_petty_criticism.html|url-status=live}} "rife with thinly-veiled racism and sexism"{{cite news|url=https://thinkprogress.org/gabby-douglas-rio-olympics-bullying-6e0f2642cccf#.i3px3mbsz|title=Leave Gabby Douglas Alone|website=ThinkProgress|first=Lindsay|last=Gibbs|date=August 15, 2016|access-date=August 18, 2016|archive-date=February 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209180319/https://thinkprogress.org/gabby-douglas-rio-olympics-bullying-6e0f2642cccf/#.i3px3mbsz|url-status=live}} and attracted further widespread criticism.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2016/aug/11/gabby-douglas-hand-heart-anthem-gymnastics|title=Gabby Douglas's lesson from the US national anthem outcry: conform or else|first=Dave|last=Schilling|date=August 11, 2016|work=The Guardian|access-date=August 18, 2016|archive-date=August 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818060842/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2016/aug/11/gabby-douglas-hand-heart-anthem-gymnastics|url-status=live}} Douglas later tearfully apologized at a press conference{{cite news|url=https://www.thewrap.com/gabby-douglas-apologizes-after-national-anthem-controversy/|title=Gabby Douglas Apologizes After National Anthem Controversy|date=August 10, 2016|first=Tim|last=Kenneally|work=TheWrap|access-date=August 21, 2020|archive-date=February 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215121606/https://www.thewrap.com/gabby-douglas-apologizes-after-national-anthem-controversy/|url-status=live}} even though the criticism was widely regarded as unfair.{{cite news|url=http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2016/08/15/baffoe-the-criticism-of-gabby-douglas-is-deeply-american/|title=Baffoe: The Criticism Of Gabby Douglas Is Deeply American|first=Tim|last=Baffoe|date=August 15, 2016|work=CBS Chicago|access-date=August 18, 2016|archive-date=August 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818103717/http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2016/08/15/baffoe-the-criticism-of-gabby-douglas-is-deeply-american/|url-status=live}} Plaschke, who had systematically criticized Douglas' demeanor during the games,{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-sp-womens-gymnastics-plaschke-20160809-snap-story.html|title=U.S. women gymnasts are not only giants, they are golden|first=Bill|last=Plaschke|work=Los Angeles Times|date=August 9, 2016|access-date=August 18, 2016|archive-date=August 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819010916/http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-sp-womens-gymnastics-plaschke-20160809-snap-story.html|url-status=live}} stayed silent on the controversy.

Plaschke wrote about his experience with COVID-19 in the summer of 2020.{{cite news|first=Lorenzo|last=Reyes|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2020/08/13/los-angeles-times-columnist-bill-plaschke-covid-19-experience/3363766001/|title=L.A. Times sports columnist Bill Plaschke details COVID-19 experience: 'Beat me senseless'|work=USA Today|date=August 13, 2020|access-date=August 16, 2020|archive-date=July 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719044449/https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2020/08/13/los-angeles-times-columnist-bill-plaschke-covid-19-experience/3363766001/|url-status=live}}

He has written two books: I Live for This!: Baseball's Last True Believer (with Tommy Lasorda) (2009), and Paradise Found: A High School Football Team’s Rise from the Ashes (2021), about how a high school football team inspired the people of Paradise, California after the town was virtually destroyed in a wildfire.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}

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• [http://www.latimes.com/newsletters/sports/lanews-bill-plaschke-20130507-staff.html LA Times biography of Plaschke]
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Category:1958 births

Category:Living people

Category:Baylor University alumni

Category:Los Angeles Times people

Category:Writers from Louisville, Kentucky

Category:Southern Illinois University Edwardsville alumni

Category:Ballard High School (Louisville, Kentucky) alumni

Category:Sportswriters from Kentucky