Cleveland, a Hattiesburg resident, is the most decorated Mississippi sports journalist. He is celebrating 50 years as a sports writer and columnist. Cleveland stated that sports is a large and vibrant part of Mississippi’s social fabric. “I am excited about the idea and potential of Mississippi Today and I can’t wait to be a part of it.” Mississippi Today Co-editor Dennis Moore observed: “Whenever people talk about sports here, you often hear the question, ‘Did you read what Rick Cleveland said about that?’ Now we’re proud for Mississippi Today to be part of that conversation.” The column will run every Friday afternoon at MississippiToday.org. After 33 years at The Clarion-Ledger and over 40 years as a professional sports writer, Cleveland was appointed executive director of Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. Rick is now the Hall of Fame’s historian and writes for the museum’s website. He also contributes a weekly syndicated column to Mississippi newspapers. Cleveland was the first sports writer to be awarded the Richard Wright Lifetime Achievement Award in Literary Excellence. Previous winners include Eudora Welty and Richard Ford, as well as Willie Morris. The Distinguished Mississippian Award was also presented to Cleveland by the Mississippi Press Association’s Education Foundation. This award was given in 2000 to Cleveland, who is the author of four books. His biography on Boo Ferriss, the baseball legend, is now in its third printing. His latest book, Mississippi’s Greatest Athletes (Nautilus 2014.) is now in its second printing. “Rick Cleveland is a great writer and sportsman in Mississippi. We are thrilled to share Rick’s award-winning journalism with our readers regularly.”_x000D