Meet the 2019 Award Winners: Iowa Sportswriter Mike Hlas

Today’s award spotlight is on NSMA 2019 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year, Mike Hlas. Hlas is currently a sports columnist and Iowa men’s basketball beat writer at the Cedar Rapids Gazette. He’s been a sports columnist there for the past 39 years. He also has a great sense of humor as seen in his bio on TheGazette.com where he claims to have "been at The Gazette since well before TheGazette.com was a thing, but not as long as Charles Grassley has been a U.S. Senator” and have “dined with kings and queens, and I have dined on pork and beans. Oh, only the pork and beans part of that is true.”

This is Hlas’ sixth-time winner Iowa Sportscaster of the year, his first being in 2009, all in Affiliation with The Gazette.

Hlas briefly spoke with NSMA on his career and other thoughts regarding the industry.

NSMA: What was your career path like on the way to your current position?

Mike Hlas: I got by with a little help from my friends

NSMA: What is your favorite thing about your job?

GS: Getting to meet and know a wide array of interesting, remarkable and delightful people within and outside my industry.

NSMA: What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

GS: Staying employed

NSMA: What is the best piece of advice you have for people pursuing a career in sports media?

GS: Do it because you love to report and tell stories and write and communicate, not because you love sports.

Written by NSMA intern, Brian Cohen