On the morning of January 26 Saint Patrick High School hosted a breakfast with three of the most recognizable high school sports journalists in the state of Illinois: Barry Temkin of the Chicago Tribune, Steve Tucker of the Chicago Sun-Times, and Taylor Bell, who retired from the Sun-Times in 2001. The Saint Patrick community wished to thank these writers for their stellar work in helping to publicize high school athletics in the Chicagoland area.

The reporters ate breakfast with members of the Saint Patrick administration and athletic staff, sharing stories about some of the legendary characters: athletes, coaches, and even fans that they have encountered over the years. With over 75 years of covering high school athletics between the three of them, this group had plenty of stories to tell.

The men also discussed some of the hot topics in high school athletics today, including the Illinois High School Association’s enrollment multiplier, and the IHSA’s recent decision to expand the number of classes in boys golf, boys and girls track and field, girls volleyball, boys and girls basketball, boys baseball, and girls softball beginning in the 2007-2008 school year.

Taylor Bell worked on the sports staff of the Champaign-Urbana Courier, St. Louis Globe-Democrat, and Chicago Daily News before joining the Chicago Sun-Times in 1978. Over the next 23 years, Bell would establish himself as the top high school sports journalist in the state of Illinois. Bell retired from the Sun-Times in 2001, but he continues to work in the field of high school athletics. In 2004 Bell’s comprehensive history of high school basketball in Illinois, Sweet Charlie, Dike, Cazzie, and Bobby Joe: High School Basketball in Illinois, was published. Bell’s second book, Where Have You Gone? profiles 50 former Illinois high school basketball players, documenting their careers from childhood, high school, college and professional sports and/or careers to retirement is currently in the works.

Barry Temkin is the featured high school sports columnist for the Chicago Tribune. Temkin moved to Chicago from Wisconsin in 1970, and he has written for the Tribune Company for the last 30 years.

Steve Tucker is a sports reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times, covering mostly high school and college athletics. A 1967 graduate of New Trier High School, who grew up in Hyde Park, Tucker has covered sports for the Sun-Times since 1984.