Steve Tappa

About

I've worked in radio, TV and print for over 30 years, and still offer "expert"opinions about local sports on all mediums, and sometimes offer play-by-play or color analyst work on local broadcasts. I'm best known as an award-winning sports writing, covering everything from a race walk to NBA exhibition games locally and Major League Baseball series' (Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals). Among my sports writing beats were the NFL's Chicago Bears (late 1990s), Triple-A basketball's Quad City Thunder, Double-A hockey's QC Mallards and indoor football's QC Steamwheelers. I also have covered Class A baseball's QC River Bandits (picking up the beat work in late 2011, due to a staff change). I also have been the lead writer for the Universities of Iowa and Illinois (football and men's basketball), and been the lead writer/preps coordinator for local high school sports (primarily football, basketball and baseball/softball). I've also been support/No. 2 on the PGA's John Deere Classic and local colleges. I handled special events for our publications (QC Criterium bike race, QC Marathon running event and Rock Island Grand Prix of Karting). Local boxing/mixed martial arts was my beat (boxing champs Michael Nunn & Antwun Echols; UFC champs Pat Miletich & Robbie Lawler). I founded a weekly column for the local running/cycling/triathlon community to spotlight events. I founded and compiled the local radio and television listings, and local sports calendar, that each ran daily. I edited our internet home page and founder the "Live Scoring" feature (includes standings, local rankings and state rankings, for instance). I serve the Illinois Associated Press as the coordinator for the state's media panel behind the weekly prep football and basketball ratings and All-State basketball teams (founded an information-sharing Facebook page used as an example nationally by the AP). I am an unofficial local sports historian, having researched all-century and all-decade special content. I also handled copy editing and page/;layout editing duties. I am also a Board Member for Bettendorf-Pleasant Valley Youth Baseball and am a former Moline Jaycee. I love coaching youth sports (especially football and baseball) in my spare time, and serve as a league administrator, a coordinator of several volunteer groups, and Communications Director for the BPV. As Board Secretary, I also coordinate the organization's scholarship program.