Sad news from the world of Virginia sportswriters today. Tucker McLaughlin Jr., the long-time sports editor of the South Boston News & Record, passed away late Sunday night.
This is news that those of us who counted McLaughlin as a friend had been expecting for some time, but that doesn’t make today any easier.
McLaughlin, 67, who was honored by the ACC in 2022 with the Marvin “Skeeter” Francis Award, which recognizes individuals for distinguished service to the ACC, had been doggedly battling a December 2019 brain cancer diagnosis.
A Hampden-Syndney College alum, McLaughlin became known well outside the South Boston-Halifax County area for his coverage of ACC sports.
When I was a cub sportswriter trying to work my way up the ranks, his job – covering UVA, Virginia Tech, Duke, UNC, NC State and Wake Forest on a regular basis – was my dream job.
We were, in recent years, often seatmates at the ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament games, including one night in Brooklyn in 2018 when a player ended up in our laps after getting a shove out of bounds underneath the basket.
More than a few of us have already missed the “Big Dog” holding court before games – on the ACC, on politics, society, culture, and whatever was going on in Halifax County high-school sports, not necessarily in that order.
The world is down a gentle soul.
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Chris Graham
