July 10, 2012

AuburnSports.com Staff
AuburnSports.com Staff

AUBURN - Jay G. Tate, an award-winning journalist who has covered Auburn University athletics since 1998 for the Montgomery Advertiser, will join the AuburnSports.com staff as senior staff writer beginning July 21.


Tate primarily will be responsible for team coverage, but will be involved with every aspect of the site.



"I've known Jay for almost 10 years and nobody provides a more complete view of Auburn athletics," AuburnSports.com publisher Jeffrey Lee said. "His beat knowledge, enthusiasm and multimedia abilities give our franchise an edge that others simply don't have. His work on the Hottest Auburn Blog on The Net has been outstanding and we're thrilled to add it to the great things we do everyday at AuburnSports.com."

Tate, 40, began covering the Tigers hours after Terry Bowden's dismissal in October 1998. Since then, his Auburn coverage yielded a series of company awards and accolades. His 2004 feature about former Auburn center Jeremy Ingle and high-school teammate Logan Markham was named the state's top sports story by the Associated Press.

He also was the first Advertiser writer to win the Paula S. Moore Gold Medal Award twice - in 2004 and again in 2009. The award is given for general excellence.

Tate is best known for his work with the Hottest Auburn Blog on The Net (HABOTN), which was the first newspaper blog dedicated to covering the Tigers. It quickly became the Advertiser's biggest online draw.