Rice, Grantland

Rice, (Henry) Grantland (1880–1954) sportswriter; born in Murfreesboro, Tenn. A graduate of Vanderbilt University, he began as a reporter with the Nashville News (1901); after working as a sportswriter for other Southern newspapers, he joined the New York Mail in 1910, then joined the New York Tribune (later the Herald Tribune) (1911–30), with time out for service in France during World War I (1918–19). After leaving the Tribune, he wrote a widely syndicated column, "The Sportlight," made a series of short films on sports, and was in charge of selecting the All-American football team for Collier's magazine (1926–54). Considered the dean of American sportswriters, his syndicated columns included some of sport's most memorable phrases, including those describing Notre Dame's football backfield as "The Four Horsemen". A prolific versifier, one of his poems included the famous line, "When the One Great Scorer comes to write against your name/He marks—not that you won or lost—but how you played the game."