Max
Kase was sports editor of the New York Journal-American newspaper
for 28
years. He became sports editor of the
Journal-American in 1938 and was
known to readers through his popular
“BriefKase” column.
In 1951, Kase’s exclusive story that
members of the City College of New
York’s “double” National Championship
basketball team, which had won
both the NCAA and National Invitational
Tournament titles, were being questioned
by the New York District Attorney’s
office regarding “point shaving,” exposed
what was to become the biggest sports scandal of the post-war
era. Kase
subsequently received a Pulitzer Prize
for his coverage of the scandal.
He was the guiding force behind
the Journal-American Sandlot Baseball program in New York City,
which had
the annual Hearst Sandlot Classic as its
showcase. Kase was also one of the
founders of the influential B’nai B’rith
Sports Lodge of New York City and
served two terms as its president. In
1957, Kase was instrumental in arranging
Hearst Newspapers’ underwriting
and promotion of Israel’s National Basketball
Team’s first visit to the United
States.
Kase joined the International News
Service (INS) in 1917 and in 1923 left to
become sports editor of The Havana
Telegram. He returned to the INS in
1925, and in 1934 moved to the sports
editor’s desk at The Boston American for
four years.
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