With a toothpick peeking from his mouth and notebook in hand, Kevin Stevens chronicled stories of athletes and teams for more than 40 years as a sports reporter and columnist for the Press & Sun-Bulletin.
He wrote with an unmistakable style that delivered depth and detail while bringing to doorsteps and laptops accounts of athletes from the Binghamton region and beyond.
Stevens, a lifelong Binghamton resident who wrote for the Press & Sun-Bulletin from 1983 to August of 2024, died Feb. 2 at age 62.
He leaves behind a towering legacy as someone whose articles filled scrapbooks, brought perspective to sporting events, and illuminated those who achieved and overachieved.
“Kevin stood among the newsroom greats he worked alongside with, including Dave Rossie and Charlie Jaworski,” said Kevin Hogan, the Atlantic Group Editor for the USA TODAY Network’s Center for Community Journalism.
“His knowledge of the local sports scene and collection of sources was unparalleled,” said Hogan, who began working with Stevens in the sports department in 1998. “But it was his demand for accuracy and the need to always improve our work that made us all better journalists.”
Dave Bohrer, a former editor for the Press & Sun-Bulletin, said Stevens observed, celebrated and upheld the positive aspects of sportsmanship and human behavior.
“He had a gift for writing that I hope people appreciated what they had while he was doing it because he did it really, really well,” said Rob Centorani, who had three stints as a co-worker of Stevens at the Press & Sun-Bulletin.
Mike Mangan worked alongside Stevens from 1996 until 2015. He praised Stevens as “an incredible column writer,” adding Stevens would insert inside jokes or running themes regular readers could discover.
“He really championed high school sports in the area and covered it with enthusiasm and a high level of professionalism and just really gave it its due and it elevated events that he covered with his ability to write and describe the action,” Mangan said.
Jeff Platsky, who retired in 2020 after a career as an editor and reporter, described Stevens as a genuine and personable guy who cared greatly about the quality of the product and the reader.
Platsky admired the depth evident in Stevens’ work, adding he was everything you wanted a sports columnist to be — knowledgeable with strong opinions that were expressed eloquently.
“Everything he wrote, there was substance behind it,” Platsky said. “You didn’t get that he was just spouting off, you knew Kevin had given thought to it and you knew that Kevin had taken all aspects of the story he was writing about into consideration.”
A distinguished career for Stevens
Writing awards came with considerable frequency.
Stevens’ work was recognized multiple times by his own company, USA TODAY Co. Additional awards came from The Associated Press, New York Newspaper Publishers Association, New York State Athletic Administrators Association, Syracuse Press Club, and the Basketball Coaches Association of New York.
“Binghamton’s not a huge market, people come and go, but Kevin was just a fixture there and I think people got comfortable with his writing style,” Mangan said.
“And he had such a distinctive style that there was personality to it. People would look forward to it, especially his columns. You knew if Kevin Stevens was at a sporting event, it was probably a pretty big deal.”
Stevens was inducted into the Section 4 Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Greater Binghamton Sports Hall of Fame in 2022.
He served as vice president of the New York State Sports Writers Association and his behind-the-scenes efforts helped make sure Section 4’s top athletes received all-state or New York Player of the Year honors in sports such as football and basketball.
Stevens once called Bohrer “as fine a copy editor as there has been” and Bohrer spoke with great fondness of working alongside Stevens.
“He was kind of an old-school type writer,” said Bohrer, who was assistant sports editor and sports editor for the Press & Sun-Bulletin and is now retired. “He cared a lot about the high school and local sports. He wanted to accurately write about what was important to schools, the community, and he took his profession very seriously.”
From Binghamton North to hometown writer
Stevens, born in August of 1963, was the son of Dan and Patricia Stevens. Kevin was one of four children, along with brothers Daniel and Brian, and their sister, Kathleen (Mohr).
In the time leading up to and after the death of his mom in 2020, Kevin prioritized being there to support both of his parents.
He played CYO basketball growing up and filled the scoring column enough his name frequently appeared in the newspaper for which he later wrote.
Bill Bryant, who just turned over the keys as Section 4 executive director to Jeff Ferrara, coached Stevens in modified basketball at Binghamton North High School and was one of his physical education teachers. Stevens graduated from there in 1981.
Stevens went on to write stories about Bryant, who was a teacher, coach and administrator at multiple high schools in the Southern Tier before his final gig leading Section 4 athletics.
Bryant recalled Stevens as a polite, quiet student with a good group of friends.
“I always respected Kevin in how he went about doing his work as a sports writer,” Bryant said. “He was always very professional with how he handled himself. He was very detailed in the articles he wrote.
“Any time I saw him I just enjoyed his company. We’d stand there and talk about old times, like when I first met him.”
Stevens regularly stopped to chat with two and sometimes three people as he made his way into a venue to cover an event.
Mangan marveled at Stevens remaining in touch with some of the athletes he covered 10 to 15 years after they competed.
“Kevin and I got pretty close,” said Matt Gallagher, who has coached Maine-Endwell to six state championships in football. “It seemed like we were almost talking every week. He would text me and ask me certain things about upcoming games, interviews after the games, preseason stuff.”
Golf and good times with friends
Stevens’ musical tastes ranged from jazz legend Miles Davis to rocker Neil Young.
“You knew that he was crafting something special when you heard jazz quietly playing from his cubicle in the corner of the sports department,” Hogan said.
Stevens was a big fan of the New York Yankees and Minnesota Vikings and was known to enjoy a nice ribeye or properly prepared hot dog.
Until his back let him down, Stevens’ favorite activity was playing golf. He joined Mangan, Centorani and others for regular rounds at Binghamton’s Ely Park Golf Course. While his back issues took length off his drives, Mangan said Stevens made up for it with a deft touch around the greens.
They played skins golf for a few dollars or lunch. Centorani remembered playing 54 holes of golf one day as Stevens kept encouraging the group to add “emergency nines.” It was dark by the time they finished.
Mangan recalled the banter with his work neighbor Stevens about sports, life or random subjects.
“Kevin was able to juggle the professionalism of the job, as well as the camaraderie in the newsroom,” Mangan said. “From a work perspective, as prepared as anyone I’ve ever worked with. He never went into a sporting event or even any kind of story he wrote unprepared.”
While attending SUNY Broome Community College, Centorani worked for the Press & Sun-Bulletin in 1988. On day two, he was called into the office by Jaworski to discuss a mistake. As those two walked by, Stevens joked with Centorani, “Bring your playbook.”
A friendship was born.
“We had a 38-year relationship. I don’t know that we ever had a fight,” Centorani said.
“We just got along so well. All I remember doing is laughing. Some of the hardest laughs I’ve ever had in my life were with Kevin. We just had such a good time.”
A lot of time was spent together, and with others, bowling or playing pool, cards or ping-pong. They watched the Super Bowl or other sporting events at each other’s homes.
There was also a nearly two-week work trip to Williamsport to cover Maine-Endwell’s Little League title in 2016. Centorani said it was something of an “Odd Couple” hotel pairing.
As became their custom, Stevens and Centorani gave first reads to each other’s stories. When Stevens sent over a column describing the experience of having Centorani as a roommate, Centorani couldn’t stop laughing.
“He just bashed me in the funniest way possible,” Centorani said.
Months later, Centorani was asked by a reader while covering an event, “Are you really a middle squeezer with the toothpaste?”
Centorani and Stevens remained in consistent communication up until Centorani’s final text to him went uncustomarily unanswered.
“It hit me really hard when I heard about it,” Centorani said of Stevens’ death. “I couldn’t believe it. … My heart sank.”
But Centorani couldn’t help but break out in laughter while driving as he reminisced on great times with Stevens. Centorani also took time to reflect on the gift Stevens shared with so many.
“The hard part about writing is you want to have a clear picture of what you want to say and then you want to say it in a way that no one’s ever said it before,” Centorani said. “For my money, there’s been no one better in this area at combining those two things.
“Unique and magical. I loved reading his stuff.”
Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare. You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today
This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Kevin Stevens, longtime Press & Sun-Bulletin sports reporter, dies
Reporting by Andrew Legare, Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin / Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
