Jason Gay

Since 2009, UW–Madison alum Jason Gay has been a sports and culture columnist for the Wall Street Journal, where he employs a sharp analytical eye and an irreverent sense of humor to shift effortlessly between lighthearted themes and serious topics. He has covered events ranging from the Super Bowl and the Olympics to the Masters Tournament and the Tour de France.

Born in Boston, Gay grew up in the nearby suburb of Belmont, Massachusetts, where he says he had an embarrassing and forgettable career in baseball, basketball, cross country, and tennis. He has competed as an amateur bike racer, finishing dead last in races from New York to Rwanda.

Gay began his reporting career covering Little League baseball for the Vineyard Gazette on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. He went on to work as a writer and editor for publications including GQ, Rolling Stone, the New York Observer, and the Boston Phoenix. He is the author of the 2015 bestseller Little Victories, which was a finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor. He was named Sports Columnist of the Year by the Society of Professional Journalists in 2010, 2016, and 2019, and in 2024 by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. Most recently, he authored the essay book I Wouldn’t Do That If I Were Me.

Gay graduated from UW–Madison in 1992, earning a bachelor’s degree in political science. He loves his alma mater, as evidenced by columns like “Badgers Must Beat Michigan to Save the World” and “Dream Team with a Miracle Coach” about Wisconsin’s 2025 National Champion women’s hockey team. Gay lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with his wife, Bessie, their two children, Jesse and Josie, a cat, a goldfish, two lizards, and a temperamental rabbit named Marshmallow.