Another year, another record number of entries for the Fantasy Sports Writers Association’s annual writing awards. This year the not-for-profit organization collected close to 1,000 articles from more than 150 participating writers. The annual writing contest has grown in each of its six years.

"This contest demands hundreds of volunteer hours from our executive staff and judges," said Mike Beacom, FSWA president and chairman, "but the increased interest in the awards suggests all of that hard work is well worth it."

The FSWA Executive Committee collects all of the entries and guides the two-step process, which includes a round of judging by the FSWA Board of Directors and then by an independent panel of journalism academics. FSWA Executive Committee members are ineligible to compete.

Judging for this year’s awards has now been completed and the winners will be announced at the Winter FSTA Business Conference and Research Symposium in Las Vegas on January 26, 2010.

Here is a list of the 2009 FSWA Writing Awards finalists for each category, listed in alphabetical order:

Fantasy Humor Article of the Year
Ladd Biro, The Sporting News
Paul Bourdett, RotoExperts
Mike Gilbert, RotoExperts

Fantasy College Sports Writer of the Year
John Baker, RapidDraft
Brad Evans, Yahoo!
Michael Hurcomb, CSBSports.com

Fantasy Racing Writer of the Year
Scott Engel, RotoExperts
Brian Polking, Fanball
Mark Taylor, RotoWire

Fantasy Golf Writer of the Year
Rob Bolton, RotoWorld
John McNamara, RotoWire
Scott Pianowski, Yahoo!

Fantasy Hockey Writer of the Year
Sean Allen, ESPN
Rocky Bonanno, NHL.com
Scott Pianowski, Yahoo!

Fantasy Basketball Writer of the Year
Cory Elfrink, Fanball
Tom Lorenzo, RotoExperts
Andre Snellings, RotoWire

Best Fantasy Baseball Publication
Fanball
Fantasy Baseball Index
RotoWire

Best Fantasy Baseball Online Article
John Rakowski, Sports Grumblings
David Regan, RotoWire
Scott White, CBSSports.com

Best Fantasy Baseball Print Article
James Benkard, RotoWire
Will Carroll, RotoWire
Brent Hershey, USA Today Sports Weekly

Best Fantasy Baseball On-Going Series
Jason Grey, ESPN
David Regan, RotoWire
Mark Strausberg, Roto Experts

Fantasy Baseball Writer of the Year
David Regan, RotoWire
Derek VanRiper, RotoWire
Scott White, CBSSports.com

Best Fantasy Football Publication
Fantasy Football Index
Pro Football Weekly / Yahoo!
RotoWire

Best Fantasy Football Online Article
Dalton Del Don, RotoWire
Jeff Stotts, RotoWire
Derek VanRiper, RotoWire

Best Fantasy Football Print Article
Michael Blunda, Pro Football Weekly
Ted Carlson, Fanball
Ben Ice, Fantasy Football Pro Forecast

Best Fantasy Football On-Going Series
Tristan Cockcroft, ESPN
Adam Levitan, RotoWorld
Jeff Stotts, RotoWire

Fantasy Football Writer of the Year
Ryan Bonini, KFFL
Brad Evans, Yahoo!
Derek VanRiper, RotoWire