Roundy Coughlin

Who was Roundy Coughlin?

Joseph Leo "Roundy" Coughlin was a sports columnist from Madison, Wisconsin who wrote primarily for the Wisconsin State Journal. Most of his bylines were simply "Roundy." His column, "Roundy Says," was the newspaper's most popular column.

While Roundy was running a pool hall on Madison's State Street, he earned a reputation for his exceptional knack to predict the outcomes of college football games. A short time after a writer for The Daily Cardinal began quoting Roundy's sports predictions and witticisms uttered in the pool hall, The Capital Times offered Roundy a writing job. In 1924, he switched employers to the Wisconsin State Journal. Understanding that Roundy would be a major boon for the newspaper, the editors chose to announce his hiring with the entire front page of its second section. He remained with the Wisconsin State Journal until his retirement at the end of the 1970 college football season.

Roundy often wrote in a stream-of-consciousness style, frequently at the expense of proper grammar. His tone is considered to be very relatable because of his background lacking in a traditional education in journalism.