Barnard, Sports Writer, Dead at 54

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(AP) Bill Barnard, who covered five Olympics and the NBA for The Associated Press, died while playing tennis near his home in Waldwick, N.J. He was 54.

Barnard died Saturday shortly after he collapsed on the court.

Barnard joined the AP staff in Dallas in 1972 and moved to the sports department in New York in 1977.

In 1980, he worked at the Summer Games in Moscow, and he covered the U.S. basketball Dream Team in 1992 at Barcelona. Barnard spent more than a decade as the AP's NBA writer before becoming a desk editor.

""Everyone -- and I mean everyone -- thought the world of Bill Barnard. He was funny, generous, hard working and just a great guy to be around,"" AP Sports Editor Terry Taylor said.

""He loved his family and he loved being a Texan.""

At his retirement party in 2002, one of the several Texas-related gifts he received was an official Longhorns softball jersey, which he wore while pitching for the AP team. His wife, Janet, said Barnard will be buried with that jersey under his suit.

Barnard was raised in Corpus Christi, Texas, where his father was the mayor. He attended the University of Texas.

His uncle, William C. Barnard, was a longtime AP executive.

Barnard is survived by his parents, his wife and their three children: Tim, Brian and Beth.

Funeral services will be held Thursday in Waldwick.