A roundup of items recently posted on the FSB News page.

– Fantasy sports presented the best kind of social-networking before we ever started to even use that term. Tommy Landry (a “senior analyst” for RotoExperts.com) uses his Return on Now blog to explain what qualifies fantasy sports as meaningful social networking.

– Pay the Fan has partnered with the Motor Racing Network on a fantasy NASCAR competition with a $50,000 top prize. Consumers can join for free with the purchase of tickets to a qualifying Nextel Cup race.

– FantasyAgent.com — a not-yet-live site that wants participants to “sign” athletes to build best possible client portfolio — is holding an open competition for the design of its logo. About four days remain until the deadline.

Send all of your news, job postings, stories and profile ideas to FantasySportsBusiness@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter (FSBcom).

A roundup of recent posts on the FSB News page.

– Comcast is using former Steelers coach Bill Cowher to try to appeal to fantasy football fans and sell its cable/phone/internet bundle. Whether you’re interested in Comcast or not, the video spots are worth checking out. Every day I will use my power to turn myself into a better Bill Cowher …

– The Texas Testosterone Festival in Austin on August 15 will feature (probably plenty of jalapenos and) a live expert fantasy football mock draft, including industry folks such as Footballguys.com’s Sigmund Bloom and Marc Faletti, TheHuddle.com’s David Dorey and Darin Tietgen, RotoExperts.com’s Tommy Landry, ecouchcoach.com’s Eric Mattingly, 4for4.com’s Jeff Owens and FantasyInsights.com’s Pete Smits. Ladd Biro, a Dallas Morning News columnist and Sporting News fantasy contributor will host.

– KFAN and the Treasure Island Resort & Casino of Red Wing, Minn., are hosting a “Fantasy Football Camp” on August 15 with radio host and FSTA president Paul Charchian doing the station’s fantasy show live and the resort hosting league drafts.

Send all of your news, job postings, stories and profile ideas to FantasySportsBusiness@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter (FSBcom).

Aside from RotoWire’s six victories, just two other companies grabbed more than one plaque during the Fantasy Sports Writers Association ceremony on Tuesday.

CBS Sports tripled its 2007 take by claiming three prizes, while Sporting News grabbed two of its own.

For CBS, Sergio Gonzalez became the third different winner of the top basketball writer award in the three years taht title has been given out. Scott White’s win for best football series also marked the third different victor in that category in as many years. Rounding out the CBS triumphs was Dave Richard for best major-media football article.

Sporting News fantasy editor George Winkler emerged victorious in the football series category, while Matt Lutovsky beat out SN colleague Bill Bender for the title of best major-media baseball article.

Winners were announced on the first full day of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association winter business conference. Only FSWA members are eligible to win.

Here are the full listings for the categories mentioned above:

Basketball Writer
Steve Alexander, Rotoworld
Matt Buser, Yahoo
Sergio Gonzalez, CBS Sports

Baseball Series
Jason Grey, ESPN
Tommy Landry, RotoExperts
Scott White, CBS Sports

Baseball Major Media Article
Bill Bender, Sporting News
Christopher Harris, ESPN
Matt Lutovsky, Sporting News

Football Series
Jamey Eisenberg, CBS Sports
Gregg Rosenthal, Rotoworld
George Winkler, Sporting News

Football Major Media Article
Dave Richard, CBS Sports
Evan Silva, Rotoworld/NBC
Mark St. Amant, Rotoworld/NBC

We’re much closer to the 2009 fantasy baseball season than to the 2008 edition, but it’s still time to recognize the top writing efforts of the year past.

For starters, the list finalists for top magazine is a carbon copy of that from football, with CBS, Rotoworld and Rotowire vying for the honor. Among the 18 total finalists in the six baseball categories, just two come from outlets that launched in the 21st century — Eno Sarris of Baseballguys.com (best Web article) and Tommy Landry of RotoExperts.com (best series).

Otherwise you’ll see lots of representatives from the big boys of the industry, starting with the fantasy veterans that constitute the top writer category. RotoWire’s Jeff Erickson and ESPN’s Jason Grey are the only two writers up for more than one award in baseball, while Yahoo! boasts the only two analysts to have qualified in multiple sports. Scott Pianowski is up for writer of the year in baseball and hockey, and Andy Behrens could come away with top-writer honors in football and best print article in baseball.

The full list follows, with winners to be announced next Tuesday on the first day of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association winter conference.

Baseball Writer of the Year
Tristan Cockcroft — ESPN.com
Jeff Erickson — RotoWire.com
Scott Pianowski — Yahoo!

Best Baseball Article in Print
Andy Behrens — Yahoo!
Jason Grey — ESPN.com
Tim Heaney — KFFL.com

Best Baseball Article on the Web
Jeff Erickson — Rotowire.com
David Gonos — BaseballHQ.com
Eno Sarris — BaseballGuys.com

Best Baseball Article in Major Media
Bill Bender — Sporting News
Christopher Harris — ESPN.com
Matt Lutovsky — Sporting News

Best Baseball Series
Jason Grey — ESPN.com
Tommy Landry — RotoExperts.com
Scott White — CBSSports.com

Best Baseball Print Publication
CBS Sports
RotoWire
Rotoworld