Cowley, a graduate of Kent State University, served the same role for the Sun-Times sister publication, the Tinley Park, Illinois Daily Southtown, for several years before being hired by the downtown paper before the 2006 season.
"[1] Subsequently during the series in Toronto, Cowley refused to stand for the Canadian national anthem prior to a game.
Cowley gained notoriety nationally when he admitted on November 21, 2006 on the Mike and the Mad Dog show, which is heard on WFAN New York, to be the only writer to vote Derek Jeter in sixth place on the American League MVP ballot.
That was the second such incident for Cowley; after omitting Blue Jays players Carlos Delgado and Vernon Wells, two top-ten overall finishers, from his 2003 AL MVP ballot, the Chicago chapter suspended him from voting the subsequent year.
[4] Cowley's initial mocking prompted a response from the SoxNet.net blog calling his attacks "unprofessional, offensive, and completely inappropriate".