Post Sports Reporter Mark G. Asher

Mark G. Asher, 60, a dogged sports reporter who, during his long career at The Washington Post, carved out a niche covering off-the-field sports stories, died March 2 at Georgetown University Medical Center of heart failure and respiratory problems. He was a Bethesda resident.

Mr. Asher, who had undergone kidney and pancreas transplants, as well as triple bypass surgery in May, suffered from juvenile diabetes and other ailments.

He was one of the nation's first sports reporters to investigate academic fraud in college sports programs and to pay attention to the occasionally arcane rulings of the NCAA about eligibility issues. He covered drug testing, labor disputes and the business of sports in general. Those areas are now sports-page staples, but Mr. Asher was quick to ascertain their significance.

Among the high-profile stories he covered, none was more significant than the death of University of Maryland basketball star Len Bias by cocaine overdose in 1986. He covered not only the death of the 22-year-old potential superstar, who had been drafted by the Boston Celtics, but also the investigation and the damaging reverberations for University of Maryland athletics.

In July 1986, The Post published his comprehensive four-part series on the crisis in the university's sports program in the wake of Bias's death. His investigation shed light on booster club activities and expenditures, coaches' salaries, recruiting practices, drug testing and the academic performance of Maryland athletes.

His former editor, Martie Zad, recalled talking to a Maryland athletics administrator while Asher was working on the series. "He wants more stuff than a state comptroller," the official complained to Zad.

"Of all the reporters and people I hired, he was the most dedicated and tenacious," said Zad, who was assistant managing editor for sports at The Post from 1960 to 1972.

Mr. Asher covered Basketball Hall of Fame coach John Thompson from his days as a high school coach at St. Anthony's through his early struggles at Georgetown University to the Hoyas' 1984 championship season. In a telephone interview, Thompson recalled that glorious night in Seattle. As his team made its way through the postgame maelstrom to the locker room, he remembered, he grabbed Asher by the collar and pulled him in with him, to the consternation of Mr. Asher's reporting colleagues, who were left outside.

"Ash was my friend," Thompson explained. "He had respect for me, and I had respect for him."

Mr. Asher was born in the District and graduated in 1963 from Woodrow Wilson High School, where he played on the golf team.

When he was 18, he started as a part-timer at The Post, fielding Friday night high school football scores by phone. He attended American University but dropped out when he became a full-time Post reporter in 1965.

In addition to his off-the-field sports reporting, he covered Washington Bullets basketball, the District's flirtation with Major League Baseball over the years, Howard University athletics, tennis and numerous other sports beats.

The Post was his only employer. He continued working despite a long and debilitating series of illnesses that made it almost impossible for him to walk. He retired in 2005.

His first marriage ended in divorce.

Survivors include his wife, Elizabeth Asher of Bethesda, and two daughters, Melanie Asher of Bethesda and Elizabeth Asher of New York.

Thompson, who referred to Mr. Asher and himself as "the odd couple," recalled visiting him in the hospital some years ago and initially being refused entry. The coach made the laughable claim that he was an older brother. (Thompson is black, and Asher is white.) He was allowed in.

Asher appeared unable to talk, perhaps unable even to recognize visitors. Thompson visited with him nevertheless, telling old stories and reminiscing about their experiences. Mr. Asher didn't respond -- until Thompson was about to walk out the door.

"He raised his head and asked me a reporter question," Thompson recalled. "I said, 'You're still interrogating me?' It was the damnedest thing in the world."