Mike Tirico
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This biography of a living person does not cite any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2008) Find sources: (Mike Tirico – news, books, scholar) |
Michael Jonathon Tirico (born December 13, 1966 in Queens, New York) is the lead broadcaster for ESPN's presentation of Monday Night Football, and second lead broadcaster for ESPN's presentation of the NBA. In addition, Tirico hosts a multitude of programming on ESPN/ABC. He was the host of ABC's golf coverage from 1996 to 2007, and continues in that capacity for ESPN's U.S. Open, Masters and British Open golf coverage. Tirico was formerly a play-by-play announcer for college football on both ESPN and ABC.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Career at ABC and ESPN
Tirico joined ESPN in 1991 as a SportsCenter anchor, after 4 years as Sports Director at CBS affiliate WTVH-TV in Syracuse, New York. Tirico is noted for his versatile nature and the variety of assignments he has handled as part of the ESPN team.
In addition to anchoring SportsCenter, Tirico has handled the play-by-play for ESPN's Thursday night college football package (1997 to 2005), college basketball coverage (1997 to 2002), NBA coverage (2002 to present), and PGA golf coverage for ABC (1996 to 2006). Tirico has also hosted studio coverage of various ESPN and ABC covered events, including a stint on ESPN's Monday Night Countdown (previously known as NFL Prime Monday) from 1993–2001 and ABC's NBA studio shows. He also broadcasts NBA games on ESPN/ABC. He will anchor the 2009 U.S. Open Tennis Championships
Tirico is known for his often smooth and professional delivery. He has been criticized for overemphasizing star players, avoiding comment on negative play and off-court/field activities, and in general looking out for the PR interests of the professional sports organizations that he broadcasts for.
[edit] Broadcasting partners
Tirico has been paired in the college football booth with Tim Brant, Terry Bowden, Mike Gottfried, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, and David Norrie. His partner in NBA coverage have included Tom Tolbert, Hubie Brown, and Greg Anthony, and he has worked with Curtis Strange, Judy Rankin, Nick Faldo, and Paul Azinger in PGA coverage. He has worked with Len Elmore on college basketball coverage.
On March 22 and March 23, 2007, he appeared as a guest host, filling in for Michael Wilbon, alongside Tony Kornheiser on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption.
[edit] Radio career
Tirico hosted his first show from WAER radio in Syracuse, N.Y., the station where he started his sports broadcasting career, on the campus of Syracuse University. Fellow Orange alum Bob Costas was his first guest. On Sept. 20, 2007, Tirico began hosting the short-lived Mike Tirico Show on ESPN Radio from 1–3 p.m. weekdays (Eastern time). The show filled the empty seat left by Dan Patrick. During the spring of 2008, the title of The Mike Tirico Show, which featured Scott Van Pelt as a co-host, was changed to Tirico and Van Pelt. On May 19, 2009, Tirico announced he would be leaving the show to focus more on his television play-by-play duties, and the name of the show became "The Scott Van Pelt Show."
[edit] Controversy
In 1992, Mike Tirico was suspended by ESPN for three months for unwelcome advances. In his book ESPN: The Uncensored History, published in 2000, New York Times reporter Michael Freeman reported several instances of sexual harassment by Mike Tirico[1]including attempted groping and sexual solicitation[2].
[edit] External links
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
