Kenny Albert
Kenny Albert | |
---|---|
![]() Albert in 2015 | |
Born | Kenneth Albert February 2, 1968 |
Occupation | Television/radio sportscaster |
Years active | 1990-present |
Parent | Marv Albert & Benita Oberlander |
Relatives | Uncles Al Albert (sportscaster) and Steve Albert (sportscaster) |
Family | Barbara, wife (1996- present)+ 2 children |
Kenneth "Kenny" Albert (born February 2, 1968 in New York, New York) is an American sportscaster, the son of sportscaster Marv Albert and the nephew of sportscasters Al Albert and Steve Albert. He is the only sportscaster who currently does play-by-play for all four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL).
Biography
Early life
Albert's parents gave him a tape recorder for his fifth birthday to practice his broadcasting.[1]
On his sixth birthday in 1974 his father took him along to a New York Rangers game. One of the statisticians had to leave in the middle of the game so Kenny got to do the stats for the rest of the game. At 14, he became the official statistician for the New York Rangers on the radio. At 16, he wrote content for the New York Rangers program. Aside from his father, his idol was Vancouver Canucks play-by-play broadcaster Jim Robson.
From 1981 to 1986, Kenny, growing up in Sands Point, covered high school sports for the Port Washington News, an Anton Community Newspapers publication.[2]
He graduated from New York University[3] in 1990[4] with a degree in broadcasting and journalism. Albert worked in the sports department at WNYU Radio. He is a frequent guest on WNYU's sports talk program, The Cheap Seats.
He has also made many appearances on the popular New York sports internet radio show Sports Heaven with Mark and Evan.[5]
Broadcasting career
Kenny is the radio voice of the New York Rangers, as well as a play-by-play announcer and field-level reporter for Fox's coverage of Major League Baseball,[3] the NFL,[3] and the Sugar Bowl. When Fox had the network contract for the National Hockey League in the 1990s, Albert also worked on Fox NHL Saturday telecasts. Albert also worked play-by-play for the NHL on NBC and formerly with Versus.
He has done work for NBC's Olympics coverage, as a play-by-play announcer for men's and women's ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Previously, he handled TV play-by-play for the Washington Capitals and Washington Bullets (now the Washington Wizards), and was a part-time announcer on Washington Nationals telecasts in 2005. Additionally, he does TV play-by-play for Washington Redskins preseason games with Joe Theismann.[6]
Albert called the international broadcast of Super Bowl XLVI with Theismann.
Kenny Albert has also done college basketball for ESPN Plus, and is a substitute play-by-play announcer for televised New York Knicks games on MSG Network.[4]
For the 2011 playoffs, Albert broadcast for two playoff teams in the same market, doing the play-by-play for the New York Rangers on WEPN 1050 ESPN radio and filling on MSG Network doing play-by-play for the New York Knicks.[7]
Albert called Game 1 of the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals for NBC, filling in for Doc Emrick who was dealing with a death in the family.[8]
Kenny Albert is known to some Chicago sports fans as "The Kiss of Death" to their teams. [9] Many games involving the Bears and Blackhawks with Albert announcing has led to losses for both of them. Major games include Game 7 of the 2014 Western Conference Final between the Blackhawks and Kings and every Chicago Bears game with Albert announcing since 2004.
He was the lead play-by-play announcer for the 2015 American League Division Series between the Texas Rangers and the Toronto Blue Jays. In the top of 7th inning of game 5, he helped explain the rule regarding the errant throw by Toronto Blue Jays catcher, Russell Martin, which resulted in Texas scoring the go-ahead run. In the bottom of the inning, he called Jose Bautista's go-ahead home run in the bottom of the 7th inning of game 5.[10]
Four sports in four days
On October 25, 2009, Albert called the play-by-play of the Minnesota Vikings – Pittsburgh Steelers NFL game for Fox and then hosted the New York Yankees' locker room celebration after clinching the American League Championship Series that night. The following night he broadcast a Rangers game on radio and on October 28, he called the play-by-play of the New York Knicks season opener on MSG.[11]
Career timeline
- 1990–1992: Baltimore Skipjacks – Play-by-play[12]
- 1992–1995: Washington Capitals play-by-play on Home Team Sports
- 1993–1994: NHL on ESPN2 – Play-by-play
- 1994–1995: NHL Radio – Lead play-by-play
- 1994–present: NFL on Fox – Play-by-play (2007-2013, #2 announcer)
- 1995–1999: NHL on Fox – Play-by-play[4]
- 1995–present: New York Rangers – Radio play-by-play[4]
- 1999–2000: NTRA on Fox – Host
- 2001–present: Major League Baseball on Fox – Play-by-play
- 2002: Winter Olympics – Hockey play-by-play
- 2005: Washington Nationals - Fill-in television play-by-play
- 2005–2006: NHL on OLN – Play-by-play
- 2006: Winter Olympics – Hockey play-by-play
- 2007–2009: Sugar Bowl – Play-by-play
- 2009–present: New York Knicks – Fill-in television play-by-play
- 2010: Winter Olympics – Hockey play-by-play
- 2010-present: Washington Redskins Broadcast Network: Preseason play-by-play
- 2011: NHL on Versus Playoffs play-by-play
- 2012–present: NHL on NBC play-by-play
- 2014: Winter Olympics Hockey play-by-play
Broadcasting partners
- Tim Green
- Daryl Johnston
- Tony Siragusa
- Ron Pitts
- Brian Baldinger
- Joe Theismann
- Anthony Muñoz
- Dave Maloney
- Mark Grace
- Eric Karros
- Pierre McGuire
- Joe Micheletti
- Brian Engblom
- Walt "Clyde" Frazier
- Eddie Olczyk
- Tom Verducci
- Ken Rosenthal
- Harold Reynolds
- Sean Casey
- CJ Nitkowski
References
- ^ http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/like-father-like-son-kenny-albert-talks-about-growing-up-with-legendary-dad_b56137
- ^ The Voice of a Generation: Rangers’ Kenny Albert. Antonnews.com (2010-11-12). Retrieved on 2011-01-08.
- ^ a b c http://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/11/style/kenny-albert-barbara-r-wolf.html
- ^ a b c d http://preview.msg.com/television/kenny-albert.html
- ^ http://www.longislandexchange.com/press/2009/01/20/kenny-albert-joins-sports-heaven/
- ^ 2011 Washington Redskins season#Game summaries
- ^ http://blog.timesunion.com/sportsmedia/monroe-king-added-to-knicks-playoff-studio-team/6596/
- ^ https://twitter.com/NBCSportsPR/status/473322719812288512
- ^ http://firejerryangelo.org/2015/12/06/fuck-robbie-gould-and-kenny-albert-with-a-rusty-fence-post-49ers-26-bears-20/
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UdsVO7HaJg
- ^ Kenny Albert wins travel trophy. Newsday.com (2009-11-01). Retrieved on 2011-01-08.
- ^ MSG.com – Kenny Albert
- 1968 births
- Living people
- American horse racing announcers
- American radio sports announcers
- High school basketball announcers in the United States
- American television sports announcers
- College basketball announcers in the United States
- College football announcers
- Major League Baseball announcers
- Olympic Games broadcasters
- National Basketball Association broadcasters
- National Football League announcers
- National Hockey League broadcasters
- New York Knicks broadcasters
- New York Rangers broadcasters
- New York University alumni
- Sportspeople from New York City
- Washington Bullets broadcasters
- Washington Capitals broadcasters
- Washington Nationals broadcasters
- Washington Redskins broadcasters
- Women's National Basketball Association broadcasters
- American Hockey League broadcasters