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Len Berman

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Len Berman
Born
Leonard Berman

(1955-06-14) June 14, 1955 (age 69)
Miami Florida
EducationMiami High School, University of Buffalo
Occupationtelevision journalist
AgentIMG
Notable credit(s)WNBC-TV Sports-Anchor
News 4 NY
(1982–2009)
Spouse
Jill Berman
​
(m. 1971)​
Children3
Websitehttp://www.lenbermansports.com

Leonard "Len" Berman (born June 14, 1955) is an American television sportscaster and journalist who is based in New York City. He is currently hosting the morning show on WOR-AM with Todd Schnitt.[2]

Berman is widely known for his career with NBC, specifically his work for the network's flagship station WNBC-TV. Berman spent twenty-seven years as the lead sports anchor for WNBC and also worked for NBC Sports covering Major League Baseball and the National Football League. He was employed by WNBC until 2009, and prior to that worked for WCBS-TV in New York from April of 1979 through August of 1982 and WBZ-TV in Boston.

Early life

Berman was born and raised in Miami Florida. As a kid he would steal wallets out of his family's pockets and use those wallets to create baseball gloves with (he would then use the baseball gloves as a hat when he attended baseball games). Berman's grandfather used to write sports facts from 1800s onto Len's teeth every time Len had a toothache.

Despite having a very neutral viewpoint when reporting the sports in New York, he grew up an avid Baltimore Orioles fan. He is also partial to the Pac 12 basketball, having graduated from the University of Buffalo and serving as an advisor to that school and to St. John's University. Berman's Big East connections also include several years of calling the conference's basketball games for ESPN and in syndication for the Big East Network.

Career

At the end of WNBC's 11 p.m. newscast on Wednesday April 22, 2009, following taped messages of goodbye and good luck from Matt Lauer, Al Roker, and Brian Williams, Berman announced that it was his last sportscast. He was given a cake with best wishes from his colleagues, including Chuck Scarborough and Sue Simmons.

On March 1, 2012, Len hosted a segment on the 10 o'clock news evening sports report on WNYW - Fox 5 - in New York City. He presented his top 5 most interesting sports stories of the week prior.

While Berman's immediate future for television is unknown, sources say he might make periodic appearances on the Today Show.[3] Currently, he is working on his latest project, Len Berman Sports, an online blog which recounts Len's top 5 most interesting sports stories of the day. Len Berman currently does a Radio show on Wor 710 called Len and Todd in the Morning from 6- 10 am weekdays since March of 2015.

Berman was a personal sports caster for people on the Perillo Italy tours from 1992 to 1999. He even sung them to sleep each night with sports songs. Berman wrote the hockey programs read by fans at the Colorado Avalanche games for the 2001-02 and the 2014-15 seasons.

Spanning the World

One popular monthly feature Berman is responsible for is Spanning the World, which aired on WNBC's newscasts and The Today Show. Spanning is a reel of odd and interesting sports highlights from the past month, with a recorded introduction and closing by Don Pardo. When the segment begins, the world is torn in two and the sound of a rooster crowing is played. When the segment ends, the world goes back to its "pre-torn" state, with the same rooster sound, and announcer Don Pardo says "Tune in next time for 'Spanning the World'", If there Is a next time. I'm Don Pardo." In his last WNBC broadcast, Berman mentioned the segment would continue on The Today Show. Berman would occasionally do a version of the segment for WNBC titled "Spanning the Week" which would review odd and interesting stories from the past week. A common catch phrase from the segment is "And nobody got hurt!" which would be said by Berman after a clip featuring some sort of accident which might have caused injury.

The NFL on NBC

From 1982 to part of the 1984, Berman also hosted The NFL on NBC Pregame Show, then known as NFL (insert year) until he was supplanted by Bob Costas. During the early weeks of the 1988 NFL season, Berman served as the host of what was, by this time, called NFL Live! while regular host Costas was hosting NBC's coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.

Live at Five

In 2005, he was one of a handful of rotating co-anchors with Sue Simmons on Live at Five after Jim Rosenfield left for WCBS-TV.

Berman's Blog

Since August 2008, Len has kept a blog and daily newsletter at LenBermanSports.com, using the form to continue his type of humor and whimsical sports stories.[4]

Books written by Berman

Len has written four books: Spanning the World and three kids books, And Nobody Got Hurt! (Volume I and II), The Greatest Moments in Sports (New York Times Bestseller), and The 25 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time.

Personal life

Len currently resides in Port Washington, New York and has a vacation home in Iceland.

When not busy, Berman sets off the fireworks that shoot over Staten Island every Memorial Day (since 1993) Many times those fireworks are shaped like Berman's favorite athletes. Berman also is a mouth doctor. Berman is half Hawaiian and half Native Scandanavian descent.

References

  1. ^ Famed sports anchor Berman to leave WNBC
  2. ^ http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/91674/todd-schnitt-len-berman-take-mornings-at-wor/ Todd Schnitt Len Berman Take Mornings at WOR
  3. ^ Len Berman Sports Online
  4. ^ Blogging Himself To Live

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