Mike Tirico
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Michael Jonathon Tirico (born December 13, 1966) is the lead broadcaster for ESPN's presentation of Monday Night Football. In addition to his Monday Night Football duties, Tirico hosts a multitude of programming on ESPN/ABC. He has been host of ABC's golf coverage since 1996, and from 2002 to 2006, he was studio host for ABC's NBA telecasts. Starting in 2007, Tirico will call the NBA Finals for ESPN Radio.[1] Also, Tirico was formerly a play-by-play announcer for college football on both networks.
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[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 current), 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 (also known at the time as NFL Prime Monday) from 1993-2001 and ABC's NBA studio shows. He also broadcasts NBA games on ESPN/ABC.
[edit] Broadcasting partners
Tirico is known for his often smooth delivery, but excitable nature, particularly when it comes to, what some claim is, his unabashed drooling over LeBron James while announcing Cleveland Cavaliers games on ESPN. Many have pointed to that as an example of a more general criticism that Tirico has received: overemphasizing stars players, acting as a cheerleader and refusing to point out a bad play, foul, or mistake, thereby losing objectivity in his broadcasts. He has been paired in the college football booth with Tim Brant, Terry Bowden, Mike Gottfried, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, and David Norrie. His cohorts 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.
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
On September 20, 2007, Tirico began hosting The Mike Tirico Show on ESPN Radio. His slot airs from 1:00-3:00 p.m. eastern time. The show fills the empty seat left by Dan Patrick. Tirico hosted his first show from WAER radio in Syracuse, NY, the station where he started this sports broadcasting career, on the campus of Syracuse University. Tirico is a Syracuse alum and hosted Bob Costas as his first guest. (Costas is also a Syracuse and WAER alum.)
[edit] Harassment allegations
In 1992, Tirico was suspended from ESPN for sexual harassment.[2]
The first Tirico story involves him hitting on a woman and stalking her after a house party in fall 1992. The woman was a production assistant and "considered an up-and-coming talent," and Tirico went up to her at the party and said "you're the most beautiful woman in here." She walked away, but he kept following her around the party until she finally snapped, "Why don't you fuck off? Get away from me." As she and friends hopped in their car and pulled out of the party, Tirico stepped in front of the car and made the woman stop. "You're the most beautiful person I've ever seen and I think I'm in love with you," Tirico said. She tried to roll up her window and take off, but Tirico stuck his hand in and tried to wedge it between her thighs. She got away, and the next morning, when they saw each other in the ESPN parking lot, he walked up to her, and she expected him to apologize. Instead, he said, "all I did all day was think about you."
In another story, one female producer — who had been to dinner with Tirico and his fiancee — was startled to receive an email from him saying that he wanted to sleep with her. Later, when the staff went to a bar after a late night covering the NCAA tournament, Tirico approached her and said, "I wish I was single. If I were, I'd throw you on the table right here and fuck your brains out." After she tried to excuse him as drunk, he persisted: "I know you want to screw me. So let's leave." Later, he followed her on the highway and tried to get her to pull over, unsuccessfully.
Tirico was ultimately suspended for three months and is interviewed in the book, where he, like Harold Reynolds, calls the incidents "misunderstandings." He is now doing "Monday Night Football" and is still married.[3]
[edit] Personal
He currently resides in the college town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and is a frequent spectator of the Michigan State Spartans and Michigan Wolverines sports teams. He's also a Detroit Tigers season ticket holder.
Mike Tirico was a Costas scholarship winner.
| Preceded by Al Michaels |
Monday Night Football play-by-play man 2006-Present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/3953637.html
- ^ Espn: So What's Next For Reynolds And ESPN?
- ^ Here Are Those Tirico Stories We Hinted At Last Week
[edit] External links
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