Boston Sports Media Watch

Mike Giardi is the weekend sports anchor at NECN, and also hosts the weekend edition of Sports LateNight at the station. He is also a contributor to the Boston Score blog.

He is a native of Norwood, and received a Master’s Degree in Journalism from Boston University.

He began his broadcast career at WIVT-TV in Binghamton, New York. There he served as Sports Director and Lead Sports Anchor. He joined NECN in 2000 as a Sports Reporter.

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Popularity: 29% [?]

Consider yourself flashed…

Jayme Parker is a NESN reporter for SportsDesk. She’s been with the network since November of 1996.

She has worked as a freelance news writer for WCVB-TV Channel 5, WHDH-TV Channel 7 and WBZ-TV Channel 4 in Boston. Currently, Parker serves as a sideline reporter for Boston College football radio broadcasts.

Parker also has a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Emerson College in Boston.

She has also filled in the flash booth at WEEI, where the opening line of this post is her trademark signoff.

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Popularity: 26% [?]

Dave O’Brien is in his second year alongside Joe Castiglione in the Red Sox radio booth.

O’Brien is another New England native, having grown up in both NH and Massachusetts. He broke into broadcasting in 1990 with the Atlanta Braves, and then was the voice of the Florida Marlins from 1993 to 2001. In 2002 he joined ESPN, where he has had a variety of assignments for the network. During 2003-2005, he was the television voice of the New York Mets.

His arrival in Boston last season was celebrated in some circles simply because it meant the end of the Jerry Trupiano era, but O’Brien quickly became a favorite with his strong presence on the broadcasts. He was still doing a large number of games for ESPN, a number which has shrunk this season, allowing him to be in the Red Sox booth more often.

There have been a couple of recent bios on O’Brien in New Hampshire papers such as the Portsmouth Herald and Nashua Telegraph.

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Popularity: 25% [?]

We’re only about a month away from the start of Patriots training camp, which means that the still-strong pipes of Gil Santos will be heard on a weekly basis soon thereafter on the WBCN Patriots Rock Radio network…

Of course, you can catch Gil on a daily basis at his day job over in the mornings at WBZ Radio 1030, where he does the sports updates at :15 and :45 past each hour.

Santos first called Patriots games on the radio in 1966, and despite a 10-year absence between 1980 and 1990, he is the longest-serving current announcer in the NFL. His eyes may betray him at times in the booth, but the voice remains steady and strong.

During the 1980’s he did some Celtics games on TV alongside Bob Cousy for channel 56. He also did 16 years of Boston College football, 13 on the radio and 3 on television. Some of the honors he’s received in his career include a New England Emmy in 1978 for Boston College vs. Stanford Play-by-Play, four Massachusetts Sportscaster of the Year Awards, 25 Associated Press Best Massachusetts Play-by-Play Awards, four United Press International Tom Phillips Awards for Best Sports Coverage for the Boston Marathon, a UPI Best New England Sportscaster Award, and two UPI National Awards for Best Play-by-Play and Sports Reading. He was inducted into The Sports Museum Hall of Fame in 2004 with a Legacy Award.

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Popularity: 27% [?]

Here’s another veteran of the Boston sports media scene…

Mike Dowling has been with WCVB-TV channel 5 since 1985. During that time, he has been the principal sports reporter for the station, while also serving at the weekend sports anchor.

Before coming to WCVB, Dowling worked at WBZ-TV in Boston as weekend sports anchor. He had begun his career  at KBYU-TV in Provo, UT, in 1980, where he covered Brigham Young University (from which he is a 1976 graduate) athletic events. He also worked at WANE-TV, Fort Wayne, IN, as Sports Director from 1981 to 1984, covering Big Ten and Notre Dame football and basketball.

Dowling has won three Associated Press Awards for Best Sports Feature of the Year.

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Popularity: 20% [?]

The Eck is up today…

After a Hall of Fame playing careerwith the Indians, Red Sox, Cubs, A’s and Cardinals, Dennis Eckersley began his broadcast career as a color analyst for the A’s TV broadcasts in 1999.

For the last several years Eckersley has been in the rotation of studio analysts for the Red Sox telecasts on NESN, and has consistently proven himself to be the most candid,  and also insightful of the group. On occasion he has also filled in during the game in the booth, either in place of Jerry Remy on the TV telecasts, and even a few times in the radio booth.

He’s developed his own unique lingo over the years, referring to pitches with “hair” or throwing “cheese.” He is not limited to just commenting on pitching however, as his knowledge of the game allows him to speak to all parts of the game.

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Popularity: 28% [?]

Time for a Tommy Point?

For over a quarter of a century, Tom Heinsohn has been next to Mike Gorman on Celtics broadcasts. He has picked up the mantle from Johnny Most as the unabashed homer in the broadcast booth, screaming at the officials and making villains of the opponents. In the 1980’s Heinsohn was alongside Dick Stockton on the CBS national telecasts, and try as he could, he never quite managed to avoid looking at the games through the green tinted lenses.

For an older generation, Heinsohn is remembered for his Hall of Fame playing career, first at Holy Cross, and then with the Celtics. He retired as a player at the age of 30, and then at the age of 35 became the Celtics coach, leading them out of the Bill Russell era and back to championship glory in 1974 and 1976.

In between his playing and coaching career, he got started in the broadcast booth, doing the play-by-play for WKBG (Now WLVI Channel 56) from 1966 -1969.

Due to advancing age and health, Heinsohn has started to scale back his workload the last two seasons, avoiding the longer road trips, and instead serving as studio analyst for those games.

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Popularity: 20% [?]

The Godfather of Sports Talk Radio may be in semi(mostly)-retirement, but he still deserves a day on the approval ratings!

Eddie Andelman is a pioneer in the sports talk radio arena. The original Sports Huddle show back in the 1970’s was one of the first of its kind on the airwaves.

Andelman was a fixture on WHDH radio during the 80’s, and moved over the WEEI in the 90’s. He was best remembered on the station for his show with Dale Arnold, dubbed “The A Team.” Andelman left the station in December, 2001 right in the middle of the Patriots push to their first Super Bowl title.

He reappeared on sports radio 1510 The Zone, where he opened his show blasting his former employer and partner. He took many more shots over the years at the station, and WEEI to this day continues to blast right back at him with whiner line callers and various skits.  

He’s had an intense rivalry with Glenn Ordway over the years, angry that Ordway had taken his time slot on WEEI and also canceled his son Michael’s weekend show on the station. With Ordway’s recent family crisis, it is thought that Andelman might’ve been one of the one’s Ordway referred to when he expressed gratitude for support from people he never thought he’d ever hear from.

Andelman currently hosts a show on Sunday nights from 7:00 to 10:00pm on talk radio WTKK, named the New Sports Huddle. These days however, Andelman is chiefly known for his annual Hot Dog Safari to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis/The Joey Fund.

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Popularity: 20% [?]

Since the 1970’s Glenn Ordway has been stirring things up on the Boston Radio airwaves.

After a short stint as a General Hospital actor, Ordway turned his attention to radio as the Sports Director and talk show host of WMEX/WIS. In 1981 he moved on to WRKO, hosting the popular “SportsCall” radio show and serving as sports director. It was during this time that he also joined Johnny Most in the Celtics radio booth, where he remained for 13 years.

When the Celtics moved to WEEI (Then AM 590) in 1987, Ordway followed, and has been at the station since. The Big Show began in 1995, and has become a staple on the Boston airwaves.

Earlier this year, Ordway had a scare in his personal life during the birth of his daughter Mia. Both his daughter and wife suffered severe complications during delivery, which took Ordway off the air for a couple of weeks. Both mother and daughter are doing better, and Ordway is back in his familiar spot on the afternoon drive.

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Popularity: 16% [?]

Hey is this Row-tillo, Row-tillo, Row-dillo, Row-sillo or whoever your name is? John Dennis calling, Row-tillo.

Ryen Russillo is currently a Celtics analyst for Comcast SportsNet and an ESPN Radio host. He hosts a variety of shows for ESPN Radio, including NBA Sunday and The Baseball Show both on Sundays.

Russillo got his start in the Boston sports media as a co-host of The Diehards on sports radio 1510 The Zone. He had previously done play-by-play for the Trenton Thunder AA baseball team.

He had a much-publicized voicemail run-in with John Dennis (see link above) back in 2005 which may or may not have resulted in his getting booted off the WBCN Patriots pre-game show.

Last December, Russillo was named one of the best radio voices by Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated. He also did the obligatory David Laurila interview back in 2005.

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Popularity: 26% [?]