NSSA: Musberger, Uecker, Tirico, King among winners

Published 12:00 am Monday, January 24, 2011

Staff report
Longtime play-by-play announcers Brent Musberger and Bob Uecker, along with Bob Ryan, a 42-year veteran of the Boston Globe, have been voted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame.
The three will be enshrined on May 16.
Joining those three will be 2010 national Sportscaster of the year Mike Tirico of ESPN and National Sportswriter of the YearPeter King of Sports Illustrated.
In addition, 111 state sportscasters and sportswriters from 49 states and the District of Columbia will be honored during the 52nd annual NSSA Weekend in Salisbury from May 14-16.

Musberger began his career as a print journalist, following his graduation from Northwestern University. After stints at local TV stations in Chicago and Los Angeles, his CBS career began as a play-by-play announcer in 1973. He moved into prominence as studio host for CBSís The NFL Today. Musburger eventually became the networkís lead play-by-play announcer, staying at CBS Sports until 1990. He then moved on to ABC and later, ESPN, where he continues as one of the top play-by-play announcers in the business. He called the BCS National Championship Game on ABC from Glendale, Arizona.

Ueckerís involvement in broadcasting started after his six-year player career as a catcher for the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves. He began with as the radio voice of the Brewers in 1971 and has been there ever since. Uecker also served as a network color commentator on ABC in the in the 1970s and on NBC during the 1990s. He also became a fixture on television talk shows and commercials and has appeared in movies as well. He is a member of the Baseball, Radio and Wisconsin Halls of Fame and will enter his 56th season in baseball this season.

Ryan started at the Boston Globe in 1968 as an intern in the sports department and has been here ever since. The Boston College graduate redefined the ěSunday notesî column as the Globeís Boston Celtics beat writer and became one of the foremost NBA writers before turning his attention to column writing. He has also written at least parts of 13 books and appears regularly on ESPNís Sports Reporters and Around the Horn programs. Ryan won the last three NSSA National Sportswriter of the Year Awards. He is also a three-time winner of NSSAís Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year Awardis the third straight Boston Globe writer to enter the NSSA Hall of Fame, following Leigh Montville (2008) and Peter Gammons (2009).

Tirico began his sportscasting career as a weekend sports anchor at WTVH in Syracuse, NY, while still an undergraduate at Syracuse University. He moved onto ESPN, where he has worked (also at ABC) since 1991. Tirico currently serves as play-by-play announcer on ESPNís Monday Night Football, as well as ESPNís and ABCís NBA and college football coverage. He also is ABCís lead golf announcer, serves as ESPN studio host for major events and contributes to ESPN Radio. Tirico won a Sports Emmy nomination for his work on Monday Night Football in 2007.

King is an Ohio University graduate, who began his sportswriting career in 1980 at the Cincinnati Inquirer. He moved from there to New Yorkís Newsday, where he covered the NFL from 1985 to 1989. Thatís when he moved on to Sports Illustrated, where in 1997, he began writing his popular online column, Monday Morning Quarterback. In addition to his SI and si.com work, King has appeared on HBOís Inside the NFL, where the show won three Emmys during his tenure. He can currently be seen on NBCís Football Night In America studio show and heard on Sirius Radioís The Opening Drive.

The awards ceremony and Hall of Fame induction will take place on Monday, May 16 at Catawba College.