Bob Costas

Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952 in Queens, New York) was a guest on the television series Space Ghost Coast to Coast and is an American sportscaster, on the air for the NBC network since the early 1980s. Costas is known for his knowledge of sports and his quick wit. His mother was of Irish Catholic extraction, and his father was of Greek extraction. He was raised as a Roman Catholic.

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Bob Costas has won four National Sportcaster of the Year awards (from the National Sportcaster and Sportswriter Association) and three Emmy Awards for outstanding sports announcing. In 1999, Costas was a recipient of the Curt Gowdy Award, which is awarded to members of the electronic and print media for outstanding contributions to basketball.

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He has been an in-studio host of National Football League coverage and play-by-play man for the NBA and for Major League Baseball. Costas has teamed with Isiah Thomas and Doug Collins for basketball telecasts and Tony Kubek (from 1983-1989), Joe Morgan and Bob Uecker (from 1994-2000) for baseball telecasts.

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Costas hosted Later with Bob Costas on NBC, 1988-1994, and syndicated radio program Costas Coast to Coast, 1986-1996. He is a devoted baseball fan (he's been suggested as a potential commissioner) and wrote the best-selling Fair Ball: A Fan's Case for Baseball in 2000. Costas has been fairly outspoken about his disdain for Major League Baseball instituting a wild card. Costas believes that it diminishes the integrity of winning a divisional pennant.

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Costas has frontlined many Olympics broadcasts for NBC. They include the Olympics in Seoul in 1988, Barcelona in 1992, Atlanta in 1996, Sydney in 2000, Salt Lake City in 2002, and Athens in 2004. A personal influence on Costas has been legendary ABC Sports broadcaster Jim McKay, who hosted many Olympics for ABC from the sixites to eighties.

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In 2001, Costas was hired by HBO to host a 12 week series called On the Record with Bob Costas. On the Record with Bob Costas was similar to the format of the old Later program as they both concentrated on in-depth celebrity interviews. In 2002, Costas began a stint as co-host of HBO's long running series Inside the NFL. In 2005, On the Record with Bob Costas was revamped to become Costas Now, a monthly show that would focus more on sports and air year-round in a 9 p.m. ET/PT time slot. Costas Now is more akin to HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

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Costas earned his bachelor's degree in 1974 from Syracuse University. Prior to joining NBC in 1980, he was a play-by-play announcer for the Spirits of St. Louis of the American Basketball Association, and was briefly employed by the CBS network.

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In June of 2005, Costas was named by CNN president, Jonathan Klein, as a regular substitute anchor for Larry King's Larry King Live for one year. Costas, as well as Klein, have said that Costas is not trying out for King's position on a permanent basis. Nancy Grace was also named a regular substitute host for the show. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/09/entertainment/main700753.shtml

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Beginning in 2006, Costas will be scheduled to return to studio hosting duties on The NFL on NBC, which is returning after a near ten year hiatus. Costas last hosted NFL telecasts for NBC in 1992 before being replaced by the likes of Jim Lampley and Greg Gumbel.

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On August 18, 2005, Costas refused to host a Larry King Live episode where the subject was missing teen Natalee Holloway. Costas said he had no hard feelings about the subject, but that he was uncomfortable with it. http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/usworld/news-article.aspx?storyid=42748

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March 22: March 22 is the 81st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (82nd in Leap years). There are 284 days remaining....

1952: 1952 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar)....

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