Chris Berman

Chris "Boomer" Berman (born May 10, 1955, in Greenwich, Connecticut) is a noted host and anchor of SportsCenter, NFL Primetime, NFL Countdown, Baseball Tonight, and other programming on ESPN.

Related Topics:
May 10 - 1955 - Greenwich - Connecticut - SportsCenter - NFL Primetime - Baseball Tonight - ESPN

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Berman joined ESPN in October 1979, a month after the cable channel debuted. Since 1980, Berman has hosted the NFL Draft. Beginning in 1987, Berman hosted pregame and postgame highlight shows during the NFL season. He joined ABC Sports as a halftime host on Monday Night Football in 1996. Berman is also the chief play-by-play announcer for ESPN's Wednesday baseball telecasts. Chris Berman's most noteworthy baseball broadcast arguably occured on September 6, 1995, when he was on hand for Cal Ripken, Jr.'s record breaking 2131st consecutive game. In recent years he has ventured into hockey and golf.

Related Topics:
October 1979 - 1980 - NFL Draft - 1987 - ABC Sports - Monday Night Football - 1996 - Play-by-play - Baseball - September 6 - 1995 - Cal Ripken, Jr.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Berman is most known for nicknaming players who show up on the highlights such as Bert "Be Home" Blyleven and Barry "U.S." Bonds (based on blues musician Gary "U.S." Bonds). Most of his nicknames are used exclusively by him, but one creation, "Crime Dog" for Fred McGriff (a play on McGruff), has entered mainstream usage. When the show changed executive producers in 1985, Berman found out he was no longer allowed to use his now famous nicknames. After receiving many letters protesting the decision – which included support from baseball player George Brett – the brass at ESPN relented, and Berman was soon back to using the nicknames. Recently though, some have argued that this routine has outlived its usefulness.

Related Topics:
Bert "Be Home" Blyleven - Barry "U.S." Bonds - Gary "U.S." Bonds - Fred McGriff - McGruff - 1985 - Baseball - George Brett

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He began his broadcasting career as a student at Brown University in the mid-1970s. In the early years of ESPN, he anchored SportsCenter, which he still does occasionally (such as the program's 20,000th and 25,000th shows and two "old school" editions on August 11 and 12, 2004 with Greg Gumbel and George Grande respectively.)

Related Topics:
Brown University - August 11 - 12 - 2004 - Greg Gumbel - George Grande

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Berman is generally known to be a nice and fun-loving person.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~