Some interesting names on the upcoming ballot for the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. Beginning Dec. 1, members will vote on Hall of Fame honors for sportscaster and sportswriter and national sportscaster and sportswriter of the year. Also, voting will take place for top sportscaster and sportswriter in individual states.
Last year, Bob Costas and John Feinstein were named to the Hall in their respective categories. Below are this year’s nominees.
In the sportscaster category, Dick Vitale and Chris Berman’s names stand out. Vitale is getting to the point in his career where he is accumulating Hall of Fame plaques. Considering how polarizing Berman has become, it probably will be a while before he gets into the Hall.
Even though he has no chance, it still is great to see Dan Kelly’s name on the list. What a great hockey announcer. I still remember listening to those Blues games on KMOX as a kid.
I have several friends and long-time colleagues on the sportswriting side. Rick Reilly has won a zillion sportswriter of the year awards. So you figure at some point he’ll get in.
Dick “Hoops” Weiss of the New York Daily News has enjoyed an extraordinary career as a college football and basketball reporter. And anyone who has been around the great Art Spander from San Francisco knows how much the award would mean to him. It would be quite a speech.
As for the best of the year category, the usual suspects are there for top national sportscasters. There’s considerable talent on the writers side. Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports deserves recognition for his piercing accounts of the Penn State saga.
HALL OF FAME SPORTSCASTER
Dick Vitale, ESPN/.ABC
Ken Squier, CBS Auto Racing
Skip Caray, Atlanta Braves TV
Woody Durham, Unv. of North Carolina Radio Network
John Ward, Univ. of Tennessee Radio Network
Chris Economaki, ABC Auto Racing
Chris Berman, ESPN
Milo Hamilton, Astros, Braves Radio
Al McCoy, Phoenix Suns Radio/TV
Dan Kelly, NHL on CBS, St. Louis Blues
HALL OF FAME SPORTSWRITER
Art Spander, Oakland Tribune/The Sporting News
Rick Reilly, Sports Illustrated, ESPN
Dick Weiss, Philadelphia Daily News/New York Daily News
Hal McCoy, Dayton Daily News
Joe Gilmartin, Phoenix Republic/Gazette
Sam Lacy, Baltimore Afro-American newspaper
Lesley Visser, Boston Globe/Sports Illustrated
Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press/Author
Wendell Smith, Pittsburgh Courier newspaper
Thomas Boswell, Washington Post
NATIONAL SPORTSCASTER
Al Michaels, NBC
Bob Costas, NBC/MLB Network
Dan Patrick, NBC/”The Dan Patrick Show”
Dan Shulman, ESPN
Brad Nessler, ABC/ESPN/NFL Network
Jim Nantz, CBS
Joe Buck, Fox
Mike Tirico, ESPN/ABC
Mike Emrick, NBC
Kevin Harlan, CBS/TNT
NATIONAL SPORTSWRITER
Peter King, Sports Illustrated
Bob Ryan, Boston Globe
Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
Pat Forde, Yahoo Sports
Joe Posnanski, Sports Illustrated
Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports
Bill Simmons, ESPN.com/Grantland
Rick Reilly, ESPN.com
Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated
Mike Lopresti, USA Today
I think Simmons will open up the “Bloggers Wing” of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame when he’s voted in after a furious campaign led by Cousin Sal and Jack-O in 2028. And then he’ll promptly be up for impeachment in 2029, after a sub-committee led by Drew Magary and fans of “The Karate Kid” are appalled he got in.
Good lists. My opinions:
HOF Sportscaster: Skip Caray
HOF Sportswriter: Art Spander
National Sportscaster: Mike Emrick
National Sportswriter: Dan Wetzel
Milo?? OMG, hell, no!!