Mike Tirico

Michael Todd Tirico (born December 13, 1966 in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is an announcer for ESPN's presentation of Monday Night Football, and second lead broadcaster for ESPN's presentation of the NBA. In addition, Tirico hosts a multitude of programming on ESPN/ABC. He was the host of ABC's golf coverage from 1996 to 2007, and continues in that capacity for ESPN's U.S. Open, Masters and British Open golf coverage. He also joined ESPN's broadcast team for the 2009 U.S. Open Tennis Championships, and was a studio host for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Tirico was formerly a play-by-play announcer for college football on both ESPN and ABC.

Career at ABC and ESPN
Tirico joined ESPN in 1991 as a SportsCenter anchor, after 4 years as Sports Director at CBS affiliate WTVH-TV in Syracuse, New York, during his undergraduate years at Syracuse University. Tirico is noted for his versatile nature and the variety of assignments he has handled for SportsCenter, Tirico has handled the play-by-play for ESPN's Thursday night college football package (1997 to 2005), college basketball coverage (1997 to 2002) , NBA coverage (2002 to present), and PGA golf coverage for ABC (1996 to 2006). Tirico has also hosted studio coverage of various ESPN and ABC covered events, including a stint on ESPN's Monday Night Countdown (previously known as NFL Prime Monday) from 1993–2001 and ABC's NBA studio shows. He also broadcasts NBA games on ESPN/ABC. He anchored the 2009 U.S. Open (tennis).

Tirico's period at ESPN has not been without controversy. Two books about the network, ESPN: The Uncensored Biography (2000) by former New York Times sportswriter Michael Freeman and 2011's These Guys Have All the Fun (by Washington Post writers James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales), recount incidents of alleged sexual harassment, for example. Tirico, Freeman writes, was suspended by the network for 3 months in 1992 for pursuing female co-workers.

Broadcasting partners
Tirico has been paired in the college football booth with Tim Brant, Terry Bowden , Mike Gottfried , Kirk Herbstreit , Lee Corso , and David Norrie. His partner in NBA coverage have included Tom Tolbert, Hubie Brown, and Greg Anthony , and he has worked with Curtis Strange , Judy Rankin , Nick Faldo , and Paul Azinger in PGA coverage. He has worked with Len Elmore on college basketball coverage. Tirico is also partners with Jon Gruden on Monday Night Football.

On April 21 and 22, 2007, he appeared as a guest host, filling in for Michael Wilbon, alongside Tony Kornheiser on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption.

Radio career
Tirico hosted his first show from WAER radio in Syracuse, N.Y., the station where he started his sports broadcasting career, on the campus of Syracuse University. Fellow Orange alum Bob Costas was his first guest. On September 20, 2007, Tirico began hosting the short-lived Mike Tirico Show on ESPN Radio from 1–3 p.m. weekdays (Eastern time). The show filled the empty seat left by Dan Patrick. During the spring of 2008, the title of The Mike Tirico Show, which featured Scott Van Pelt as a co-host, was changed to Tirico and Van Pelt. On May 19, 2009, Tirico announced he would be leaving the show to focus more on his television play-by-play duties, and the name of the show became The Scott Van Pelt Show.

Controversy
In 1992, Mike Tirico was suspended by ESPN for three months for unwelcome sexual advances towards female coworkers. In his book ESPN: The Uncensored History, published in 2000, New York Times reporter Michael Freeman reported several instances of sexual harassment by Mike Tirico including attempted groping and sexual solicitation.