From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christopher James "Chris" Berman also known by
the nickname Boomer (born May 10, 1955 in Greenwich, Connecticut) is an American
sportscaster. He anchors SportsCenter, Monday Night Countdown,
Sunday NFL Countdown, Baseball
Tonight, U.S. Open golf, the Stanley Cup Finals and other programming on
ESPN and ABC Sports.
Biography
Early
life and education
Berman was raised in Cheshire, Connecticut. During his childhood he went
to Camp Winnebago in Fayette, Maine. In 1970, he attended the Hackley School and Brown
University where he majored in History, graduating in 1977.
Career
Berman then moved to WNVR in Waterbury, Connecticut. Berman was
eventually hired at Hartford's WVIT-TV to do weekend sports at $23
per shift. He joined ESPN in 1979 a month after its founding and
has been with the network since. Along with Bob Ley, he is one of ESPN's longest-tenured
employees. Berman, who is generally known to be heavy-set, often jokes that he now uses his
original ESPN jacket from 1979 when he was much skinnier. He is the
host of Monday Night Countdown,
replacing previous host Stuart Scott. In 1988 and 1989, he hosted
ESPN's first game show, Boardwalk and Baseball's Super Bowl of
Sports Trivia which was taped at the now-defunct Boardwalk and Baseball amusement
park in Orlando, Florida.
He is well known for his various catch-phrases and player
nicknames. His rendition of, "He could...go...all...the...way!" is
borrowed from Howard
Cosell, while another of his famous calls,
"Back-back-back-back" comes from Red Barber. This strategic and often
complicated call is usually screamed by Berman when a baseball is
hit a very long way, and is followed by "Gone!" when the ball
leaves the field of play. Another catch-phrase: "WHAT!" during
highlights when a player makes a quick move or causes someone to
miss or make a mistake. He is most known for the use of puns to
make nicknames for certain players, i.e. one of his more famous
involves former Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Bert Blyleven
calling him Bert "Be Home" Blyleven (a pun on the phrase
"be home by eleven"). A big fan of the Canadian Football
League (CFL), Berman watched their games growing up in Connecticut.
He has talked to many people such as former Coach Marv Levy, Joe
Thiesmann, Doug Flutie, Jeff Garcia, Joe Horn, Trent Green about
their participation in that 'other' Pro Football league and often
shows CFL highlights and does Grey Cup picks every year as
well.
Berman also goes by his alter ego, "The Swami," when making prognostications on
Sunday NFL Countdown.
In December 2008 the Associated Press ran a long
retrospective on Berman's 30 year career with ESPN. [1] “He is our most
important person,” said Norby Williamson, ESPN’s vice president of
production. “He is the face of ESPN,” he added. Berman noted that
his contract with ESPN expired on his 55th birthday, and that he
did not see himself broadcasting into his 60's.
Despite being born in Connecticut, Berman has become a strong
backer of the Buffalo Bills in recent years.[2] This sentiment
is echoed in Berman's on-air phrase, "No One Circles the Wagons
Like the Buffalo Bills."
In other
media
- Berman lent his voice to the videogame ESPN NFL 2K5 and
hosts the pregame show. As a hidden feature, Berman appears as a free agent quarterback in season
mode, and also has his own team in the game, the Bristol Swamis,
named after Bristol, Connecticut, where ESPN
headquarters are located and his nickname, "the Swami."
- Berman appeared in Adam Sandler's 1998 goofball comedy The Waterboy as
well as Sandler's The Longest Yard in
2005 where he played himself as the play-by-play announcer of the
prison football game. Berman also appeared as himself in Necessary Roughness in
1991, Little Big League in 1994, and
Eddie and
Kingpin in 1996, as well as the
1995 Hootie and the
Blowfish video for the single, "Only Wanna Be With You."
- Berman has cameoed on various episodes of Even Stevens as
a SportsCenter anchor.
- Berman appeared in the ESPN Baseball Tonight computer game and videogame.
- During a segment of the "Chase the Cheese" event on an episode
of Sesame
Street, Berman voiced the sports announcer.
- Berman had a cameo appearance in the MTV animated series Clone High. He, along with Dan Patrick provided
commentary for the school's basketball game until he was eaten at
the end of the episode by the rival school's mascot.
- Berman appears in Nutrisystem commercials with Don Shula, Dan Marino, and Mike Golic using some of
his trademark phrases and nicknames who show how much weight they
lost.
Honors
Career
timeline
Personal
Berman with his wife Kathy and their family live in Cheshire, Connecticut. [3].
Controversy
In February 2008, videos of Berman on the ABC Monday
Night Football set appeared on the video sharing site YouTube. The videos, filmed in
2000, when
Berman anchored the MNF halftime show, depicted Berman
using off-color language and flirting with a female member of the
broadcast crew during commercial breaks. [2] Lines
of his included insults on random subjects (including Rudolph and Mark Brunell) and
insults on the games, including, "Well, it's the same (bleep)in
thing every week. Good Rams, good Colts!" Berman acknowledged the
authenticity of the videos, but commented, "Do I wish I didn't say
a few things nine years ago? Yes. But if that's the worst thing I
ever did, I can live with it." [3]
See also
Notes
External
links
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