- Bruce Drennan
Bruce Drennan is an American sportscaster in
Cleveland ,Ohio . He has been a radio & television sportscaster for 39 years.The Chicago native came to Cleveland in the spring of 1978. During the early 1970s he had been an evening sports call in show host on WMRO 1280 in Aurora, Illinois. Bruce first emerged on the Cleveland airwaves as an afternoon drive sports talk show host on WBBG Radio.
His opinionated 'tell it like it is' style made such an impression that he landed the
Cleveland Indians Color Analyst position onWUAB teaming withJoe Tait . Bruce held this position for the 1980-82 Cleveland Indians seasons [http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/cle/history/broadcasters.jsp] .While announcing the games, Bruce overused the clichés 'ducks on the pond' and 'the bags are juiced' to the point where he was terminated. During this same period, Bruce also called the play by play of
Cleveland Cavaliers Basketball onWUAB , working with former NBA starAustin Carr .Bruce has also worked with the late Nev Chandler calling the Cleveland Force Indoor Soccer games aired on
WUAB .Bruce was then hired to host a post-game talk show on
WHK Radio in Cleveland, the flagship home ofCleveland Browns football.In 1984, Bruce was hired by
WWWE Radio as a morning drive sports anchor and weekend talk-show host. In the late 80's, Bruce's 'in your face' entertaining style landed him the position ofWWWE Sportsline Host, replacing the legendaryPete Franklin .Prior to obtaining the morning drive anchor position at
WTAM , Bruce also hosted his own talk show on TV-29 in Akron for 3 years.His work as morning drive sports anchor earned him back to back awards for Best Cleveland Sportscaster in 1997 and 1998.
Bruce then moved to night-time talk as the show host for the flagship station of Cleveland Indians baseball and Cleveland Cavaliers Basketball.
In 2001 Bruce moved to
WKNR to host morning drive sports talk.May 1, 2003 was a special day for Bruce as then Cleveland Mayor
Jane L. Campbell offered her proclamation in recognition of Bruce's accomplishments celebrating his 25 years as a broadcaster in the City ofCleveland .In September 2004 Drennan's home in
Strongsville, Ohio was raided byFBI andIRS agents as part of an illegal sports-gambling scheme. He subsequently lost his job at WKNR because of the investigation and served as the mid-morning talk show host and Program Director forsportstalkCLEVELAND via theInternet .In April 2006 Drennan was charged with two counts of filing false tax returns. He later agreed to a
plea bargain and served five months in prison. [http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com/2006/07/drennan-gets-his-sentence.html]Drennan has returned to broadcasting as the host of a sports talk show "All Bets Are Off With Bruce Drennan" on
SportsTime Ohio . The show is a call-in type venue that allows listeners to call or email to express their feelings about sports in Cleveland. It is a radio-formatted show broadcast on TV. [http://www.newsnet5.com/sports/11320037/detail.html]Professional Achievements
* Best Cleveland Sportscaster 1997, 1998
* Radio/Television Broadcasters Hall of Fame Inductee
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.