- Warner Wolf
Infobox Person
image_size = 150px
name = Warner Wolf
caption =
birth_date = birth date and age|1937|11|11
birth_place = flagicon|USAWashington, D.C.
death_date =
death_place =
occupation =Sportscaster
spouse =
parents = Jack and RosemaryWarner William Wolf (born
November 11 ,1937 inWashington, D.C. ) is an American television and radio sports broadcaster, best known for being a very popular local news sports anchor inWashington, D.C. andNew York City .Early life and career
Wolf's earliest experience in broadcasting was on the intercom system of
Calvin Coolidge High School in Washington, D.C. in the 1950s. His upbeat, entertaining patter that was to become his trademark made his sports report a welcome treat for the kids. During this period he worked part time at Baker's Shoe Store downtown, as a salesman. Many customers must have been puzzled at the ball park hawker's refrain of, "Get your hot dogs, get your hot dogies here" coming from the back store room. He was simply entertaining the staff and the customers, something he was to continue throughout his long career.Wolf began as a radio broadcaster on
April 1 ,1961 , doing news, weather, and sports forWLSI-AM inPikeville, Kentucky under the name Ken Wolf. He then moved on to radio jobs inMartinsburg, West Virginia (ironically, the call-letters of this station wereWEPN , the call letters of the New York City affiliate that carriesESPN Radio in New York City, at which Wolf is now announcing), andWashington, D.C. atWTOP-AM before landing a sports television role in 1965 at WTOP-TV (now WUSA) in Washington. There he became very well-known and popular as the news sports anchor; he also did play-by-play announcing of local college and professional basketball, football, and baseball games.ABC Sports
In 1975, Wolf gained an
ABC Sports network role, working on "Monday Night Baseball " telecasts and as a host for coverage of football and the Olympics. Wolf's reception in those jobs was mixed, and he decided that he was best at the local news sports anchor role.WABC-TV and WCBS-TV
He thus, returned to that position with a job at
WABC-TV in New York in 1976, and then in 1980 moved to rival New York stationWCBS-TV . His move to WCBS resulted in a lawsuit, A"merican Broadcasting Co. v. Wolf", in which ABC alleged that Wolf failed to negotiate in good faith and soughtspecific performance of their contract which would have kept Wolf off the air for two years. TheNew York Court of Appeals rejected ABC's argument, although they permitted ABC to seek relief in the form of monetary damages. He also broadcast live sports reports forIsrael i television during the 1991Gulf War .Return to WUSA-TV and "Imus in the Morning"
He went back to
WUSA-TV inWashington, D.C. as the sports anchor in June 1992, succeeding the lateGlenn Brenner . He was dismissed inAugust 1995 . BetweenNovember 1995 andDecember 1996 , Wolf was the guest host of "The Tony Kornheiser Show " on Thursdays onWTEM-AM and sometimes he also flew to New York as a substitute sports anchor on "Imus in the Morning " when the regular sports anchor,Mike Breen , was away. Because of his work on "Imus in the Morning" andDon Imus ' recommendation on the air continuously, Wolf went back toWCBS-TV as the sports anchor onFebruary 3 ,1997 . He stayed there until May2004 .During this time he also continued to do some work in radio, giving sports reports on the nationally syndicated "
Imus in the Morning " program. Wolf broke the news of theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks on the "Imus" show, when he saw theWorld Trade Center on fire from hisLower Manhattan apartment. Wolf also covered the story forWCBS-TV .Catchphrases
Wolf is legendary in the sports broadcasting business for his use of
catchphrase s, including:* [after someone does something dumb] "Give me a break!" or "Come ooo-on!"
* [on a ball that hits the foul pole] "Of course it's a fair pole, it's a fair ball!"
* [after a one-sided defeat by, say, 40 points] "If you hadand 39 points..."you loo-ost"!"
* [for a unpopular sports figure] "A Boo of the week!"
* [after playing an unexciting sound bite from an athlete] "Thanks for stopping by."
* [when commentating on a basketball videotape] "Swish!", if the ball did not touch the rim
* [When Commenting on a Baseball Home Run] "Boom!"
* [discussing a poorly-performing team] "Change the rule! If you can't win two games in a month, you're out of the league!"
* [showing an unusual-looking person] "Andwas at the game!"and most of all:
* [when introducing a highlight clip] "Let's go to the videotape!"Departure from WCBS-TV
On
May 27 ,2004 Wolf was fired byWCBS-TV General manager Lew Leone. He was forced out without being given a chance to say goodbye on air, three months before his contract expired, and replaced by a much younger anchor,Chris Wragge . The day after his firing, his picture covered half the front page of theNew York Daily News with the other half being covered by the headline "WOLF FANS RAISE A HOWL".A few months after his firing, which generated much public outcry, Wolf was hired by radio station
WABC-AM . He was most recently heard weekday mornings withCurtis Sliwa &Ron Kuby as well asMark Simone 's Saturday morning radio program. He was initially not retained as sports anchor when "Imus in the Morning" returned to WABC when Tony Powell took that position, but after several weeks Wolf returned to his old position. Wolf hosts a Saturday sports talk show on 1050 ESPN Radio. Wolf modified his trademark "Lets go to the videotape!" to "Lets go to the audiotape!"Other appearances
Wolf played himself in the film "
Rocky IV " and has made several othercameo appearance s. He is the author of the books "Let's Go to the Videotape" and "Give Me a Break".Books
* Warner Wolf and William Taaffe, "Gimme a Break! Warner Wolf on Sports". McGraw-Hill, 1983 (ISBN 0-07071-537-8).
* Warner Wolf and Larry Weisman, "Let's Go to the Videotape: All the Plays and Replays from My Life in Sports". Warner Books, 2000. (ISBN 0-44652-559-6).External links
* [http://wabcradio.com/showdj.asp?DJID=23829 WABC Radio]
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