Free Republic

Kings broadcaster Bob Miller has relinquished his microphone, a reluctant decision but one that was strongly recommended by his doctors to safeguard his health after he underwent quadruple bypass surgery early in 2016, suffered a mini-stroke three months later, and had another stroke in January. Miller, 78, was in his 44th season calling Kings games. He had cut back his schedule drastically and eliminated travel to games outside Pacific Division cities, but even that reduced workload proved too much.

WLS-Channel 7 has slapped sports anchor Mark Giangreco with a multi-week suspension for a tweet in which he called President Donald Trump a “cartoon lunatic” and referred to Trump voters as “simpletons.” Management of the top-rated ABC-owned station released the following statement Thursday: “Mark Giangreco’s Twitter comments are not in line with ABC 7 Chicago’s non-partisan editorial standards. We’ve reviewed the matter and are taking the appropriate action.” An ABC 7 spokeswoman would not elaborate on the action. Sources said Giangreco would be suspended without pay for “multiple weeks,” starting Monday. Reached Thursday, Giangreco declined to comment. His agent, Joel...

Lon Simmons, the Hall of Fame broadcaster whose baritone voice and dry wit captured some of the most thrilling moments Bay Area sports history, has died. He was 91. The Giants sent a press release Sunday afternoon that said, "The Giants family and Bay Area sports community lost a true gentleman (Sunday) morning when Hall of Fame broadcaster Lon Simmons peacefully passed away."

Saturday night at a black tie dinner in Chicago, a Dodgers broadcaster will go into the Hall of Fame and it won't be Vin Scully. A shocker? No. Scully is already there. If there is a Hall of Fame that has any connection whatsoever to broadcasting and Scully isn't in it, it's a lousy Hall of Fame. Now, Charley Steiner will be joining him. That means, next year, when fans tune in to Dodgers' baseball, they will be informed and entertained by two Hall-of-Famers. That's far from the norm, maybe a first, and should make Dodgers fans proud. Even if...

Keith Jackson has some stories, all right. Of riding his horse four miles to his rural Georgia high school. Of nights carousing with Paul "Bear" Bryant. Of the time Howard Cosell, smelling like a Russian distillery, set Jackson's pants on fire during a telecast of "Monday Night Football." ... Any other tips for today's broadcasters? "They talk too damn much," he says. "You wear the audience out." ...

Today is Vin Scully’s birthday and the greatest announcer in baseball history turns 84 years old. And come April he’ll begin his 63rd season as voice of the Dodgers.

Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully likes to talk, just not necessarily about himself. So it was with great gratitude on my part that he sat down for an Answer Man session inside his booth at PETCO Park in San Diego before a recent Los Angeles Dodgers game. Scully, who has been calling Dodgers action for 61 seasons, recently announced his intentions to make it 62  — to the delight of fans of his team and those who simply enjoy Vin calling games. What is Scully like in person? If you've watched a Dodgers game — or any of the...

Los Angeles Dodgers announcer Vin Scully is doing well after being hospitalized overnight. Dodgers spokesman Josh Rawitch said Scully, 82, got up from bed too quickly at his home, fell and bumped his head.

As long as Vin Scully can still fog a mirror, we can't say, in good conscience, that Jon Miller is the finest baseball broadcaster in the known universe. But as far as second place goes? There's no one else in sight.

As fans of the Yankees have had much to enjoy this October -- from the Alex Rodriguez resurgence to the first classic games at the new Yankee Stadium -- it has been a difficult month for fans of the Mets. Sure, the break from seeing one Met after another fall to the ground in pain has been welcome. But what pleasure can a National League New York fan get watching the Mets' primary in-division rival head inexorably toward a battle with the team's primary in-city rival? The answer is a simple one: the broadcasting of Dodgers announcer Vin Scully. With...

In a recent Los Angeles Times article, the conclusion was drawn that Vin Scully will retire after 61 years as the Dodgers' announcer following next season. Since this is Scully's 60th year it had been speculated he might retire after this one. But Scully made it clear that won’t be the case.

...Vin Scully, thought to be retiring this winter after 60 seasons, said this week he is planning on coming back for one more summer. Scully, 81, said if he continues to feel well he will work past his landmark year and retire after the 2010 season...

Vin Scully showed up unprepared for an assignment once in his life -- and Dodgers fans were the better for it.

Interesting that MSNBC chooses to release this now. I think the idea is for people to watch this and ask themselves "this woman is fit to be one heartbeat away from the Presidency?" But, of course, that was then (1988). And who wouldn't look like an amateur when delivering the news at the young age of 24? BTW, there is no place which says this archival footage is from 1988 but the reason I know it's from early 1988 is because she's talking about NCAA basketball and Gregg Jefferies, whose first year in the majors wasn't until the Summer of...