Bob Smizik

Last updated

Bob Smizik is a former sportswriter and columnist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Smizik retired in December 2008, accepting a buyout from the Post-Gazette in mid-December 2008, stepping away from his duties as a full-time columnist for the paper. [1] after his retirement from print journalism, he covered Pittsburgh and national sports topics on a locally popular internet blog hosted at the Post-Gazette's website until October 14, 2015, when he announced that his writing days were behind him in a final article. [2]

Smizik was originally hired by the Pittsburgh Press in June 1969 and was a beat reporter for both the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1972–77 and the Pitt football and basketball, 1978-82 during the first few decades of his career. He became a columnist in 1983. He is a native of Pittsburgh and graduated from Peabody High School and the University of Pittsburgh.[ citation needed ]

Smizik became popular in the 1990s for his appearances on many Pittsburgh sports shows, including Sportsbeat.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pittsburgh Pirates</span> Major League Baseball franchise in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Association in 1881 under the name Pittsburgh Alleghenys, the club joined the National League in 1887 and was a member of the National League East from 1969 through 1993. The Pirates have won five World Series championships, nine National League pennants, nine National League East division titles and made three appearances in the Wild Card Game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baseball Writers' Association of America</span> American journalist association

The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) is a professional association for journalists writing about Major League Baseball for daily newspapers, magazines, and qualifying websites. The organization was founded in 1908 and is known for its annual awards and voting on membership in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myron Cope</span> American sports journalist (1929–2008)

Myron Sidney Kopelman, known professionally as Myron Cope, was an American sports journalist, radio personality, and sportscaster. He is best known for being "the voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Prince</span> American sportscaster

Robert Ferris Prince was an American radio and television sportscaster and commentator, best known for his 28-year stint as the voice of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball club, with whom he earned the nickname "The Gunner" and became a cultural icon in Pittsburgh.

Peter Boatswain King is an American sportswriter. He wrote for Sports Illustrated from 1989 to 2018, including the weekly multiple-page column Monday Morning Quarterback. He is the author of five books, including Inside the Helmet. He has been named National Sportswriter of the Year three times.

WPGP is a radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, broadcasting with a power output of 5,000 watts. The station is owned and operated by the Salem Media Group.

David Michael Littlefield is an American former Major League Baseball executive, who is currently a scout for the Detroit Tigers. Previously, Littlefield was employed as senior vice president and general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, a position he held from July 13, 2001, to September 7, 2007. He took over as GM for Roy Smith, who had assumed the position on a temporary basis after the firing of GM Cam Bonifay on June 11.

William Thomas Hillgrove is an American sports broadcaster, radio personality, and sports journalist.

Tim Grgurich is an American basketball coach. Grgurich served as the head coach at his alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh, for 5 seasons in the mid to late 1970s. He also served as the head coach at UNLV for the first seven games of the 1994–95 season before abruptly resigning. He arrived at UNLV in the mid-1980s, importing the amoeba defense developed when he was a Pitt assistant under Bob Timmons and Charles Ridl to Jerry Tarkanian's teams.

Eddy Crow is an American sports media personality based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Stan Savran was an American media personality based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame and a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates Media Wall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lanny Frattare</span> American former sportscaster

Lanny Lawrence Frattare is an American former sportscaster. For 33 years he was a play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates, the longest such tenure in the team's history. In 2008, he was nominated for the Ford Frick Award, which is given by the Baseball Hall of Fame for broadcasting excellence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1983 Miami Hurricanes football team</span> American college football season

The 1983 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami during the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their 58th season of football, the independent Hurricanes were led by fifth-year head coach Howard Schnellenberger and played their home games at the Orange Bowl.

The 2008 Pittsburgh Panthers football team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season was the fourth under head coach Dave Wannstedt. The 2008 season marked the team's eighth at Heinz Field and the program's 119th season.

The Pittsburgh Penguins Radio Network is a radio network operated by the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League that provides broadcasts for all the team's games. Josh Getzoff assumed play-by-play duties at the start of the 2021-22 season after the retirement of hall of fame announcer Mike Lange. Former Penguin Phil Bourque is the color commentator. The flagship station since 2006 is WXDX-FM in Pittsburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia Montanez</span> American writer

Virginia Montanez is a writer, author, essayist, and columnist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is a history columnist at Pittsburgh Magazine and the author of Nothing. Everything.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robbie Grossman</span> American baseball player (born 1989)

Robert Edward Grossman is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, Detroit Tigers, Atlanta Braves, and Texas Rangers. After attending high school in Texas, Grossman was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the sixth round in 2008. He made his MLB debut with the Astros in 2013. With the Rangers, he won the 2023 World Series over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The DVE Morning Show is a morning radio comedy and variety show broadcast on Pittsburgh classic rock station 102.5 FM WDVE featuring DJ Randy Baumann. The show began airing in the 6:00-10:00 am weekday morning drive slot in late 1986 after the cancellation of Jimmy and Steve in the Morning. Originally hosted by Scott Paulsen, the show would go on to be hosted by the team of Paulsen and Jim Krenn from 1988 to 1999, briefly by Krenn solo, then by the team of Krenn and Baumann from 2000 to 2011. Since late December 2012, Baumann has hosted with comedian Bill Crawford, sportscaster Mike Prisuta, and news anchor Val Porter. Additionally, many newsreaders, sportscasters and other members have come and gone during the show's run.

John Steigerwald is a Pittsburgh-based sports reporter, commentator, and former sports anchor and second oldest member of the Steigerwald media family that includes his older brother Bill and younger brothers Paul Steigerwald and rock guitarist Dan Steigerwald. John worked on the sports anchor team at WTAE-TV (ABC), along with other Pittsburgh notables such as Myron Cope and Bill Hillgrove. He later moved to KDKA-TV (CBS) in 1985 and was an anchor and primary Pittsburgh Steelers reporter for 30 years. KDKA chose not to renew his contract in 2007. Until 2015 he was a "Sports Talk" host on the radio website of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He writes a weekly column for The Daily Caller and his web site is JustWatchtheGame.com. John's brother Bill Steigerwald is an ex-newspaperman and book author who worked at the Los Angeles Times in the 1980s, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in the 1990s and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in the 2000s. Paul Steigerwald, also a former KDKA-TV sports reporter, held the position of Pittsburgh Penguins' television play-by-play announcer from 2006 until 2017.

References

  1. Smizik, Bob (December 14, 2008). "Unexpected but fun ride comes to an end". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved March 3, 2009.
  2. Smizik, Bob (October 14, 2015). "Bob Smizik: Time to say goodbye". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co., Inc. Retrieved October 14, 2015.