Mike Greenberg

Last updated

Mike Greenberg
Mike Greenberg ESPNWeekend2010-044.jpg
Greenberg during ESPN The Weekend in February 2010
Born
Michael Darrow Greenberg

(1967-08-06) August 6, 1967 (age 56)
Other namesGreeny
Alma mater Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University (B.S.)
Years active1989–present
SpouseStacey Greenberg (married 1997–present)
Children2
Career
Show Mike & Mike (2000–2017)
Station ESPN Radio
Time slotMonday–Friday
6 am – 10 am ET
Show Get Up!
StationESPN
Time slotVarious
CountryUnited States
Previous show(s)Mike and Mike

Michael Darrow [1] Greenberg (born August 6, 1967) is a television anchor, television show host, radio show host for ESPN and ABC, and novelist. At ESPN, he hosted the weekday evening, most often Monday, SportsCenter and previously ESPN Radio's Mike & Mike show with Mike Golic. At sister network ABC, he was the host of Duel , which aired from 2007 to 2008, and co-hosted Battle of the Network Stars with Joe Tessitore. He has anchored ESPN's morning show Get Up since 2018, and also anchored NBA coverage on NBA Countdown .

Contents

As of 2024, Greeny hosts his own radio show called #Greeny.

Early life and career

Mike was born to a Jewish [2] family in New York, New York, and graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1985. In 1989, Greenberg graduated from Northwestern University, [3] where he joined the Theta Chi Fraternity, and started work as a sports anchor and reporter at WMAQ-AM in Chicago. He left WMAQ in 1992 to work for WSCR-Radio as a reporter (covering events such as the World Series and the Super Bowl) and talk show host. From 1993 to 1995, he also wrote a weekly syndicated column for the California-based Copley News Service. In 1994, he added reporting for SportsChannel Chicago to his résumé. In 1995, he left SportsChannel Chicago to work at CLTV, becoming an anchor, reporter, and host of a live call-in show. He left Chicago in September 1996 for ESPN, where he became one of the first hosts [3] of ESPNEWS when it began broadcasting in November of that year.

ESPN career (1996–present)

USMC-091110-M-6539J-138.jpg
Greenberg on ESPN Radio in 2009

In 1999, with ESPN Radio airing in just four markets, Mike Greenberg was approached about returning to radio to be a part of a morning drive-time show with Mike Golic as co-host. Greenberg agreed, with the understanding that he would continue anchoring SportsCenter on a regular basis. On April 26, 2004, the show started a regular simulcast on ESPNEWS. [4] Because of their continued success, the duo moved to ESPN2 in January 2005. [4]

One of the most popular segments of the entire year on Mike & Mike was the annual "Sheet of Integrity" wager, a bracket wager based on the NCAA men's basketball tournament and the massive ESPN.com bracket contest. The bet originated after Golic told of how he would enter a massive number of sheets into different pools to win the money involved in the pool. Greenberg, believing picks required a sort of integrity, insisted that any such entrant be required to enter only one "Sheet of Integrity". Golic would select one of his (presumably) dozens of sheets against Greenberg, with the loser having to perform a humiliating stunt, usually on the air. The first year, Greenberg won and Golic had to have an eyebrow wax on the air. The next two years, Golic won, and Greenberg had to wear the University of Notre Dame Leprechaun mascot costume on the air, the second time on the Notre Dame campus. In the 2007 competition Greenberg, an admitted die-hard New York Jets' fan, agreed to wear a New England Patriots' jersey to a Jets' game and to milk a cow live on-air. Greenberg received advice about milking a cow from ESPN baseball analyst Buster Olney, who grew up on a dairy farm.

Mike Greenberg's final day as co-host of the Mike & Mike program was November 17, 2017. Greenberg and Golic were inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters’ Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2016 and the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2018. On November 27, Trey Wingo, host of NFL Live and ESPN's SportsCenter, became Golic's new morning show co-host, and the duo hosted Mike & Mike's successor show, Golic and Wingo from 2017 to 2020. [5] Greenberg joined a new ESPN morning show, Get Up! , which premiered April 2, 2018. [6] He also returned to ESPN Radio with a new show, called Greeny. [7]

Other television

Greenberg hosted the ABC game show Duel . [8] The first season of the show, a week-long six-episode special, premiered on December 17, 2007, and ended on December 23, 2007. The show was renewed, and premiered its second season (consisting of ten episodes) on April 4, 2008; the show's sixteenth and final episode aired on July 30.

On February 20, 2008, Greenberg appeared, along with his radio partner Mike Golic, on the soap opera Guiding Light [9] as reported on ESPNradio.com.

On April 18, 2012, Greenberg co-hosted Live! with Kelly . [10]

Books

On March 7, 2006, Greenberg released his first book entitled Why My Wife Thinks I'm An Idiot: The Life and Times of a Sportscaster Dad, which reached 14th on the New York Times Bestseller list and was nominated in the 2006 Quill Awards for best sports book. [11] In April 2010, Greenberg, along with co-host Mike Golic, released a book entitled Mike and Mike's Rules for Sports and Life. Along with the release, the two Mikes embarked on a 15-city book tour that included stops in New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Dallas, Boston, and Tampa. Greenberg released a novel entitled All You Could Ask For in 2013. [12] He released the novel My Father's Wives in January 2015. On April 4, 2023, Mike Greenberg partnered with Get Up! producer Paul "Hembo" Hembekides to release "Got Your Number" published by Hyperion Avenue.

Related Research Articles

SportsCenter (SC) is an American daily sports news television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of American cable and satellite television network ESPN. The show covers various sports teams and athletes from around the world and often shows highlights of sports from the day. Originally broadcast only once per day, SportsCenter now has up to twelve airings each day, excluding overnight repeats. The show often covers the major sports in the U.S. including basketball, hockey, football, and baseball. SportsCenter is also known for its recaps after sports events and its in-depth analysis.

ESPNews is an American multinational digital cable and satellite television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Communications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ESPN Radio</span> Sports radio network

ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The network is based at the ESPN campus in Bristol, Connecticut, with multiple studio facilities nationwide, along with home studios. The network airs a regular schedule of daily and weekly programming as well as live radio play-by-play of sporting events.

Mike & Mike was an American sports-talk radio show that was hosted by Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic on ESPN networks from 2000–2017. The show aired on ESPN Radio, and was simulcast on television, first on ESPNews starting in 2004, and later moving to ESPN2 in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Golic</span> American football player and television host (born 1962)

Michael Louis Golic Sr. is an American television host and former professional football player. He played as defensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL). Golic is well known for his 25-year association with ESPN, most notably co-hosting ESPN Radio's Mike & Mike from 2000 to 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trey Wingo</span> American sports announcer

Hal Chapman "Trey" Wingo III is an American former co-host of ESPN Golic and Wingo, SportsCenter, and NFL Live. He has previously served as host of the Women's NCAA basketball tournament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dana Jacobson</span> American journalist

Dana Jacobson is a host and correspondent for CBS News currently serving as a co host for CBS Saturday Morning. She is also an anchor & reporter for CBS Sports and CBS Sports Network. She joined CBS News in 2015, 2 years after she began working for CBS Sports Network. Prior to that Jacobson spent a decade at ESPN, from 2002 until 2012. In March 2005, she was named co-host of Cold Pizza and transitioned with the show as it became First Take. On December 30, 2011, she left First Take and returned to anchoring SportsCenter. On March 27, 2012, USA Today announced that Jacobson would leave ESPN when her contract expires at the end of April. Monday, April 30, 2012, was her final day at ESPN when she anchored the 6–8 p.m. ET SportsCenter.

<i>The Hot List</i> American TV series or program

The Hot List was a news, talk and analysis television show and also the flagship program on ESPNEWS. Since its debut in January 2004, the program aired Monday through Friday from 3-6pm ET.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WSJK</span> Radio station in Tuscola–Champaign, Illinois

WSJK is a commercial FM radio station in Tuscola, Illinois that serves the Champaign-Urbana metropolitan area. It is owned by S.J. Broadcasting, and airs a sports radio format as an ESPN Radio Network affiliate. Some hours on weekday mornings are devoted to local talk programming. WSJK is part of the St. Louis Cardinals Radio Network.

Andrew Pollin is an American radio and TV personality. He currently co-hosts, with Rob Long, about half of the episodes of The Mid-Atlantic Sports Report on MASN. He helped launch Washington, D.C. sports talk station WTEM in 1992 and held the title of Sports Director until being let go in January 2017. He joined WJFK 106.7 The Fan in February 2017 and now hosts The Andy Pollin show with Thom Lovero For 13 years, Pollin co-hosted The Sports Reporters with Steve Czaban, until getting sacked in July 2013. The last "Sports Reporters" aired July 31, 2013. He acted as sidekick on The Tony Kornheiser Show between 1992 and 2006. He also co-hosted GameDay with Mel Kiper Jr. on ESPN Radio between 1998 and 2004.

Arena Football League on ESPN was a presentation of the Arena Football League with games airing on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPN3 and ESPN Deportes. As with all other sports broadcasting on the ESPN family of networks, all Arena Football games had aired on The WatchESPN App. It was previously aired from 1987 until 2002 and then again from 2007 until 2008. When the league folded in 2019, the contract was over.

<i>The Ryen Russillo Show</i>

The Ryen Russillo Show was a syndicated sports talk radio show hosted by Ryen Russillo. It was a part of ESPN Radio from 1 pm to 4pm, with all three hours also simulcasted on ESPNews. On April 26, 2017 Danny Kanell was let go by ESPN after a number of personnel were laid off, leaving only Russillo to host the show.

Michael Louis Golic Jr. is a broadcaster and podcast host. He was most recently affiliated with ESPN Radio and was an American football offensive guard. He played college football at Notre Dame. He signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Spain</span> American sports reporter (born 1980)

Sarah Colby Spain is an American sports reporter. She works as an espnW.com columnist, ESPN Radio host, ESPN television personality and occasional SportsCenter reporter for ESPN.

<i>Golic and Wingo</i>

Golic and Wingo was an American sports-talk radio show that was hosted by Mike Golic, Sr., his son Mike Jr. and co-host Trey Wingo that aired on the ESPN networks. The show was carried on ESPN Radio and simulcast on television on ESPNEWS since April 2, 2018, and acted as the morning show for both the radio and television sides of the production. Outside of a few radio stations that were able to move or decline carriage of the show for their own local morning productions, Golic and Wingo was effectively a compulsory element of the ESPN Radio schedule, which all affiliates of the network were required to carry and was the premier morning show on ESPN.

<i>Get Up</i> (TV program) American sports talk morning television show on ESPN

Get Up is an American sports talk morning television program hosted by Mike Greenberg that airs weekdays on ESPN. Michelle Beadle was one of the original hosts with Greenberg and Jalen Rose, but decided to leave the program in September 2018 to devote more time to ESPN's NBA coverage. It premiered on April 2, 2018. The program features news, opinion and analysis from the hosts and guests. It airs live weekdays from 8 am–10 am ET with reruns from 10 am–12 pm ET on ESPN2, and from 12 pm–2 pm ET on ESPNews, and also airs on Sirius XM live. Dan Graziano regularly fills in for Greenberg as host.

References

  1. "Mike Greenberg: books, biography, latest update". Amazon.com. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  2. Dresner, Stacey (March 28, MikGreenberg). jewishledger.com.
  3. 1 2 Mike Greenberg Bio – Host of Duel – Sportscaster Mike Greenberg. Gameshows.about.com.
  4. 1 2 Mike & Mike in The Morning. 1450amespn.com
  5. "Mike and Mike will finalize their long-awaited breakup on November 17". usatoday.com. July 17, 2017. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  6. "New Mike Greenberg morning show "Get Up" will debut April 2". awfulannouncing.com. January 12, 2018. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  7. "Mike Greenberg Gears up for ESPN Radio Return with New Show, 'Greeny'". July 28, 2020.
  8. Mike Greenberg's Game Show 'Duel' Debuts Tonight; Washington Post's Tom Shales Is Not A Fan | Media | Mike Greenberg Archived September 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine . Faniq.com. Retrieved on March 25, 2014.
  9. Mike Greenburg and Mike Golic to Appear on Guiding Light. TV Fanatic (December 5, 2007). Retrieved on March 25, 2014.
  10. ESPN Radio's Greenberg To Co-Host Live! With Kelly. AllAccess.com (April 17, 2012). Retrieved on March 25, 2014.
  11. 2006 Quill Awards winners and nominees. thequills.org
  12. All You Could Ask For: A Novel by Mike Greenberg. Harpercollins.com. Retrieved on March 25, 2014.