Todd Gallagher | |
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| Born | Todd John Gallagher |
| Occupation | director, author, producer |
Todd Gallagher is an American comedy writer, performance artist, and director. He has worked with ESPN and is known for his book "Andy Roddick Beat Me With a Frying Pan: Taking the Field with Pro Athletes and Olympic Legends to Answer Sports' Fans Burning Questions".
Gallagher was raised in Jeanette, Pennsylvania. At the age of 16 he won the grand prize twice on the ESPN quiz show Dream League.
At age 21 he became the youngest coach and Director of Player Personnel in the history of pro basketball for the United States Basketball League's New Hampshire Thunder Loons. [1] His basketball experience led to a series of writing assignments in Australia. He then returned to the United States where he wrote for ESPN, conducting interviews with people throughout the sports and entertainment world, including Ice Cube. As a television writer and producer he has sold, developed, and run various shows including creating "Shaq vs." [2]
Andy Roddick Beat Me with a Frying Pan: Taking the Field with Pro Athletes and Olympic Legends to Answer Sports Fans' Burning Questions (Random House, 2007), [3] Gallagher's first book humorously answers some outlandish questions about sports, such as "Could a morbidly obese goalie shut out an NHL team?" (Chapter 1). A number of professional athletes including Andy Roddick, [4] Maurice Greene, [5] and the NHL's Washington Capitals, [6] participated in live events for the project. The book was described by the New York Times as "a weird amalgam of serious inside-the-ropes research germane to the games and of ludicrous just-outside-the-asylum performance art." [7]
His "Phelps Challenge," [8] where he challenged Michael Phelps on ESPN radio to a $50,000 bet that he could beat him in any event outside of the pool, was turned into the "Playground Challenge" by ESPN. In it, he takes on pro and Olympic athletes in playground events.
In 2009 Gallagher enrolled in a Pittsburgh high school as a student for a feature film. He took classes and trained with the school's soccer team. The film about his experience entitled "God Only Knows" features Taylor Swift. [9]
Mark Andrew Spitz is an American former competitive swimmer and nine-time Olympic champion. He was the most successful athlete at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, winning seven gold medals, all in world record time. This was an achievement that lasted for 36 years until it was surpassed by fellow American Michael Phelps, who won eight golds at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Maurice Greene is an American former track and field sprinter who competed in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He is a former 100 m world record holder with a time of 9.79 seconds. During the height of his career (1997–2004) he won four Olympic medals and was a five-time World Champion. This included three golds at the 1999 World Championships, a feat which had previously only been achieved by Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson and has since been equaled by three others.
LeBron Raymone James Sr. is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest players in NBA history and is frequently compared to Michael Jordan in debates over the greatest basketball player ever. The only player to have won NBA championships with three franchises as NBA Finals MVP, James has competed in ten NBA Finals, eight of them consecutively with the Heat and the Cavaliers from 2011 to 2018. His accomplishments include four NBA championships, four NBA MVP awards, four NBA Finals MVP awards, and two Olympic gold medals. During his 18-year career, James holds the record for all-time playoffs points, is third in all-time points, and eighth in career assists. James has been selected to the All-NBA Team a record 17 times, made the NBA All-Defensive First Team five times, and has been named an All-Star 17 times, including three All-Star MVP selections.
James Riley Blake is an American retired professional tennis player. Blake was known for his speed and powerful, flat forehand. During his career, Blake amassed 24 singles finals appearances, while his career-high singles ranking was World No. 4. Career highlights included reaching the final of the 2006 Tennis Masters Cup, the semifinals of the Beijing Olympics, the quarterfinals of the Australian Open (2008) and US Open, as well as two titles at the Hopman Cup and being the No. 1 ranked American singles player. Blake was a key performer for the United States 2007 Davis Cup championship team, going 2–0 in the championship tie vs. Russia at second singles.
Andrew StephenRoddick is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He gained the top ranking shortly after winning the 2003 US Open, his only major triumph.
Michael James Hall is an American sports broadcaster who works for the Big Ten Network. He can also be found as a sideline reporter for National Football League (NFL) games on Fox. Hall is a graduate of the University of Missouri where he majored in journalism.
Mardy Simpson Fish is an American former professional tennis player. He was a hardcourt specialist. He is one of several American tennis players who rose to prominence in the early 2000s.
Freddy Schuman, better known as Freddy Sez or Freddy "Sez", was a New Yorker and supporter of the New York Yankees, known for his activities in promoting the team and encouraging fan participation.
Earl Manigault was an American street basketball player who was nicknamed "the goat".
Kathryn Elise Hoff is a former American competitive swimmer, she is an Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder. Hoff was known for her success in the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley. She represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics, in which she was awarded a silver medal and two bronze medals.
Richard Frederick "Digger" Phelps is an American former college basketball coach, most notably of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 1971 to 1991. For 20 years, from 1993 to 2014, he served as an analyst on ESPN. He got the nickname "Digger" from his father, who was a mortician in Beacon, New York.
The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 332 events in 34 sports and in 47 disciplines. During the Games, 95 new Pan American records were set; 2,196 medals were awarded; 1,262 doping control tests were performed and about 15,000 volunteers participated in the organization of the event, which was an Olympic qualification for 13 International Federations (IFs).
Keith Raymond Erickson is an American former basketball, and volleyball player.
The Best Male Athlete ESPY Award, known alternatively as the Outstanding Male Athlete ESPY Award, is an annual award honoring the achievements of individual men from the world of sports. It has been presented annually at the ESPY Awards since 1993 to the male voted irrespective of nationality or sport contested, adjudged to be the best athlete in a given calendar year. The Best Male Athlete ESPY Award trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, is presented to the recipient at an annual ceremony in Los Angeles. Since 2004, the winner has been chosen by online balloting through three to five choices selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee. Before that, determination of the winners was made by an panel of experts. Through the 2001 iteration of the ESPY Awards, ceremonies were conducted in February of each year to honor achievements over the previous calendar year; awards presented thereafter are conferred in July and reflect performance from the June previous.
James "Fly" Williams is an American former professional basketball player, who played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) for the Spirits of St. Louis. A noted street basketball player from New York, he once scored 100 points in an IS8 League game in 1978.
Michael Fred Phelps II is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (23), Olympic gold medals in individual events (13), and Olympic medals in individual events (16). When Phelps won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, he broke fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Phelps already tied the record of eight medals of any color at a single Games by winning six gold and two bronze medals. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Phelps won four gold and two silver medals, and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won five gold medals and one silver. This made him the most successful athlete of the Games for the fourth Olympics in a row.
Shaq Vs. is an American reality television show produced for ABC by Dick Clark Productions and Media Rights Capital starring American basketball star Shaquille O'Neal. It began airing on August 18, 2009.
The 2013 ESPY Awards were announced from the Nokia Theatre on July 17, 2013 and were live on ESPN. ESPY Award is short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award. The awards show was hosted by Jon Hamm.
Charlotte Lewis was an American basketball player who competed on the 1976 United States Olympic team.
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