Terry Gannon

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Terry Gannon
Born (1963-11-01) November 1, 1963 (age 60)
Sportscaster
EmployerNBC Sports
SpouseLisa Gannon

Terrance Patrick Gannon (born November 1, 1963) is a

sportscaster for NBC Sports and the Golf Channel, currently announcing golf, gymnastics, and figure skating
.

Gannon played basketball for

Academic All-American twice, was NC State's all-time leading free throw
shooter in 1983, and was ranked the second all-time Wolfpack player in career free throw accuracy.

Gannon began his early broadcasting career announcing for a variety of sports, mostly on cable outlets. In 1991, he began working for ABC; in the early 1990s, he started announcing for figure skating. In 2010, he began working for the Golf Channel; by 2016, he had become the lead play-by-play announcer for figure skating at NBC. In 2018, he began calling gymnastics and was a commentator for the sport during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Early life and career

Gannon was born and raised in

Joliet Catholic High School, where his father was a coach.[1]

Gannon attended

Academic All-American twice and NC State's all-time leading free throw shooter. In 1983, he was a part of the "Cardiac Pack", which upset the Houston Cougars for the NCAA title.[2] [3] He hit 85.4 percent of his free throw attempts and was ranked the second all-time Wolfpack player in career free throw accuracy.[1]

After graduating with a degree in history from NC State in 1985, he worked as a graduate assistant for Valvano for a year, intending to become a basketball coach.[1][3] He briefly played professional basketball in Europe, but on the advice of Valvano, left the sport for broadcasting.[3][2] In 2018, on the 35th anniversary of their win, NC State inducted the entire 1983 men's basketball team into its Athletic Hall of Fame.[4][5]

Broadcasting career

Gannon has announced a wide variety of sporting events and has been called one of the "most versatile"[3] announcers in TV sports and "the man who knows every game".[1] Fellow commentators Tara Lipinski, Johnny Weir, and Nastia Liukin credit Gannon with their development as analysts.[6] Lipinski stated that Gannon's depth of knowledge, experience, and "the way he brings natural, genuine conversation into the booth" made his style "compelling".[6] Gannon's focus as a commentator for the Olympics was exposing general fans to sports they viewed rarely, only every four years.[6]

Early career

In 1986, Gannon began broadcasting on Valvano's TV and radio shows for regionally televised basketball games.

Home Team Sports between 1987 and 1994, and as a play-by-play announcer for Prime Sports and Jefferson-Pilot's coverage of college baseball.[7] Gannon credits Valvano for his career, noting that the coach had told his players that basketball "shouldn't be your entire life, it shouldn't consume you".[1] From 1990 to 1994, Gannon was the announcer for the Charlotte Knights, a Minor League Baseball team in Charlotte.[3]

ABC and ESPN

In 1991, Gannon started working for

Wide World of Sports.[1] While working at Wide World of Sports, Gannon said that his biggest broadcasting influences were Harry Caray and Al Michaels.[8]

Starting in the early 1990s, after being asked to travel to

Tokyo, Japan, to cover a professional figure skating event,[1][9] Gannon served as host for ABC's figure skating coverage, teaming with former Olympic skaters Peggy Fleming and Dick Button at most major competitions.[8] As sports reporter Barry Jacobs stated, figure skating was "a sport he had not followed",[1] but like every new sport, he approached it with "scholarly zeal" and "as if it was a history project".[1] He would learn a sport's rules, key figures from its past and present, and for the purpose of sounding authentic to its fans, its "idiosyncratic language".[1] Gannon told reporter Barry Wilner that he would also talk about what he knew about the new sport and avoid unfamiliar topics until he learned more about it.[9] Eventually, although he was most closely associated with figure skating and golf, with what Jacobs called "his warm, authoritative voice and understated manner",[1]
Gannon has announced for a wide variety of sporting events.

In 1993, Gannon began broadcasting for

Tournament of Roses Parade.[8][10]

In 2018, Gannon told sports reporter Helen Ross that out of all the sports he has called, he found golf the hardest, even though he played it and had been a fan of the sport since childhood. He played golf in clubs near his home in Los Angeles, but most of his golf was played on the road, with former golf pros and fellow broadcasters like his Golf Channel broadcast partner, six-time major champion Nick Faldo, as well as with Craig Perks, Billy Kratzert, Matt Gogel, Jim Gallagher Jr., and Curt Byrum.[5]

NBC Sports

In 2010, Gannon joined the broadcast team of the

short track, rowing, canoeing, and golf.[11]

In 2014, Gannon was enlisted as a play-by-play commentator for figure skating at the

cuff links and Hermès pocket squares.[14] In 2017, Gannon signed a five-year contract extension with NBC and the Golf Channel.[1]

In 2018, Gannon, Lipinski, and Weir announced figure skating and the Closing Ceremony at the

ice dancing with former ice dancer Tanith White.[16] Also in 2018, Gannon began commentating for gymnastics, with 1984 gold medalist Tim Daggett and 2008 all-around champion Nastia Liukin. Gannon said that he considered calling gymnastics at a high level "an honor".[6]

Career timeline

Assignments timeline

Major events

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Jacobs, Barry (29 May 2017). "NC State's Terry Gannon Left Basketball, Embraced Broadcasting". The News & Observer. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  2. ^ a b Glenn, David (27 June 2007). "Terry Gannon, More ACC-NBA, Etc". WRAL.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Terry Gannon: Biography". TV Guide. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  4. ^ "NC State Announces 2018 Hall of Fame Class". NC State Athletics. 19 April 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  5. ^ a b Ross, Helen (21 March 2018). "Gannon's Transition from Hardwood to Broadcast Booth". PGA Tour.com. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d Reedy, Joe (26 July 2021). "NBC's Gannon Adds Olympic Gymnastics to Versatile Resume". Associated Press News. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  7. ^ "Terry Gannon". ABC Medianet. Archived from the original on 8 June 2007. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  8. ^ a b c "Chat wrap: ABC's Terry Gannon". ABC Sports. 2001. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  9. ^ a b Wilner, Barry (3 February 2018). "From Hoops to Links to the Rink, Gannon Provides the Voice". Daily Herald. Chicago. Associated Press. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Terry Gannon". NBC Sports. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  11. ^ a b "Terry Gannon". NBC Sports Pressbox. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
  12. ^ Weir, Tom (10 February 2018). "Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir Are Ready to Rule the Winter Olympics Again". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  13. ^ de Moraes, Lisa (October 22, 2014). "Johnny Weir & Tara Lipinski Crowned NBC's Figure-Skating Announcing Team, Joining Terry Gannon". Deadline. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  14. ^ Weir, Tom (10 February 2018). "Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir Are Ready to Rule the Winter Olympics Again". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  15. ^ Macur, Juliet (18 February 2018). "Scott Hamilton Was Demoted as an Olympic Broadcaster. Don't Feel Sorry for Him". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  16. ^ Bauder, David (19 February 2018). "French Ice Dancer Undone by Wardrobe Malfunction on Live TV". ABC News. Archived from the original on 22 February 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
Preceded by Lead Play-by-Play,
Little League World Series

1999 		Succeeded by
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