Dave O'Brien

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Dave O'Brien is an American sports announcer who currently broadcasts various Major League Baseball, college basketball, and NBA games for ESPN and Westwood One radio. He has formerly called baseball games for the Atlanta Braves, Florida Marlins, and New York Mets.

Since 2002, O'Brien's primary duty has been a play-by-play commentator for ESPN, handling MLB telecasts (notably Monday Night Baseball) and soccer responsibilities for ESPN on ABC, including, since 2006, ESPN2's Major League Soccer and United States men's national soccer team telecasts. He had previously been the voice of the Florida Marlins from the team's inaugural year in 1993 through 2001, and has provided commentary for MLB's international coverage of the World Series since 2004. O'Brien was television voice of the New York Mets on WPIX-TV from 2003 through 2005. He won the Achievements in Radio (A.I.R.) award for Best Play-by-Play for his call of Mark McGwire's 59th home run in 1998. [1]

Before his work with the Marlins, O'Brien was the radio play-by-play man for the Atlanta Braves. He also called college football and basketball games for Georgia and Miami from 1987-1992, garnering the Georgia Associated Press' "Best Sports Play-by-Play" accolade in 1988 and 1991. [2]

Prior to the 2005 season, O'Brien was denied permission by ESPN to join the Chicago Cubs' broadcast team. [3] [4]

[edit] World Cup broadcast criticism

O'Brien teamed up with former U.S. national soccer team captain Marcelo Balboa for the 2006 World Cup as the play-by play man on the ESPN and ABC Sports' primary announcing team. O'Brien and Balboa called the most prominent games of the tournament, with their commentary generating controversy for several reasons:

  • With little experience in calling soccer games, O'Brien allegedly made many basic errors, such as getting player names and club teams wrong. O'Brien said he is not a "traditional soccer guy." [5]
  • When giving scores of games where one team had zero goals, he often used the word "nothing", which is customarily said in American sports, instead of the word "nil", which is widely used in the footballing world.
  • O'Brien's offering of human interest stories (á la the Olympics) in an effort to draw the interest of the casual viewer caused a great deal of consternation from some fans. He expressed a desire to do more storytelling: "There is a style I think Americans are used to -- the broadcaster being more involved, more informed," said O'Brien, acknowledging that the style "might jar your longtime soccer viewer." [6]
  • O'Brien delved into politics on several occasions. For example, during the June 11 group stage match between Mexico and Iran on ABC, he repeatedly referred to controversial Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments on the Holocaust, and later wondered how Iranian soccer players felt about playing in close proximity to the podium Hitler used to give speeches in Nuremberg (German: Nürnberg)[citation needed].
  • O'Brien also upset many fans when he mistakenly referred to Rangers and Celtic F.C. as "Glasgow United" and Wolverhampton Wanderers as "Wolverhampton Wolves".

ESPN and ABC stated that their broadcast strategy was intended, in voice and style, to target the vast majority of Americans who do not follow the sport on a regular basis.[7] It is widely rumored that O'Brien's future on soccer telecasts will be decided after the 2006 MLS Cup, which he is expected to call for ABC. ESPN takes full control over its soccer coverage at that point (previously, MLS controlled most telecasts).

[edit] Trivia

[edit] References

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