Dan Patrick

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is about the network sports journalist. For other uses see Dan Patrick (disambiguation).
Dan Patrick
Born: May 15, 1956
Flag of United States Mason, Ohio, USA
Occupation: Sportscaster
Spouse: Susan
Children: Grace, Georgina, Jack, Mollye
Website: Dan Patrick Show

Daniel Patrick Pugh (born May 15, 1956), better known as Dan Patrick, is an American sportscaster from Mason, Ohio. He attended the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio. As of 2004, he is employed by ESPN as an anchor on their SportsCenter program. He has also hosted The Dan Patrick Show on ESPN Radio since September 13, 1999. Starting on March 19, 2006, he became the host of ABC's then-titled NBA Nation, a pregame show for the network's NBA telecasts.

For many years, he and Keith Olbermann were arguably ESPN's most recognizable faces. Patrick used the catch phrase "Welcome to the big show" when Olbermann worked with him on SportsCenter. When Olbermann left, Patrick said, "This isn't the big show anymore."[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] Early life

Patrick was a basketball player in high school, becoming an Ohio all-state selection his senior year. He attended Eastern Kentucky University on a basketball scholarship for two years before transferring to at the University of Dayton, where he joined the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity.

[edit] Prior to ESPN

Prior to working with ESPN, Patrick was reporter for CNN (1983-89), where his assignments included the World Series, NBA Finals and Winter Olympics. In 1997, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Cortland State in New York.

[edit] ESPN & beyond

Dan Patrick has become widely recognized for his poignant interviews and dry wit in his role as an ESPN anchor/reporter, primarily on ESPN's 11 p.m. ET SportsCenter. He also reports from major events such as the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals and Final Four, and has called play-by-play for select NCAA basketball telecasts since joining ESPN in March 1989.

Additionally, he serves as host of The Dan Patrick Show weekdays from 1-4 p.m. ET on ESPN Radio, which is carried by more than 600 affiliates nationwide. For one hour of the show, Dan Patrick is accompanied by Keith Olbermann, a news/sports caster, host of Countdown on MSNBC. He also has his own Web page linked off of ESPN.com (espn.go.com/danpatrick) which serves as a vehicle for his musings on the sports world.

In January 2000, Patrick was named the National Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association (NSSA), making him just the second cable commentator to receive the honor.

Patrick transcended the sports world when he served as guest host of ABC's Good Morning America, Dec. 30-31, 1996, and Jan. 1, 1997. In 1998 he received a Sports Emmy Award in the Studio Host category.

Patrick's reports feature astute knowledge, a dry sense of humor and his unique perspective as well as a style which provides a "comfort zone" for his co-host. He received a CableACE Award in 1997 for his work on SportsCenter. The New York Post and The Big Lead.com reported that Patrick was going to host ESPN's NBA Shootaround for the 2006-07 NBA season, but those reports proved to be false.

Some of Patrick's finer moments have appeared on SportsCenter's Sunday Conversation, ESPN's in-depth interview segment, where he has brought out the best in many of sports' premier personalities -- including Michael Jordan, Mark McGwire, Barry Sanders, Wayne Gretzky, Larry Bird, Reggie Jackson and Bill Murray.

[edit] Movies

He participated in several television shows, as well as movies such as 1997's The Definite Maybe, 1998's BASEketball, The Waterboy, and the Brad Paisley music video "I'm Gonna Miss Her (The Fishing Song)", all as himself. He also had a cameo appearance in the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard with Adam Sandler and Chris Rock. He also makes a cameo in a poker game in the movie Benchwarmers.

[edit] Commercial spokesperson

Patrick appears in ads for the Wisconsin sub shop chain, Cousins Subs, talking about their 'serious subs' and making fun of their ad agency's attempts at getting their selling message across, and voices radio ads for Consort, a men's hair product line.

[edit] "En fuego"

Patrick told about the following at the ESPN25 Silver Anniversary Spectacular.

In 1994, when calling the highlights for a game in which Marv Albert described Sam Cassell as being "on fire", Dan Patrick said he was "el fuego", which he thought was Spanish for "on fire". A few months later, he received a letter from a Spanish teacher in Pennsylvania suggesting that he say that athletes are "en fuego" (on fire) rather than "el fuego" (the fire). Since then, Patrick has used "en fuego" on certain occasions when a player is said to be "on fire". Note that "en fuego" is an Anglicism in Spanish, since it is a literal translation from English, and other translations would be more fitting, e.g. prendido ("lit" or "fired up"). Patrick started using the "en fuego" phrase because he believed the standard "on fire" phrase had become cliché.

Dan Patrick has used this phrase twice in music videos:

  • In the 1995 Hootie & the Blowfish song "Only Wanna Be With You", where he called the group, who was using their money to purchase several sports teams in the video, "Dare I say they're anything but 'en fuego'."
  • In the 2002 Brad Paisley song "I'm Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin' Song)", with the quote "Brad Paisley, dare I say, 'en fuego'."

Most recently, Dan has appeared in a print advertisement for Swiss watchmaker, Raymond Weil Geneva.

[edit] Trivia

  • He passed up watching Villanova's legendary upset of Georgetown in the NCAA men's basketball title game for his first date with his future wife. (Playboy 20 Questions, January 2002)
  • Was an Ohio All-State basketball selection as a high school senior.
  • Patrick is in the Mason High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
  • Reigning champion of the Butler County (Ohio)4-H Fair Pig Wrestling contest.
  • Patrick not only starred on the basketball court but was a highly thought-of baseball player and scouted by the Cincinnati Reds.
  • Is a fan of Howard Stern and was in attendance at the roasting of Stern's longtime producer, Gary Dell'Abate on October 26, 2006.
  • Was the on-air victim of Howard Stern show phone prankster Captain Janks when Janks impersonated infamous Chicago Cubs fan Steve Bartman, who possibly kept the Cubs from reaching the World Series by interfering with a foul ball that was still in play.[1]
  • He appeared in the opening cut scene of ESPN NFL 2K3 where he announced that 2K Sports has drafted ESPN to boost their franchises and gives a preview of the 2002 NFL season.

[edit] External links

ESPN Inc.

ESPN Executives: George Bodenheimer (President, ESPN Inc.) | Sean Bratches | Christine Driessen | Edwin Durso | Chuck Pagano | John Skipper | Norby Williamson | Russell Wolff

ESPN Family of Networks: ESPN | ESPN2 | ESPN on ABC | ESPNEWS | ESPN Classic | ESPNU | ESPN Deportes | ESPNHD | ESPN2HD | ESPN Now | ESPN Plus | ESPN PPV | ESPN360 | ESPN Radio | ESPN Deportes Radio

ESPN Business Ventures: ESPN.com | ESPN Original Entertainment | ESPN The Magazine | ESPN Deportes La Revista | ESPN Books | ESPN Zone | ESPY Awards | ESPN Integration

Sports Properties: Arena Football League | College Football | Major League Baseball | Major League Soccer | National Football League | NASCAR | National Basketball Association | Women's National Basketball Association | List of Programming Rights

Key Programs: Around the Horn | Baseball Tonight | Cold Pizza | College GameDay (football) | ESPN College Football Primetime | Friday Night Fights | Jim Rome Is Burning | Mike and Mike in the Morning | Monday Night Countdown | Monday Night Football | NBA Friday | NASCAR Countdown | NBA Shootaround | Outside the Lines |Pardon the Interruption | Saturday Primetime | College GameDay (basketball) | SportsCenter | Sunday NFL Countdown | Sunday Night Baseball -List of programs broadcast by ESPN

Notable Personalities: John Anderson | Chris Berman | Bonnie Bernstein | Mike Breen | Hubie Brown | Linda Cohn | Chris Connelly | Lee Corso | Jay Crawford | Rece Davis | Chris Fowler | Ron Franklin | Peter Gammons | Mike Greenberg | Mike Golic | Jay Harris | Kirk Herbstreit | Fred Hickman | Tom Jackson | Dana Jacobson | Brian Kenny | Suzy Kolber | Tony Kornheiser | Bob Ley | Steve Levy | Kenny Mayne | Sean McDonough | Jon Miller | Joe Morgan | Brent Musburger | Brad Nessler | Dan Patrick | Mike Patrick | Karl Ravech | Tony Reali | Jim Rome | John Saunders | Stuart Scott | Dan Shulman | Michele Tafoya | Joe Theisman | Mike Tirico | Dick Vitale | Michael Wilbon -List of ESPN personalities