Tim Kurkjian
| Tim Kurkjian | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
December 10, 1956 Bethesda, Maryland |
| Education | University of Maryland, College Park |
| Occupation |
Sports columnist Author Television personality |
| Spouse(s) | Kathy Kurkjian |
Tim Kurkjian (/ˈkɜrkdʒən/; born December 10, 1956) is a Major League Baseball analyst on ESPN's Baseball Tonight and SportsCenter. He is also a contributor to ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com. He guests on Mike and Mike in the Morning on Thursdays at 7:44 AM, discussing the latest in happenings in Major League Baseball. He is of Armenian descent. He is a frequent contributor to Buster Olney's podcast.
Journalism career
Kurkjian has an extensive background in covering baseball. His journalism career began with the Washington Star in 1978 following his graduation from the University of Maryland; he then worked briefly for the Baltimore News-American in 1981. He began covering baseball as the Texas Rangers beat writer for The Dallas Morning News[1] where he worked from 1981 to 1985. Kurkjian then covered the Baltimore Orioles for the The Baltimore Sun beginning in 1986. He was a senior writer for Sports Illustrated from 1989–1997 as well as a reporter for CNN/SI from 1996–1997.
He authored his first book, America's Game, in 2000 and released his second book, Is This a Great Game, or What?: From A-Rod's Heart to Zim's Head—My 25 Years in Baseball in May 2007. He was the 1999 and 2007 Commencement speaker at his alma mater, Walter Johnson High School, the 2008 speaker at Seneca Valley High School, and also delivered the winter commencement speech at the University of Maryland on December 19, 2007.
In 2012, while Kurkjian and fellow ESPN analyst John Kruk were on their annual bus tour around the spring training facilities, a new craze was created called Kurkjianing where players would impersonate Tim Kurkjian during interviews.[2] Some of the players that did this were Tim Dillard[3] of the Brewers, J.P. Arencibia[2] of the Blue Jays, and Elliot Johnson[4] of the Rays.
Tim is a regular correspondent on ESPN Radio, especially on the SVP & Russillo show hosted by Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo. One element of this that has proved popular with listeners is when Van Pelt reads out names of American sports stars in a comedic Baltimore accent, often making Kurkjian crease with laughter. Examples can be found on the ESPN website.
References
- ↑ Shaughnessy, Dan; Grossfeld, Stan (2003). Spring Training: Baseball's Early Season. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 43. ISBN 0-618-21399-6. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Stone L. "The Hot Stone League: New spring training craze: Kurkjianing". Seattle Times Newspaper. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
- ↑ "Baseball Tonight: Tim Dillard imitates Tim Kurkjian - YouTube". ESPN. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
- ↑ "Elliot Johnson's Tim Kurkjian Impression - ESPN Video". ESPN. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
External links
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