UFL Unveils Its Announcers for 2010 Season

The United Football League has announced the announcing crews on its three cable television partners for the 2010 season. One notable change, Dave Sims who called the inaugural season on Versus is gone and is replaced by Craig Minervini. Dave said scheduling conflicts were the reason for the change. In any event, let’s take a look at who will be calling the UFL on Versus, HDNet and NESN.

UNITED FOOTBALL LEAGUE ANNOUNCES 2010 SEASON BROADCAST TALENT ON VERSUS, HDNET AND NEW ENGLAND SPORTS NETWORK

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – JACKSONVILLE, FL – Tuesday, September 14, 2010 – The United Football League today announced the broadcast teams who will bring football fans all the action from the 2010 UFL season on VERSUS, HDNet and the New England Sports Network.

On VERSUS, Craig Minervini will handle play-by-play duties, while former Boston College and NFL and CFL quarterback Doug Flutie returns for his second UFL season as color analyst. Roaming the sidelines will be former NFL linebacker Ryan Nece and Sports Illustrated senior writer Damon Hack.

All returning for a second season of UFL broadcasts on HDNet are Kenny Rice handling play-by-play, veteran broadcaster Paul Maguire as analyst and sideline reporter Ron Kruck. Joining Kruck on the sidelines will be Paul Crane, for his first season of UFL coverage.

For the New England Sports Network (NESN), Mike Logan and Brett Haber will handle play-by-play duties. Logan will call the Saturday, September 18 UFL season opener between the Hartford Colonials and Sacramento Mountain Lions at Rentschler Field, while Haber will call the October 16 visit of the Omaha Nighthawks to Connecticut.

Former NFL quarterback Scott Zolak, who spent eight seasons with the New England Patriots, will provide color analysis for the two NESN telecasts.  John Chandler and Tony Terzi will bring viewers closer to the action from the sidelines for both games.

“We are delighted to welcome back the talented and informative play-callers, analysts and sideline reporters who helped to establish the UFL as an exciting and innovative television spectacle in our first season,” said UFL Commissioner MICHAEL HUYGHUE.  “I look forward to watching the established UFL talent and their new colleagues take our broadcasts forward to a wider audience this coming season.”

The full UFL 2010 broadcast schedule is available at www.UFL-Football.com.

UFL Broadcast talent bios

VERSUS:

CRAIG MINERVINI – An experienced play-by-play announcer and sports host, Minervini’s football experience includes NBC’s Notre Dame broadcasts, the XFL and the University of Miami (Fla.) He also has done play-by-play at Fox Sports Florida and Sun Sports for the Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball and the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League, and has covered south Florida sports and news for more than a decade. Prior to joining Fox Sports Florida, Minervini worked at WTVJ-TV, Miami’s NBC affiliate, as a sports anchor, and hosted multiple football highlight shows. While at WTVJ, Minervini covered the Marlins from their inception, and was nominated for a regional Emmy Award for a feature story on the team. Minervini is a graduate of Syracuse University, and earned a degree in broadcast journalism.

DOUG FLUTIE – Flutie returns for his second season as a UFL analyst on VERSUS, and brings a wealth of playing experience in three professional football leagues to the table. Following a stellar career at Boston College with culminated with winning the Heisman Trophy in 1984, Flutie began his pro journey with the United States Football League’s New Jersey Generals in 1985. After the USFL folded in August of 1986, Flutie played with the Chicago Bears (1986-87), then was traded to the New England Patriots, where he spent three seasons from 1987 to 1989. He then began a career in the Canadian Football League in which he won three Grey Cup championships. Flutie played for the British Columbia Lions (1990-91), the Calgary Stampeders (1992-95) and the Toronto Argonauts (1996-97). He then returned to the United States to finish his pro career, playing with the Buffalo Bills (1998-2000), San Diego Chargers (2001-04) and, finally, back with the Patriots (2005). Flutie is a member of both the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.

RYAN NECE – Nece begins his professional broadcasting career after a seven-year NFL career as a linebacker with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2002-07) and the Detroit Lions (2008). Nece was part of the Buccaneers team that won Super Bowl XXXVII. His interest in a broadcasting career led him to the NFL Films Broadcaster Boot Camp, from which he comes highly recommended. Nece worked for seven seasons both on the football field and in the community, and he also honed his business acumen. As a co-founder of DERY Realty, Nece’s primary focus has been buying, renovating and selling single-family homes. Nece also co-founded the Solidarity Fund with his NFL colleagues. Nece, who played football and received a Bachelor’s Degree in business economics from UCLA, is the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame safety Ronnie Lott.

DAMON HACK – Hack is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, covering golf and the NFL. He also covered golf and the NFL for The New York Times, in addition to covering golf and the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association for Newsday. Hack also covered the San Francisco 49ers for the Sacramento Bee. He was born in Los Angeles, and graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in history and from Cal-Berkeley with a master’s degree in journalism.

HDNet:

KENNY RICE – An award-winning sportscaster, Rice hosts the popular HDNet program, Inside MMA. In addition to working UFL broadcasts last season, Rice has called play-by-play for Harvard-Yale football games, the Wooden Classic and Wooden Tradition college basketball tournaments, the College Basketball Invitational, boxing and MMA for HDNet. For NBC, Rice covers the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, and has covered the 2004 (boxing) and 2008 (equestrian) Summer Olympics, as well as the United States Olympic Trials in both the triathlon and equestrian. He also has reported on the NFL for NBC’s Football Night in America, and has called track and field, rugby and basketball for the 2008 Paralympics Games. Rice’s varied broadcasting background also includes calling the Pro Bull Riders World Finals, in addition to hosting horse racing for ESPN from 1997 to 2006. He also was a co-host of college basketball’s Midnight Madness for the debut of ESPNU, ESPN’s college programming-based network.

PAUL MAGUIRE – Maguire is a veteran broadcaster who was turned in nearly 40 years in television, including covering four Super Bowls (XXIII, XXX, XXII and XXVII), and serving as a member of NBC’s lead NFL broadcast team with Dick Enberg. He also provided his candor and insight to ESPN’s NFL Sunday Night Football, and worked as an analyst for college football on ABC. Maguire also stood out during an 11-year professional football career as a punter and linebacker for the San Diego Chargers (1960-63) and Buffalo Bills (1964-70), during which time he played in six American Football League championship games. He was a member of three AFL championship teams (1963-65), and was named to the Bills’ Silver Anniversary All-Time Team as a punter in 1984. Maguire is one of only 20 players who were in the AFL for its entire 10-season existence. Maguire is a member of the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.

RON KRUCK – Ron Kruck has worked for Mark Cuban’s high-definition network HDNet since 2003 and is an integral member of its ground breaking MMA coverage. In addition to interviewing the sports biggest stars, Kruck is the lead reporter / news anchor for the popular program Inside MMA and produces the weekly segment Kruck’s Korner. He has also handled play-by-play duties for HDNet Fights, the International Fighting League and has covered boxing and college football for the network. The multi-talented broadcaster will return to his mainstream sports roots and, for the second consecutive year, work the sidelines for the United Football League. Prior to joining HDNet, Kruck’s sports broadcasting career began as a producer and reporter for Prime Sports Network, TBS Super Station, KUSA-TV and KWHD-TV. Kruck has reported on the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs, the Major League Baseball playoffs, the NBA playoffs, as well as the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, US Olympic Trials and the Fiesta and Orange Bowls. In addition, Kruck has covered University of Colorado football and basketball.

 

PAUL CRANE – Crane, a veteran sports broadcaster, joins the UFL coverage on HDNet this fall. He also serves as a host for all New Orleans Saints programming on Cox Sports Television, the regional home for the reigning Super Bowl champions. Crane also has done play-by-play work for both Cox and Comcast regional networks. Crane spent nearly 10 years at CNN Sports and CNN/SI, covering college football and basketball, hosting a weekly college football preview show and hosting the weekly College Coaches Corner, the program on which the weekly CNN/USA Today college football coaches’ poll was announced. He also spent nearly 10 years as a sports anchor/reporter at KDFW-TV in Dallas, primarily covering the Dallas Cowboys, the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, MLB’s Texas Rangers, the then-Southwest Conference, the then-Big Eight Conference, the Cotton Bowl, the Oklahoma-Texas football game and PGA Tour events in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

NESN:

MIKE LOGAN – Mike is an experienced play-by-play announcer as he is the television and radio voice for the Providence College men’s hockey team, a position he has held for the past 16 seasons.  He has also served as a play-by-play announcer for the Pawtucket Red Sox and broadcast football and basketball for both Harvard and Northeastern Universities.

BRETT HABER – For almost 15 years, Brett has become established as a fixture of sports news broadcasting.  He has previously served as an anchor for ESPN’s SportsCenter. During his career, he has received 17 Emmy Awards, including a remarkable four-year run as the Washington D.C. area’s most outstanding sports anchor beginning in 2007 and continuing through this year.  Brett joined WUSA9 in November 2004 and is currently the station’s sports director and primary sports anchor.

SCOTT ZOLAK – Zolak will be the color analyst for UFL games on the New England Sports Network. He has worked both pregame and postgame analysis of New England Patriots games on radio and television. Zolak co-hosts the “Gresh and Zolak” show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 98.5 FM The Sports Hub in Boston, Massachusetts. A former quarterback in the National Football League, Zolak spent eight seasons with the New England Patriots (1991-98) and one with the Miami Dolphins (1999). In 55 career games, Zolak threw for 1,314 yards and eight touchdowns. He originally was a fourth-round pick of the Patriots in 1991. Zolak played college football at Maryland.

TONY TERZI – Tony has more than 20 years of experience in the broadcast industry. He has worked as a Sports Anchor/Reporter at WTIC, Sports Anchor/Reporter at WVIT (NBC 30), and Air Personality at KC-101. Currently, Terzi is a SportsCenter anchor for ESPN Radio.

JOHN CHANDLER – John is no stranger to NESN viewers, having served as both an anchor and reporter for NESN’s sports news programming. In 2009, he worked as the play-by-play voice for the Springfield Armor of the NBA D-League. He also worked as a sports reporter/anchor at WEWS in Cleveland, Ohio and WVII in Bangor, Maine. His work has earned several Emmy nominations and has been recognized by the Associated Press and the Maine Association of Broadcasters.

That’s it for this post.