American Sportscasters Association (ASA) was founded in 1979 by broadcaster Dick London and associate attorney Harold Foner as a non profit association to represent sportscaster

Sportscaster

In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...

s by promoting and supporting the needs and interests of the professional sports broadcaster

Presenter

A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...

.

History

In 1980, Louis O. Schwartz was asked to revitalize the organization by London and Foner and was named Executive Director. In 1983, a Board of Directors was established consisting of Dick Enberg, Lou Schwartz, Jack Brickhouse, Don Dunphy and Curt Gowdy. Enberg was elected as Chairman and Schwartz as President.

Halls of Fame

In 1984, Lou Schwartz founded the ASA Hall of Fame to honor those who have achieved excellence in the field of sports broadcasting. Inductees include Mel Allen

Mel Allen

Mel Allen was an American sportscaster, best known for his long tenure as the primary play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees. During the peak of his career in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, Allen was arguably the most prominent member of his profession, his voice familiar to millions...

, Red Barber

Red Barber

Walter Lanier "Red" Barber was an American sportscaster.Barber, nicknamed "The Ol' Redhead", was primarily identified with radio broadcasts of Major League Baseball, calling play-by-play across four decades with the Cincinnati Reds , Brooklyn Dodgers , and New York Yankees...

, Jack Brickhouse

Jack Brickhouse

John Beasley "Jack" Brickhouse was an American sportscaster. Known primarily for his play-by-play coverage of Chicago Cubs games on WGN-TV from 1948 to 1981, he received the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983...

, Jack Buck

Jack Buck

John Francis "Jack" Buck was an American sportscaster, best known for his work announcing Major League Baseball games of the St. Louis Cardinals. Buck received the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987, and is honored with a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame...

, Harry Caray

Harry Caray

Harry Caray, born Harry Christopher Carabina, was an American baseball broadcaster on radio and television. He covered four Major League Baseball teams, beginning with a long tenure calling the games of the St...

, Howard Cosell

Howard Cosell

Howard William Cosell was an American sports journalist who was widely known for his blustery, cocksure personality. Cosell said of himself, "Arrogant, pompous, obnoxious, vain, cruel, verbose, a showoff. I have been called all of these...

, Don Dunphy

Don Dunphy

Don Dunphy was a United States television and radio sports announcer specializing in boxing broadcasts. Dunphy was noted for his fast paced delivery and enthusiasm for the sport. It is estimated that he did "blow-by-blow" action for over 2,000 fights. The Friday Night Fights were broadcast every...

, Marty Glickman

Marty Glickman

Martin "Marty" Glickman was a Jewish American track and field athlete and sports announcer, born in The Bronx, New York. His parents, Harry and Molly Glickmann, immigrated to the United States from Jassy, Romania....

, Curt Gowdy

Curt Gowdy

Curtis Edward "Curt" Gowdy was an American sportscaster, well known as the longtime "voice" of the Boston Red Sox and for his coverage of many nationally-televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early years:The son of a manager for the Union Pacific railroad,...

, Ernie Harwell

Ernie Harwell

William Earnest "Ernie" Harwell was an American sportscaster, known for his long career calling play-by-play of Major League Baseball games. For 55 years, 42 of them with the Detroit Tigers, Harwell called the action on radio and/or television...

, Chick Hearn

Chick Hearn

Francis Dayle "Chick" Hearn was an American sportscaster. Known primarily as the long-time play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association, the legendary Hearn is remembered for his rapid fire, staccato broadcasting style, inventing colorful phrases such...

, Ted Husing

Ted Husing

Edward Britt Husing was an American sportscaster and was among the first to lay the groundwork for the structure and pace of modern sports reporting on television and radio.-Early life and career:...

, Keith Jackson

Keith Jackson

Keith Jackson is an American sportscaster, known for his long career with ABC Sports , his coverage of college football , his style of folksy, down-to-earth commentary, and his distinctive voice, with its deep cadence, and operatic tone considered "like Edward R...

, Clem McCarthy

Clem McCarthy

Clem McCarthy was an American sportscaster and public address announcer. He also lent his voice to Pathe News's RKO newsreels. He was known for his gravelly voice and dramatic style, a "whiskey tenor" as sports announcer and executive David J...

, Jim McKay

Jim McKay

James Kenneth McManus , better known by his professional name of Jim McKay, was an American television sports journalist....

, Graham McNamee

Graham McNamee

Graham McNamee was a pioneering broadcaster in American radio, the medium's most recognized national personality in its first international decade....

, Lindsey Nelson

Lindsey Nelson

Lindsey Nelson was an American sportscaster best known for his broadcasts of college football and New York Mets baseball.-Early life and career:...

, Chris Schenkel

Chris Schenkel

Christopher Eugene "Chris" Schenkel was an American sportscaster. Over the course of five decades he called play-by-play for numerous sports on television and radio, becoming known for his smooth delivery and baritone voice.-Early life and career:Schenkel began his broadcasting career at radio...

, Ray Scott

Ray Scott (sportscaster)

Ray Scott , was an American sportscaster, best known for his broadcasts for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League. His brother Hal Scott was also a sportscaster.-Early life and career:Scott began his broadcasting career on local radio in the late 1930s...

, Vin Scully

Vin Scully

Vincent Edward Scully is an American sportscaster, known primarily as the play-by-play voice of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team on Prime Ticket, KCAL-TV and KABC radio...

, Bill Stern

Bill Stern

Bill Stern was a U.S. actor and sportscaster who announced the nation's first remote sports broadcast and the first telecast of a Major League Baseball game. In 1984, Stern was part of the American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame’s inaugural class which included sportscasting legends Red...

, Pat Summerall

Pat Summerall

George Allen "Pat" Summerall is a former American football player and television sportscaster, having worked at CBS, Fox, and ESPN.Summerall is best known for his work with John Madden on NFL telecasts for CBS and Fox.-High school:...

 and Jack Whitaker.

In 1987, the ASA established an International Hall of Fame. Its first inductee was Masao Hazama, one of Japan’s first TV sports broadcasters. Other inductees include well-known BBC boxing correspondent Harry Carpenter of England (1989), and Song Shixiong, sports commentator for China’s CCTV for over 30 years (1995).

Recognizing Sportcasters and Notable Individuals

A “Sportscaster of the Year” award has also been given to top sportscasters such as Bob Costas

Bob Costas

Robert Quinlan "Bob" Costas is an American sportscaster, on the air for the NBC network since the early 1980s.-Early life:...

, Marv Albert

Marv Albert

Marv Albert is an American television and radio sportscaster. Honored for his work as a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, he is commonly referred to as "the voice of basketball." From 1967–2004, he was also known as "the voice of the New York Knicks."Including Super Bowl XLII, Marv has called...

, Chris Berman, Al Michaels

Al Michaels

Alan Richard "Al" Michaels is an American television sportscaster. Now employed by NBC Sports after nearly three decades with ABC Sports, Michaels is one of the most prominent members of his profession...

, and John Madden

John Madden (American football)

John Earl Madden is a former American professional football player in the National Football League, a former Super Bowl-winning head coach with the Oakland Raiders in the American Football League and later the NFL, and a former color commentator for NFL telecasts. In 2006, he was inducted into...

, among others.

The ASA has also recognized sports greats and other notable individuals who have had an impact on society and the world of sports such as President Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

, Henry Kissinger

Henry Kissinger

Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...

, Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...

, Arthur Ashe

Arthur Ashe

Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. was a professional tennis player, born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. During his career, he won three Grand Slam titles, putting him among the best ever from the United States...

, Larry King

Larry King

Lawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....

, LeRoy Neiman

LeRoy Neiman

LeRoy Neiman is an American artist known for his brilliantly colored, pseudo-expressionist paintings and screen prints of athletes and sporting events.- Early years :...

, and Joe DiMaggio

Joe DiMaggio

Joseph Paul "Joe" DiMaggio , nicknamed "Joltin' Joe" and "The Yankee Clipper," was an American Major League Baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career for the New York Yankees. He is perhaps best known for his 56-game hitting streak , a record that still stands...

.

Events

The ASA has had 14 highly successful Hall of Fame dinners with over 500 attendees at each one.

Board of Directors

The current Board of Directors ( as of 2010) is made up of Dick Enberg, Jon Miller

Jon Miller

Jon Wallace Miller is an American sportscaster, known primarily for his broadcasts of Major League Baseball. He is currently employed as a play-by-play announcer for the San Francisco Giants. He was also a baseball announcer on ESPN until the network chose not to renew his contract following the...

, Jim Nantz

Jim Nantz

James William Nantz, III is an American sportscaster, known primarily for his work with CBS Sports television.-Early life:...

, Bill Walton

Bill Walton

William Theodore "Bill" Walton III is a retired American basketball player and television sportscaster. The "Big Red-Head", as he was called, achieved superstardom playing for John Wooden's powerhouse UCLA Bruins in the early '70s, winning three straight College Player of the Year Awards, while...

and Lou Schwartz.