Brian Williams (sportscaster)
Encyclopedia
Brian Williams is a Canadian
sportscaster
who is best known for his coverage of the Olympic Games
.
, New Haven, Connecticut
, Edmonton, Alberta, Hamilton, Ontario
(where he graduated from Westdale Secondary School
), and Grand Rapids, Michigan
(where he graduated from Aquinas College
with a B.A.
in history & political science in 1969). After graduating, he spent a year as a teacher at a Grand Rapids school.
Williams was long associated with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
's sports coverage since joining the network in 1974, after radio employment at Toronto's CFRB
and CHUM
.
, Formula 1 and horse racing and was the play-by-play announcer for the network's coverage of the Toronto Blue Jays
. Along with Terry Leibel
and Ron MacLean
, he was a regular studio anchor for CBC's Olympic Games
coverage. Williams also headed the CTV
broadcasting team for the 2010 Winter Olympics
in Vancouver
, and will continue to do so for the 2012 Summer Olympics
in London
. Williams also covered the 2002 FIFA World Cup
for CBC. Williams has criticized the International Olympic Committee
at least once for never properly honouring the Israel
i delegates who were slain
during the 1972 Summer Olympics
.
Williams also worked with Peter Mansbridge
during CBC 2000 Today, CBC's coverage of the millennium. He also currently co-hosts Don Cherry's Grapeline, along with Don Cherry.
.
, and its sports network TSN
. However, on June 8, 2006, the CBC fired Williams, thereby causing him to join CTV/TSN effective immediately as on-site host of TSN's Canadian Football League
coverage. (This position should not be confused with the "studio host" position that remains held by Dave Randorf
.)
in Vancouver.
On February 22, 2010, while providing coverage of the Winter Olympics, Williams did a skit with Brian Williams
, the anchor of NBC Nightly News
, at CTV
's Olympic set. Some in the media dubbed this the new "Battle of the Brians
," as NBC's Williams compared his own modest set to CTV's expensive Olympic studio.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
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...
who is best known for his coverage of the Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
.
Biography
Williams' father was a very successful doctor. His father's profession had Williams constantly relocating to such places as Invermere, British ColumbiaInvermere, British Columbia
Invermere is a community in eastern British Columbia, Canada, near the border of Alberta. With its growing permanent population of almost 4,000 , swelling to near 40,000 on summer weekends, it is the hub of the Columbia Valley between Golden, and Cranbrook...
, New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
, Edmonton, Alberta, Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
(where he graduated from Westdale Secondary School
Westdale Secondary School
Westdale Secondary School is a public high school founded in 1931 in Hamilton, Ontario. It is the second oldest high school in the city of Hamilton and is located in Westdale Village, a suburb in the west-end of the city. It is administered by the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board...
), and Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
(where he graduated from Aquinas College
Aquinas College (Michigan)
Aquinas College is a small Catholic college that aims to provide a liberal arts education located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Aquinas is considered one of the best liberal arts colleges in the Midwest region by U.S. News and World Report ....
with a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in history & political science in 1969). After graduating, he spent a year as a teacher at a Grand Rapids school.
Williams was long associated with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
's sports coverage since joining the network in 1974, after radio employment at Toronto's CFRB
CFRB (AM)
CFRB, Newstalk 1010, is an AM radio clear-channel station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, broadcasting on 1010 kHz, with a shortwave radio simulcast by CFRX-SW on 6.070 MHz. The station broadcasts a mix of talk and news throughout the day from its transmitter located in the community of...
and CHUM
CHUM (AM)
CHUM, branded as TSN Radio 1050, broadcasting at 1050 kHz in the AM band, is a Canadian radio station licensed to Toronto, Ontario. The station is owned and operated by Bell Media....
.
Career in Broadcast
Williams served as the studio host for the CBC's coverage of the CFLCFL on CBC
CFL on CBC was a presentation of Canadian Football League football aired on the CBC Television Network. CBC held broadcast rights for the CFL from 1952 to 2007...
, Formula 1 and horse racing and was the play-by-play announcer for the network's coverage of the Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball 's American League ....
. Along with Terry Leibel
Terry Leibel
Terry Leibel is a retired Canadian journalist and former member of the Canadian national equestrian team. After her career as an equestrian throughout the 1970s, Leibel was hired by CBC Sports as an equestrian sports analyst. She was the first woman to host a CBC Olympic Games broadcast...
and Ron MacLean
Ron MacLean
Ronald Harold "Ron" MacLean is a Canadian sportscaster for the CBC who is best known as the host of Hockey Night in Canada.-Early life and career:...
, he was a regular studio anchor for CBC's Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
coverage. Williams also headed the CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
broadcasting team for the 2010 Winter Olympics
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, and will continue to do so for the 2012 Summer Olympics
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the "London 2012 Olympic Games", are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Williams also covered the 2002 FIFA World Cup
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was implemented. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0...
for CBC. Williams has criticized the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
at least once for never properly honouring the Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i delegates who were slain
Munich massacre
The Munich massacre is an informal name for events that occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Bavaria in southern West Germany, when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and eventually killed by the Palestinian group Black September. Members of Black September...
during the 1972 Summer Olympics
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....
.
Williams also worked with Peter Mansbridge
Peter Mansbridge
Peter Mansbridge, OC , a Canadian broadcaster and news anchor, is the CBC News Chief Correspondent and anchor of The National, CBC Television's flagship nightly newscast. Mansbridge has received many awards and accolades for his journalistic work including an honorary doctorate from Mount Allison...
during CBC 2000 Today, CBC's coverage of the millennium. He also currently co-hosts Don Cherry's Grapeline, along with Don Cherry.
Unique quirks
His unique voice and quirks such as frequently announcing the time, sometimes in several different time zones at once, has made him one of Canada's most distinctive broadcasters. He is a frequent subject of parody on Canadian comedy shows such as Royal Canadian Air FarceRoyal Canadian Air Farce
Air Farce Live, also credited as Air Farce, previously Royal Canadian Air Farce, and Air Farce—Final Flight! for the final season, was a Canadian comedy series starring the comedy troupe The Royal Canadian Air Farce that previously starred in an eponymous radio show on CBC radio from 1973 to 1997...
.
Departure from CBC
On June 5, 2006, he announced plans to move in December 2006 to rival CTVCTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
, and its sports network TSN
The Sports Network
The Sports Network, commonly abbreviated as TSN, is a Canadian English language Category C specialty channel and is Canada's leading English language sports TV channel. TSN premiered in 1984, in the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels...
. However, on June 8, 2006, the CBC fired Williams, thereby causing him to join CTV/TSN effective immediately as on-site host of TSN's Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
coverage. (This position should not be confused with the "studio host" position that remains held by Dave Randorf
Dave Randorf
Dave Randorf is a Canadian sportscaster and current host of TSN's Canadian Football League studio show as well as TSN's and CTV's coverage of figure skating...
.)
CTV
Williams was chosen to head the CTV broadcasting team at the 2010 Winter Olympics2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
in Vancouver.
On February 22, 2010, while providing coverage of the Winter Olympics, Williams did a skit with Brian Williams
Brian Williams
Brian Douglas Williams is the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, the evening news program of the NBC television network, a position he assumed in 2004...
, the anchor of NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
, at CTV
CTV Sports
CTV Sports was the division of the CTV Television Network responsible for sports broadcasting. The division existed in its own right from 1961 to 2001; between 1998 and 2001, CTV Sports also operated a cable sports channel, CTV Sportsnet, now owned by Rogers Media and known simply as...
's Olympic set. Some in the media dubbed this the new "Battle of the Brians
Battle of the Brians
The Battle of the Brians was an informal name given to the figure skating rivalry between Canadian Brian Orser and American Brian Boitano at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. It is considered one of the most memorable competitions in figure skating history....
," as NBC's Williams compared his own modest set to CTV's expensive Olympic studio.
Multimedia
- CBC archives - Williams hosting the opening of SkyDome in Toronto.
- Grapeline archives - Williams co-hosts Grapeline with Don Cherry.