Gary Thorne
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Gary Thorne (born June 9, 1948 in Maine) is a play-by-play announcer for ESPN and ABC, working Major League Baseball, College Football and Frozen Four hockey contests.
Background
Well-known for his tireless work ethic (on one particular night, he did the play-by-play for a hockey telecast then took a red-eye flight to call a MLB telecast the very next day), Thorne has called some of the most memorable games in Stanley Cup Playoff history, and his voice is probably the most recognizable voice to hockey fans in the United States. He was almost always paired along with analyst Bill Clement during hockey telecasts. NBC enlisted Thorne to call the hockey tournament with John Davidson during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. However, despite his longevity, Thorne has been named hockey's "Worst Play-by-Play Announcer" by the magazine, Hockey Digest, many times, with fellow hockey broadcaster Mike Emrick being named the best.After graduating from the University of Maine and Georgetown Law School in 1976 (while paying tuition as a sportscaster/disc jockey), Thorne became Bangor district attorney and joined the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court. But eventually, Thorne found courtrooms dull when compared to broadcasting. In 1977, Thorne called hockey games for Augusta radio and television. By 1984, Thorne had enough leverage with baseball's Triple-A Maine Guides to name himself a co-owner.
Ironically, Thorne's son-in-law, Damian DiGiulian, is an assistant coach for the University of Vermont hockey team; Maine (Thorne's alma mater) and Vermont are rivals in the Hockey East conference of Division I hockey.
Career
In 1985, Thorne began a four year stint as a radio announcer for the New York Mets. Thorne was present in the booth at Shea Stadium along with the late Bob Murphy for the now famous sixth game of the 1986 World Series between the Mets and Boston Red Sox. Thorne was one of the first people to criticize the Red Sox for leaving ill-fated Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner out in the 10th inning over Dave Stapleton.From 1987-1993, Thorne served as the play-by-play voice of the New Jersey Devils of the NHL. By this time, Thorne's hockey duties started to conflict his job with the Mets so he left New York in favor of a one year stint with the Chicago White Sox.
In 1989, Thorne was named a back up play-by-play announcer (behind Al Michaels) for ABC's Thursday Night Baseball telecasts with Joe Morgan. Thorne also served as a field reporter for the World Series and covered the World Series Trophy presentation for ABC. Like his ABC Sports collegues, Al Michaels, Jim Palmer, Tim McCarver, and Joe Morgan, Thorne was at San Francisco's Candlestick Park when the infamous Loma Prieta earthquake hit on October 17, 1989.
Beginning in 1997, Gary Thorne has served as the play-by-play man for the World Series on Armed Forces Radio/Major League Baseball International-TV[link][link]. He also calls ABC's coverage of the Capital One Bowl. In 2005 when ESPN dropped out of the bidding for NHL hockey games, Gary Thorne began doing play-by-play for baseball and college football on ESPN.
His signature home run call is "Goodbye! Home run!"
Controversy
In 2004, Thorne wrote an article for The Bangor Daily News in which he described the National Basketball Association as "quickly becoming the nation's most expensive gang, if not the most dangerous."The article attracted derision from some corners, with some people, a majority of whom were African American, viewing the comments as 'code' and/or racist. The comments did not attract a firestorm outside of online discussion boards and were never picked up by the national media. Thorne has not spoken about them publicly.
Memorable Calls
One of the greatest games he covered was Game 6 of the 1994 NHL Eastern Conference Finals between the New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils, it was a game in which Mark Messier guaranteed a Rangers win. He called the game on ESPN."Leetch drops it, Kovalev again, save Brodeur reboud score!!! Mark Messier gets his second score, The Rangers lead 3-2."
"John McLean center, for the open net, Mark Messier, DO YOU BELIEVE IT!!! DO YOU BELIEVE IT!!! He said we will win Game 6, he has just picked up a hat trick."
References
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