John Saunders | |
|---|---|
 Saunders providing play-by-play forUniversity of Kentucky's 2015 Blue-White scrimmage | |
| Born | (1955-02-02)February 2, 1955 |
| Died | August 10, 2016(2016-08-10) (aged 61) |
| Citizenship | Canada United States of America |
| Education | Western Michigan University(1974-76) Ryerson University(1976-78) |
| Occupation(s) | Sports journalist, television personality, commentator, announcer |
| Years active | 1977–2016 |
| Employer | The Walt Disney Company |
| Television | SportsCenter NFL Primetime NHL on ABC Baseball Night in America NBA Shootaround The Sports Reporters |
| Spouse | Wanda Saunders (1987–2016) |
| Children | 2 |
John Peterson Saunders (February 2, 1955 – August 10, 2016) was aCanadian-American sports journalist. He worked forESPN andABC from 1986 until his death in 2016.
Saunders attended high school inChâteauguay, Quebec. He was an all-star defenseman in theMontreal junior leagues and received a scholarship to playhockey forWestern Michigan University from 1974 to 1976[1] with his brother,Bernie. He transferred toRyerson University inToronto and played for theRams from 1976 to 1978. After the 1977–78 season, Saunders was named to the Ontario University Athletic Association All-Star team.[2]
Saunders was the news director forCKNS Radio inEspanola, Ontario in 1978; sports anchor atCKNY-TV inNorth Bay, Ontario in 1978–1979; and atATV News inNew Brunswick in 1979–1980. He then worked as the main sports anchor forCITY-TV in Toronto from 1980–1982. He then moved to the United States to work as a sports anchor atWMAR-TV inBaltimore in 1982–1986.[3]
Saunders joined ESPN in1986. He co-hostedNFL Primetime from 1987 to 1989. He was also the secondary studio host for the network'sNHL broadcasts from1986–87 to1987–88, filling-in for lead hostTom Mees when needed. Then, he became the lead studio host from1992–93 until2004 andNHL on ABC from 1992 to 1994 and again from 2000 to 2004[4][5][6][7][8] and hostedCollege Football on ABC from 1992 to 2015. He was the host of ESPN'sThe Sports Reporters, starting with the illness and subsequent death ofDick Schaap on December 21, 2001.[9][10] He also hostedABC's coverage of baseball under theBaseball Night in America banner, including forThe Baseball Network,[11] and was involved in ESPN's coverage earlier in his career. He also anchored the1995 World Series for ABC.
Saunders was the television play-by-play announcer for theToronto Raptors from 1995 to 2001, when he was succeeded byChuck Swirsky.[12]
From2002 to2004, and occasionally during the2007 season, Saunders did play-by-play for ESPN's coverage of theNBA, mostly on Sunday nights. He was the studio host of ESPN'sNBA Shootaround from2004 to2006.
Saunders also served as a back-up play-by-play man forNBA on ABC. He called most of theTeam USA games on ESPN for the2007 FIBA Americas Championship.
In 2008, Saunders began hosting the 7 pm SundaySportsCenter during the NFL season withChris Berman and analystTom Jackson.[13]
Saunders was an advocate for juvenile diabetes research, having been diagnosed withType 1 diabetes as an adult in the early 1980s after his then-girlfriend dragged him to the hospital to get tested.[14][15] He was also a founding board member of theV Foundation for Cancer Research.[16] He lived inHastings-on-Hudson, New York, with his wife Wanda, and two daughters. He was the brother of formerNational Hockey League playerBernie Saunders.[17]
Saunders's memoir,Playing Hurt: My Journey from Despair to Hope, which spans his three-decade career at ESPN and ABC, was published posthumously in 2017.[18]
On August 10, 2016, Saunders's wife discovered him not breathing in their New York home. Emergency responders attended the scene but at around 4 a.m. he was pronounced dead. He was 61 years old.[19][20] Family members stated Saunders had not been feeling well in the days leading up to his death, but no specific cause of death was publicly announced, though authorities ruled out foul play.[21][22][23]
John U. Bacon, who co-authored Saunders's autobiography, stated in the book that the coroner found that Saunders died from a combination of an enlarged heart, complications from his diabetes, anddysautonomia, a condition that affects the part of the nervous system which regulates breathing, blood pressure and heart rate.[24] Saunders's brain was donated toMount Sinai School of Medicine for research, at his request. He was included in the "In Memoriam" segment at the2017 ESPY Awards.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)| Media offices | ||
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| Preceded by | ABC's Wide World of Sports host 1995–1996 | Succeeded by |
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