Alan Albert (born Alan Aufrichtig in
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
)
is a
sportscaster, who formerly called basketball games for the
New York Nets
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
and
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...
, as well as national
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
coverage for the
USA Network
USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...
. He was also a play-by-play sportscaster for the
Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...
. He has also worked in boxing, as the blow-by-blow announcer for ''
Tuesday Night Fights''.
Education
Albert obtained his degree from
Ohio University
Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...
, where he played hockey and lacrosse. He played goalie for both sports. Albert was invited to training camp by the
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...
and ended up playing a single season for the
Toledo Blades
The Toledo Blades and Hornets were the International Hockey League franchise of Toledo, Ohio from 1963 to 1974. The first four years (1959-1963) of the franchise was in Omaha, NE as the Omaha Knights. After moving to Toledo for the 1963-64 seas ...
.
Career
Albert started his broadcasting career in Denver, working for a local broadcasting company called KOA and also
KHOW
KHOW (630 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Denver, Colorado, and serving the Denver metropolitan area. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. KHOW is one of three iHeart-owned stations in Denver with a news/talk radio format. C ...
radio and
KWGN-TV
KWGN-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Denver, Denver, Colorado, United States, airing programming from The CW. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group alongside Fox Broadcasting ...
. He also served as a sports anchor on
WNBC
WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo station WN ...
in New York City and was the voice of the
New York Nets
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
and
New York Islanders
The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...
.
He was the voice for the Nuggets for 21 years until he decided to leave Denver in 1996. In 1999, he joined the
Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...
as a play-by-play man. He worked there until 2007.
On January 24, 1984, Albert, working for USA network, called what
Syracuse
Syracuse may refer to:
Places Italy
*Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa''
*Province of Syracuse
United States
*Syracuse, New York
**East Syracuse, New York
**North Syracuse, New York
*Syracuse, Indiana
* Syracuse, Kansas
*Syracuse, Miss ...
fans call the greatest game in the
Carrier Dome
The JMA Wireless Dome, originally the Carrier Dome (1980–2022) and colloquially called "The Dome," or more recently "The JMA Dome," is a domed sports stadium in Syracuse, New York. Located on the campus of Syracuse University in the University ...
ever. Syracuse faced
Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...
, and the teams were tied 73-73 after a missed free throw by Boston College's Martin Clark. Sean Kerins passed the rebound to
Pearl Washington
Dwayne Alonzo "Pearl" Washington (January 6, 1964 – April 20, 2016) was an American professional basketball player. He was a , guard.
Early life
Washington grew up in the Brownsville section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, where ...
who took three steps and made a half court shot to win the game. Albert's call lives on as The Greatest Play By Play Call in the Carrier Dome ever: "Washington, two seconds, OHHHH! 'The Pearl' hits it ..at midcourt." Syracuse University basketball fans call that the greatest nine words in Syracuse history.
Awards and honors
In 1995, he won the
Sam Taub Award The Sam Taub Award is a yearly award presented by the Boxing Writers Association of America for Excellence in Broadcasting Journalism. The award is named after Sam Taub, a journalist and radio broadcaster who is best known for his work covering box ...
for excellence in boxing broadcasting journalism.
International Boxing Hall of Fame/BWAA Awards
/ref>
Family
Albert hails from a family of broadcasters. His brothers, Marv and Steve Albert
Steve Albert (born Stephen Aufrichtig in Brooklyn, New York;April 26, 1952) is a former American sportscaster. He has served as a play-by-play announcer for the New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets, Golden State Warriors, New York Mets, and Phoe ...
, and a nephew, Kenny
Kenny is a surname, a given name, and a diminutive of several different given names.
In Ireland, the surname is an Anglicisation of the Irish language, Irish ''Ó Cionnaith'', also spelt ''Ó Cionnaoith'' and ''Ó Cionaodha'', meaning "descendant ...
, are also play-by-play sports commentators.
References
External links
PACERS: Al Albert
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American Basketball Association announcers
American television sports announcers
American radio sports announcers
Boxing commentators
College basketball announcers in the United States
Denver Nuggets announcers
Indiana Pacers announcers
Los Angeles Clippers announcers
Jewish American sportspeople
Major League Baseball broadcasters
National Basketball Association broadcasters
National Football League announcers
National Hockey League broadcasters
New York Islanders announcers
New York Rangers announcers
New York Nets announcers
New York Jets announcers
Ohio University alumni
Sportspeople from Brooklyn
Television anchors from New York City
Toledo Blades players
New Jersey Devils announcers
21st-century American Jews
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