Frank Fixaris

Frank Fixaris (May 6, 1934 in Torrington,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

– January 13, 2006 in Falmouth,

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

) was an American sportscaster, anchor, reporter, and disc jockey, spending the majority of his career at

WGME-TV WGME-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Portland, Maine, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services to Waterville-licensed Fox affiliate WPFO (channel 23) under a loc ...

br>
in Portland, Maine, Portland,

. He also, along with partner Dave "Shoe" Schumacher, co-hosted a morning radio show on WJABbr>
after his television run. "Shoe" continues to co-host the show, known as "The Morning Jab", with present partner, Joe Palmieri. Fixaris attended college in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

and graduated from Emerson Collegebr>
in 1956. He then worked at several radio stations early in his career before taking the job as a sports anchor at WGME in 1965 (then

WGAN WGAN (560 AM) is an commercial radio station licensed to Portland, Maine. The station is owned by Saga Communications and it airs a news/talk radio format. The station calls itself "WGAN Newsradio 98.5 FM and AM 560." The studios and offices ...

) and continued there until 1995. He served as sports director there from 1967 until 1992. Coincidentally Fixaris'

cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...

, former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player

Jimmy Piersall James Anthony Piersall (November 14, 1929 – June 3, 2017) was an American baseball center fielder who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for five teams, from 1950 through 1967. Piersall was best known for his well-publicized ba ...

, also worked as a sportscaster. He was the

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and t ...

of the Maine Marinersbr>
and later the Portland Pirates of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

. Although offered several network positions (particularly with

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

, as well as the New York Islanders), he chose to remain in Maine. He was co-awarded one of the

James H. Ellery Memorial Awards The James H. Ellery Memorial Awards are presented annually to the individuals of the news media for outstanding media coverage of the American Hockey League. The awards are given in memory James Ellery, former publicity director for the AHL. The fi ...

by the AHL for his outstanding work in 1978. In honor of his many years of work with the Mariners/Pirates, the press box at the

Cumberland County Civic Center Cross Insurance Arena (formerly Cumberland County Civic Center) is a multi-purpose arena located in Portland, Maine. Built in 1977, at a cost of US$8 million, it is the home arena for the Maine Mariners of the ECHL. There are 6,206 permanent sea ...

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bears his name as a memorial tribute. A 2006 inductee into the Maine Association of Broadcasters, Maine Association of Broadcaster's hall of fame, Fixaris is also remembered annually with an award in his name issued by the Portland Fire Department, as well as two scholarships for students studying communication science at

Saint Joseph's College of Maine Saint Joseph's College of Maine is a private Catholic college in Standish, Maine. It is the only Catholic college in Maine. Saint Joseph's was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1912. The college, run by a lay and religious Board of Trustees, ...

br>
The

Fix Cup Fix or FIX may refer to: People with the name * Fix (surname) Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Fix'' (film), a feature film by Tao Ruspoli Music * ''Fix'' (album), 2015 album by Chris Lane * "Fix" (Blackstreet song), 1997 song by Black ...

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a former annual high school hockey tournament in Portland (modeled after the Beanpot (ice hockey), Beanpot tournament), was named after Fixaris. He was known as having an encyclopedic knowledge of all things sports, especially at the local level. Popular broadcasters Mike Emrick,

Dale Arnold Dale Everett Arnold (born March 27, 1956) is a New England sportscaster. He hosts Boston Bruins broadcasts on NESN and co-hosted talk radio shows on WEEI until his retirement from radio on March 12, 2021, announced the day before. He was the ...

Tom Caron Tom Caron (born November 18, 1963) is a sportscaster and anchor on New England's NESN network. Background Caron is a graduate of Lewiston High School in Maine and Saint Michael's College in Vermont, where he majored in journalism. After graduat ...

, Scott Wykoff and J.J. Jeffrey considered him as being instrumental in their development. Fixaris died in a fire at his home on January 13, 2006. He is survived by his wife, Barbara, and a son, Michael. His brother, Richard, died in December, 2013. He is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fixaris, Frank 1934 births 2006 deaths American sports announcers Maine Mariners (AHL) Portland Pirates Emerson College alumni People from Falmouth, Maine Burials at Evergreen Cemetery (Portland, Maine) Radio personalities from Maine