Paul Benedict Sunderland (born March 29, 1952) is an American professional
sportscaster who resides in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. He worked as the indoor volleyball play-by-play announcer for NBC Olympics’ coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics, and has worked for the NBC Sports Group's Summer Olympics coverage starting at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics. He is a former collegiate basketball and volleyball player and played on the
US National Men's Volleyball Team. He was a member of the
US Men's volleyball team that won the
Gold Medal
A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture.
Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...
at the
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...
.
Early life and athletic career
Sunderland grew up in
Sherman Oaks
Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density than ...
, in the San Fernando Valley region of
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
.
He attended
Notre Dame High School, graduating in 1970. Sunderland played basketball and football at Notre Dame, and was a San Fernando Valley League All-League selection as both a wide receiver in football and as a forward in basketball.
[ He started playing volleyball on the beach during his high school years, and states he had an immediate love for the game. He was recruited to the ]University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
on a basketball scholarship. Between his freshman and sophomore college seasons he began playing a great deal of beach volleyball, and he joined the University of Oregon's USVBA
USA Volleyball (USAV) is a non-profit organization which is recognized as the Sports governing body, national governing body of volleyball in the United States by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) and the United States Olympic ...
club team during his sophomore year. Sunderland states he set a goal to play on the US National Men's Volleyball Team. Following his sophomore year he transferred to Loyola Marymount
Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...
so he could play basketball and volleyball.[ Sunderland developed into one of Loyola's top volleyball players, earning All-America honors.]
Sunderland was invited to try out for the U.S. National team in 1975, and he made the cut for the developmental squad.[ Sunderland moved up to the "A" squad, after the USA team failed to qualify for the ]1976 Summer Olympics
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...
. [ He competed on the team for the next four years. He won U.S. Player of the Year awards in 1977, 1979 and 1982, at the USVBA national tournament.][ The USA national team failed to qualify for the ]1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...
, held in Moscow, of the Soviet Union. The United States boycotted the games, making the failure to qualify a moot point. It was clear that the teams that the USA put together following the USVBA nationals were no longer adequate in order to compete on the international level.
The program hired former player Doug Beal
Doug Beal (born March 4, 1947, in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American volleyball player and coach, a former USA Volleyball CEO, and a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
Education
* Master's degree in Education from Bowling G ...
as a full-time coach of the U.S. Men's National Team in 1977. He became the driving force for establishing a full-time, year-round volleyball training center. The facility was created in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...
, in 1978. California was the then-hotbed of volleyball talent, and many of the nation's top players would not relocate to Dayton in order to participate on the national team. The training center and the national team program were moved to San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
, in 1981. Sunderland was now a veteran, and he had developed into a solid all-around player. IHe was joined on the national team in San Diego by a collection of the top collegiate talent from the California area, including Karch Kiraly
Charles Frederick "Karch" Kiraly () (born November 3, 1960) is an American volleyball player, coach and broadcast announcer. In the 1980s he was a central part of the U.S National Team that won gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. He ...
, Dusty Dvorak
Douglas Scott "Dusty" Dvorak (born July 29, 1958 in San Diego, California) is a former volleyball player from the United States, who was a member of the American Men's National Team that won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 ...
, Steve Timmons
Steve Dennis Timmons (born November 29, 1958) is an American former volleyball player who represented the United States at three consecutive Summer Olympics starting in 1984, winning gold in 1984 and 1988 plus a bronze in 1992.
Steve played voll ...
, Craig Buck
Craig Werner Buck (born August 24, 1958 in Los Angeles, California) is a former volleyball player (position middle blocker) from the United States, who was a member of the American men's national team that won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Ol ...
, Steven Salmons
Steven Edward "Steve" Salmons (born July 3, 1958, in Saint Joseph, Missouri) is a former American volleyball player.
He won an Olympic gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympi ...
, Pat Powers and Doug Partie
Robert Douglas "Doug" Partie (born October 21, 1961 in Santa Barbara, California) is a former American volleyball player, who was a member of the United States men's national volleyball team that won the gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in ...
. The U.S.A. squad was among the world's elite teams by 1983. The turnaround culminated with the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...
in Los Angeles. Sunderland set winning an Olympic gold medal as a lifetime goal. Teammate Kiraly, said: "It is something that he really wanted, and it was really neat to see that one of the oldest guys on the team was also the most excited."
Broadcasting career
Following the completion of his playing career Sunderland pursued a career in broadcasting. Sunderland's athletic career formed the base for a broadcast career, initially working as a volleyball commentator.[ He was paired with former teammate ]Chris Marlowe
Christian "Chris" Marlowe (born September 28, 1951) is an American professional sportscaster who resides in Denver, Colorado. He currently is the play-by-play announcer for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association in the fall, ...
. Sunderland's hiring was a morale boost to Marlowe, who had been doing broadcast work for a number of years, usually paired with personnel with little or no volleyball experience. Said Marlowe, "Early on I was working with broadcasters who may not have known a volleyball from a pineapple. When Paul moved into the color spot – that really clicked. We were old friends, played together on the national team for years, and our chemistry was fantastic."[ Sunderland's first assignment was in 1985 working with Marlowe at the NCAA Men's Volleyball West Regional match between ]San Diego State
San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...
and Pepperdine
Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and ...
. Said Marlowe: "I can ask Paul anything on the air, at any time, and he always has an answer."[
From the color commentator spot Sunderland moved on to do ]play-by-play
In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...
, and extended into basketball and other sports. He soon took on work with the Clippers and Dodgers for Fox Sports Net.[ Starting in 1993, Sunderland covered Pac-10 basketball for ]ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
. He subsequently was hired by NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
to cover a number of sports, including the 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 ...
, WNBA and a variety of Olympic sports.[ Sunderland later served as an anchor on the ]Fox Sports Network
Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on Mar ...
.
In 1993 Sunderland began doing pre-game hosting for the Lakers. In 1995 Sunderland was working for Prime, NBC and ESPN.[ In the 2001-2002 season, the Lakers' long time play-by-play announcer, ]Chick Hearn
Francis Dayle "Chick" Hearn (November 27, 1916 – August 5, 2002) was an American sportscaster who was the play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association for 41 years. Hearn is remembered for his rapid f ...
, had to take time away while he recovered from heart surgery, and then more time was needed when he was injured in a fall and suffered a broken hip.[ Sunderland filled in for ]Chick Hearn
Francis Dayle "Chick" Hearn (November 27, 1916 – August 5, 2002) was an American sportscaster who was the play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association for 41 years. Hearn is remembered for his rapid f ...
for 56 games during the 2001-02 season. When Hearn died that year, in November 2002, he was announced as the new play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...
.[ He was only the second announcer ever hired by the team.][ He announced for the Lakers through 2005.] Since 2005, Sunderland has worked as an announcer for NBC and Universal Sports
Universal Sports was an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network. It was owned as a joint venture between InterMedia Partners (which owned a controlling 92% interest) and NBCUniversal (which owned the remaining 8%). ...
, covering the Pac-12
The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...
in the sports of Basketball, Volleyball, Track and Field and Tennis.[
Paul Sunderland served as the indoor volleyball play-by-play announcer for NBC Olympics’ coverage at the 2016 Summer Olympics, teaming with ]Kevin Barnett
Kevin Rees Barnett (born May 14, 1974) is an American former volleyball player. He played for the United States national team at the 2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United ...
as analyst. He has worked doing the NBC Sports Group's summer Olympics coverage since the 1992 Games in Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
. Sunderland currently serves as a play-by-play announcer for both volleyball and men's basketball on ESPN.[
]
Awards
Sunderland earned All-America honors while at Loyola Marymount in 1975.[ He won USVBA Player of the Year awards at the national "Open" tournament in 1977, 1979 and 1982.][ In 1986 he was inducted into the USVBA Hall of Fame in ]Wichita, Kansas
Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...
.[ That same year he was also inducted into the Loyola Marymount Hall of Fame.]
Sunderland has twice won the Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
for his play-by-play announcing with the LA Lakers.[
]
Personal life
Sunderland lives in Southern California with his wife, Maud-Ann.[ He met his wife at the 1977 World University Games in Bulgaria. Maud-Ann Tesch was a two-time national fencing champion from Sweden. She and Sunderland were married in Sweden in 1978. They have two children.][
]
References
;Citations
External links
LAKERS: Paul Sunderland Joins Lakers Broadcast Team
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunderland, Paul
1952 births
Living people
American television sports anchors
American men's volleyball players
College basketball announcers in the United States
Women's college basketball announcers in the United States
Los Angeles Lakers announcers
Oregon Ducks men's basketball players
Loyola Marymount Lions men's basketball players
Loyola Marymount Lions men's volleyball players
National Basketball Association broadcasters
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in volleyball
Television anchors from Los Angeles
Volleyball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Olympic Games broadcasters
Women's National Basketball Association announcers
Track and field broadcasters
Volleyball commentators
Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics
American men's basketball players