Jay Michael Onrait (born August 29, 1974) is a Canadian television personality and sports anchor who hosts ''SC with Jay Onrait'' on TSN. From 2003 to 2021, he has been frequently paired with fellow Canadian broadcaster

Dan O'Toole Daniel Gerard O'Toole (born September 10, 1975) is a former Canadian television sports anchor who was last employed by TSN. From 2003 to 2013 and 2017 to February 2021, he co-hosted the 1:00 AM ( ET) weekday broadcast of TSN's '' SportsCentre'', a ...

. In his first stint with TSN, he and O'Toole co-anchored the daily 1:00 am ( ET) edition of '' SportsCentre'' and were regarded as the lead anchor team for the network. Onrait was hired by the US sports network

FS1 Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports 2 ...

to be its lead co-anchor in 2013, and his final ''SportsCentre'' broadcast for TSN aired June 28, 2013. His final Fox Sports 1 show aired February 22, 2017. It was announced that Onrait and O'Toole would be returning to TSN to host a new show, '' SC with Jay and Dan'', on March 1, 2017.

Career

Onrait first joined TSN in 1996 as an editorial assistant while attending

Ryerson Polytechnic University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, although it also operates facilities elsewhere in Toro ...

. He later went on to become sports director at CFSK-TV in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as th ...

and then spent two years as the host of ''

The Big Breakfast ''The Big Breakfast'' is a British breakfast light entertainment television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4. Originally presented by Chris Evans and Gaby Roslin, the show was latterly presented by Mo Gilligan and AJ Odudu. The p ...

'' on the

A-Channel A-Channel (proposed as The Alberta Channel) was a Canadian television system initially owned by Craig Media from September 1997 to 2004, then by CHUM Limited from 2004 to 2005 through A-Channel, Inc. It consisted of Craig's television stations in ...

in Winnipeg. Onrait then joined NHL Network in 2001 as host of both the network's flagship show ''

NHL on the Fly ''NHL Tonight'' (formerly ''NHL on the Fly: Final'') is the flagship show on the NHL Network in Canada and the United States. The show made its debut under its current title in December 2011. It airs nightly at 10:00 pm throughout the NHL seaso ...

'' and ''Molson That's Hockey 2''. He moved to TSN in 2002 and in 2003 began co-hosting SportsCentre alongside

. In 2006, Onrait began blogging at TSN.ca. Topics have included the Stanley Cup and the NBA, as well as an all-day blog about the

NHL trade deadline In professional sports within the United States and Canada, a trade is a sports league transaction between sports clubs involving the exchange of player rights from one team to another. Though player rights are the primary trading assets, draft p ...

. His blogs are usually spiced with references to pop culture. In October 2010 he also became the host of the ''Sportscentre Morning Rush'' on TSN2 until it was taken off the air in October 2011. During the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gret ...

in Vancouver Onrait served as co-host of Olympic Morning alongside

Beverly Thomson Beverly D. Thomson (born April 15, 1966) is a Canadian journalist and correspondent with CTV News Channel. Along with Seamus O'Regan, Thomson was co-host of ''Canada AM'', CTV's former national morning show, from 2003 to 2016. In 2006, she re ...

. During the 2012 Summer Olympics in London Onrait co-hosted daily live editions of SportsCentre from London alongside O'Toole. On May 3, 2013, TSN announced that Onrait and his broadcast partner

would be leaving SportsCentre for broadcast opportunities on U.S. television at the newly formed

Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports ...

in Los Angeles. They continued to host SportsCentre until June 28, 2013. ''

Fox Sports Live ''Fox Sports Live'' is an American sports news program that aired on Fox Sports 1. It was hosted by Canadian sportscasters Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole, who had been well-known locally for their late-night editions of TSN's '' SportsCentre''. The ...

'' debuted on August 17, 2013, with Onrait and O'Toole as hosts and aired its final episode on February 22, 2017, when the show was canceled and the two broadcasters' contracts were not renewed. On March 1, 2017, TSN announced that Onrait and

would be returning to Canada to host a new show '' SC with Jay and Dan'', which would premiere in Fall of 2017. Its first episode aired September 4, 2017, at 12:00 am EST.

Podcast

When Onrait and O'Toole returned to TSN in 2017, the podcast returned as well with

Coors Light Coors Light is a 4.2% (US) ABV light beer brewed in Golden, Colorado; Albany, Georgia; Elkton, Virginia; Fort Worth, Texas; Irwindale, California; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was first produced in 1978 by the Coors Brewing Company. The Ca ...

as the sponsor. In 2019, Coors announced it would shift its advertising focus to the duo's SportsCentre show, which was later succeeded by

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

. After O’Toole was laid off by TSN in 2021, Onrait announced the podcast would be on an "extended hiatus". The final four episodes were dedicated to O’Toole.

Personal life

Onrait was raised in

Boyle, Alberta Boyle is a village in northern Alberta, Canada within Athabasca County. It is located on Highway 63, approximately north of Edmonton. Boyle is named after former Alberta Minister of Education, Justice John Robert Boyle (1871–1936), and found ...

and Athabasca, Alberta. His father was a pharmacist in Athabasca, and Onrait held jobs at the pharmacy growing up. When Onrait graduated from Edwin Parr Composite School in 1992, he was given a $250 graduation award for physical education from the Royal Canadian Legion’s Athabasca branch, despite not taking any athletic classes in his final year of high school. In 2018, Onrait gave the Athabaca Legion a $251 refund at a fundraiser dinner for the Athabasca Regional Multiplex. Onrait has released two books. ''Anchorboy'', which doubles as his autobiography, was released on October 1, 2013. ''Number Two: More Short Tales from a Very Tall Man'' followed on October 27, 2015. Both were Canadian bestsellers and released in paperback in November 2016. Since 2011, Onrait has compiled a best albums year-end list with TSN sports personality

Dave Hodge Dave Hodge (born January 8, 1945) is a Canadian sports announcer. Hodge worked for TSN, the CBC and CFRB 1010 radio in Toronto. Early Years Born in Montreal, Hodge began his career as a sportswriter with the ''Chatham Daily News'' in 1965, th ...

. Onrait married Chobi Liang, a former TSN publicist, in October 2013, after splitting with Darcy Modin in 2002.

Filmography

Awards

Onrait was nominated for a Gemini Award in 2010, and won the award in 2011 for Best Sportscaster for his work on Sportscentre.

References

External links

JayOnrait.com

TSN biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Onrait, Jay 1974 births Living people Canadian television sportscasters People from Athabasca, Alberta Toronto Metropolitan University alumni Fox Sports 1 people