Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy

Mike Tirico ’88 Returns to Newhouse, Talks Journalism, Sports, First Amendment

Friday, February 24, 2017, By News Staff
Share
alumniNewhouse School of Public Communications
two men talking

Mike Tirico on stage, accompanied by Newhouse Sports Media Center Director John Nicholson

“That was fun last night,” sportscaster Mike Tirico ’88 said as he greeted students Thursday morning, referring to Syracuse men’s basketball’s win over Duke the previous night. “That’s why sports matters.”

Tirico visited the Newhouse School’s Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium to take questions from students and discuss his career, the Olympics and the sports media industry. Before the Q&A, however, Tirico took some time to talk about the importance of Syracuse’s win.

“People within the University, people in the community, male, female—they all came together for one thing,” Tirico said. “They all came together to celebrate a silly basketball game, and that’s why sports matters to me.”

As a host and play-by-play announcer at NBC Sports, Tirico has covered pro and college football, the 2016 US Open and the 2016 Rio Olympics. Earlier this month, NBC announced that Tirico would be taking over the main Olympics hosting role from fellow Newhouse alumnus Bob Costas ’74 at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games.

Tirico has been a sports journalist for nearly 30 years, spending most of his career at ESPN before moving to NBC in 2016. One of the keys to his success as a sportscaster, Tirico said, is his versatility. The large volume of sports on TV requires most sportscasters to cover multiple sports.

“It’s like having 14 golf clubs in your bag and being able to hit with every single one,” Tirico said.

Although the basic preparation for covering different sports is the same, Tirico said awareness of every sport’s nuances is important.

Covering tennis for the first time was a challenge for Tirico because he needed to know the game’s complete history, all of its rules and the correct pronunciation of every player’s name, many of whom came from Eastern Europe.

“You have to get things right so you don’t sound like the football guy calling tennis,” Tirico said. “When you get thrown into something, you have to act like you’ve been there before.”

people in large group

Mike Tirico poses with students and other guests following his talk at the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium

Tirico’s next challenge will be the Pyeongchang Olympics, which begin next February in South Korea. Tirico, who has never covered the Winter Olympics before, said he will begin to prepare for Pyeongchang in the coming weeks.

Although Tirico will be taking over Costas’s role as the main host of the Olympics, he said he doesn’t think of himself as Costas’s replacement.

“I say I’m following Bob, not replacing,” Tirico said. “He’s one-of-a-kind talent, and if I tried to be Bob, I would fail.”

The conversation soon turned to the future of sports media and the use of instant replay when reviewing calls in the NFL. Tirico said changes to the NFL’s instant replay rules can give the replay producer control of the game.

Tirico gave an example of how the new replay rules could have affected Super Bowl LI. With two minutes remaining in the game, instant replay was needed to determine whether or not Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman had made a catch. Confident he caught the ball, Edelman signaled his teammates to quickly begin the next play before the opposing Falcons could view the instant replay and decide whether to challenge the call.

In this instance, the replay producer got the footage to the Falcons before the next play began. But Tirico said wrong calls might be made in the future if the replay producer doesn’t put the right footage together fast enough.

“I cannot see having the TV people have that kind of impact on the game,” he said. “It’s dumb.”

Although Tirico’s career has been in sports journalism, he said he gets angry when he sees attacks on other parts of the media. Tirico believes the First Amendment, which gives Americans the right to free speech, is the most important section of the Bill of Rights.

He told the audience, most of whom were students, that now is the best time to be learning about journalism.

“The question of journalism and what’s real has never been more relevant, it’s never been discussed more and it’s never been attacked more,” Tirico said.

Tirico said students angered by attacks on the media should strive to report with accuracy and quality—whether they are reporting on a feature story, sports or politics.

Prior to Tirico’s discussion with students, John Nicholson, director of the Newhouse Sports Media Center, announced that Tirico would receive the fifth annual Marty Glickman Award for Leadership in Sports Media. Previous award recipients include Bob Costas ’74, Beth Mowins ’90, Marv Albert ’63 and Sean McDonough ’84.

Story by Jordan Muller, a freshman newspaper and online journalism major at the Newhouse School

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Data Privacy Day 2021: Is Your Personal Information Safe?
    Monday, January 25, 2021, By Daryl Lovell
  • Spring 2021 Office of Research Events Focus on Research Success
    Monday, January 25, 2021, By News Staff
  • A&S Speech Disorders Professor: Poet Amanda Gorman’s Story Shares Important Lesson
    Monday, January 25, 2021, By Daryl Lovell
  • Syracuse University Names Four as “Unsung Heroes” in Honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
    Monday, January 25, 2021, By News Staff
  • WAER Will Transition to the Newhouse School This Summer
    Monday, January 25, 2021, By Wendy S. Loughlin

More In Media, Law & Policy

WAER Will Transition to the Newhouse School This Summer

Syracuse radio station WAER will become part of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, effective July 1. The announcement was made today by Newhouse Dean Mark J. Lodato, WAER director and general manager Joe Lee and Kristian Klinger,…

‘Democracy on Trial: Can We Save It?’

James Roger Sharp, professor emeritus of history in the Maxwell School, wrote an op-ed for Syracuse.com titled “Democracy on trial: Can we save it?” Sharp is an expert in American political history, having researched and written extensively about the history…

Future of News Production the Focus of NSF Planning Grant

Two researchers from Syracuse University are part of a team that received a $130,000 planning grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier. The project, “Planning to study automation and the future of news…

College of Law Adds Vincent H. Cohen ’92, L’95 to Board of Advisors

Syracuse University College of Law is pleased to announce the addition of Vincent H. Cohen ’92, L’95—Partner at Dechert LLP, based in Washington, DC—to its Board of Advisors. Cohen is widely recognized and honored for his work in high-stakes litigation…

‘Confronting ‘Who We Are”

Verena Erlenbusch-Anderson, associate professor of philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences, wrote an op-ed for History News Network titled “Confronting ‘Who We Are.’” Erlenbusch-Anderson specializes in political philosophy and often teaches courses on the philosophy of law. After…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2021 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.