Bob Ley (born March 16, 1955 in Newark, New Jersey, last name pronounced /liː/) is a sportscaster for the ESPN cable-TV network.

[edit] Biography

Ley grew up in Bloomfield, New Jersey, where he attended Bloomfield High School.^[1] He got his start in broadcasting at WSOU at Seton Hall University. After graduating magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications, Ley worked several minor broadcasting jobs, including public address announcer with the New York Cosmos soccer team, before landing his first major position with the fledgling ESPN in 1979.

In 1980, Bob Ley hosted the first NCAA Selection Show ever. CBS would follow suit 2 years later.^[2]

Ley is famous for breaking the banishment of Pete Rose from Major League Baseball for life in 1989. He also anchored, along with Trey Wingo, the lone SportsCenter on September 11, 2001, to announce there would be no games for at least one week.

Ley currently hosts ESPN's investigative program Outside the Lines. He did host SportsCenter for much of his career at ESPN, returning on August 9, 2004 to host an "old school" edition with longtime partner Charley Steiner.

Ley is one of only two original SportsCenter anchors still with ESPN, the other being Chris Berman.

[edit] Honors

• 1987 - Bloomfield High School Athletic Hall of Fame
• 1995 - Northeastern University Center for Study of Sport and Society and School of Journalism Excellence in Sports Journalism Award
• WSOU-FM Hall of Fame Member
• Eight Sports Emmy Awards for Sports Journalism
• Three CableACE Awards for Sports Information Series
• Four CableACE Awards (with Suburban Cablevision, East Orange, New Jersey)
• 2008 - Commencement Speaker for the University of Hartford (West Hartford, CT)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2009/11/ley_bob/