Dave O'Brien is an American sportscaster who currently broadcasts various events for ESPN television and Westwood One radio. The Quincy, Massachusetts native now joins Joe Castiglione on Boston Red Sox radio broadcasts. O'Brien has called play-by-play for ESPN since 2002, handling MLB, the NBA, college basketball, and soccer (including Major League Soccer's MLS Primetime Thursday and United States men's national soccer team telecasts). He had previously been the voice of the Florida Marlins from the team's inaugural year in 1993 through 2001, and has provided commentary for MLB's international coverage of the World Series since 2004. O'Brien was television voice of the New York Mets on WPIX-TV from 2003 through 2005. He won the Achievements in Radio (A.I.R.) award for Best Play-by-Play for his call of Mark McGwire's 59th home run in 1998. [1] Before his work with the Marlins, O'Brien was the radio play-by-play man for the Atlanta Braves. He also called college football and basketball games for Georgia and Miami from 1987-1992, garnering the Georgia Associated Press' "Best Sports Play-by-Play" accolade in 1988 and 1991. [2] Prior to the 2005 season, O'Brien was denied permission by ESPN to join the Chicago Cubs' broadcast team. [3] [4] In 2007, O'Brien called play-by-play for an ESPN broadcast of a game between the San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres, in which Barry Bonds tied the major league all-time home run record with his 755th home run. More notably, he called the August 7, 2007 game between the Giants and the Washington Nationals in which Bonds hit his 756th home run, breaking the record that was held by Hank Aaron for more than 33 years.
World Cup broadcast criticism
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It has been suggested that some of the information in this article's "Criticism" or "Controversy" section(s) be merged into other sections to achieve a more neutral presentation. () |
O'Brien teamed up with former U.S. national soccer team captain Marcelo Balboa for the 2006 World Cup as the play-by play man on the ESPN and ABC Sports' primary announcing team. O'Brien and Balboa called the most prominent games of the tournament, with their commentary generating controversy for several reasons:
- With little experience in calling soccer games, O'Brien allegedly made many basic errors, such as getting player names wrong. O'Brien responded that he is not a "traditional soccer guy," but insisted he had spent several months preparing for the tournament, including attending many games in Europe. [5]
- O'Brien expressed a desire to do more storytelling: "There is a style I think Americans are used to," including the offering of human interest stories (á la the Olympics) in an effort to draw the interest of the casual viewer. However, he was accused of overemphasizing some of these at the expense of the games themselves. For example, during the June 11 group stage match between Mexico and Iran on ABC, he repeatedly referred to controversial Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments on the Holocaust, and later wondered how Iranian soccer players felt about playing in close proximity to the podium Hitler used to give speeches in Nuremberg (German: Nürnberg). [6]
ESPN and ABC stated that their broadcast strategy was intended, in voice and style, to target the vast majority of Americans who do not follow the sport on a regular basis.[7] Others place the blame at Balboa's feet, saying that he was not a good choice as color analyst, while O'Brien improved with each game.
