Glenn Ordway
Encyclopedia
Glenn Ordway is an American
sports radio
and television personality based in the Boston, Massachusetts area. He is a former commentator for the Boston Celtics
radio broadcasts. He hosts WEEI
's The Big Show.
Ordway is originally from Lynn, Massachusetts
; he graduated from Lynn Classical High School
.
in Boston in 1975, where at times he filled in for Steve Fredericks; he subsequently became sports director as well as working on Boston Bruins
broadcasts. In 1981, Ordway gained prominence at WRKO
in Boston where he manned a popular, award-winning call-in show, Sportscall.
Ordway is known for his thirteen years as commentator for the Boston Celtics
. For several years, he worked with legendary Boston Celtics play-by-play man Johnny Most
. During this period, he appeared as himself in an episode of the long running Boston based sitcom Cheers
.
In 1987, the Celtics moved their radio programming to WEEI, where Ordway became executive sports director, and later program manager. In 1996, he was promoted to program director
, and began The Big Show
.
Ordway also hosts a program during New England Patriots
season called New England Tailgate, discussing the team with former players Fred Smerlas
and Steve DeOssie
. He has also appeared on the HBO
sports documentaries The Curse of the Bambino
and The Reverse of the Curse of the Bambino.
because its stock price had dipped below a dollar.
In January 2009, it was announced that Ordway and Entercom had an agreement on a 5-year contract which would pay Ordway $1 million per year. It was reported on September 23, 2011
that Ordway's salary was cut in half due to lower ratings, as part of his contract.
and both mother and daughter had suffered severe complications during delivery.
Mia, who was born without a heartbeat and wasn’t breathing, was treated at Children's Hospital. After doctors diagnosed Mia with brain trauma injury, she was placed in a "hydrothermal cooling unit that dropped her body temperature to 92.3 degrees for three days". This same treatment had been used on injured Buffalo Bill player Kevin Everett
.
Ordway's wife Sarah underwent treatment at Boston's Brigham & Women's Hospital for internal injuries suffered during delivery.
On March 19th, 2008 Ordway made his return to The Big Show. He gave an update on both is wife Sara and his newborn Mia who are both on the road to recovery. The co-hosts on the show were WBZ4's Steve Burton
and Tom Caron
. Caron coincidentally experienced similar childbirth complications with one of his newborn sons who is now 12.
Mia is Ordway's first child with Sarah, he has three children from a previous marriage named Michael, Amanda, and Holly.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sports radio
Sports radio
Sports radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A popular format with an almost exclusively male demographic in most areas, sports radio is characterized by an often-boisterous on-air style and extensive debate and analysis by both hosts and...
and television personality based in the Boston, Massachusetts area. He is a former commentator for the Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
radio broadcasts. He hosts WEEI
WEEI
WEEI is a sports radio station in Boston, Massachusetts, that broadcasts on 850 kHz from a transmitter in Needham, Massachusetts, and is owned by Entercom Communications. The station is one of the top-rated sports talk radio stations in the nation. Studios are located in Brighton, Massachusetts...
's The Big Show.
The Big Show (sports radio show)
The Big Show is a sports talk radio program on Boston's WEEI 850 AM. Started in August 1995, the show is hosted by former Boston Celtics play-by-play announcer Glenn Ordway and former Boston Globe columnist Michael Holley...
Ordway is originally from Lynn, Massachusetts
Lynn, Massachusetts
Lynn is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 89,050 at the 2000 census. An old industrial center, Lynn is home to Lynn Beach and Lynn Heritage State Park and is about north of downtown Boston.-17th century:...
; he graduated from Lynn Classical High School
Lynn Classical High School
Lynn Classical High School is a high school in the city of Lynn, Massachusetts. The school was once located off of the Lynn Commons, but was moved to O'Callaghan Way after the controversial construction of a new facility. The new facility has had to undergo massive reconstruction after it was...
.
Career
Ordway began his broadcasting career in radio at a small station in Beverly, WMLO. He then went to WMEX/WITSWWZN
WWZN is an AM radio station licensed to serve the Boston media market. Its programming is a time-brokered mix between progressive talk radio during the daytime , sports talk and religious programming in the overnight hours...
in Boston in 1975, where at times he filled in for Steve Fredericks; he subsequently became sports director as well as working on Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
broadcasts. In 1981, Ordway gained prominence at WRKO
WRKO
WRKO is a radio station based in Boston, Massachusetts, currently owned by Entercom. Its transmitter is located in Burlington, Massachusetts, next to the Burlington Mall.-1920-1940:...
in Boston where he manned a popular, award-winning call-in show, Sportscall.
Ordway is known for his thirteen years as commentator for the Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
. For several years, he worked with legendary Boston Celtics play-by-play man Johnny Most
Johnny Most
John M. "Johnny" Most was an American sports announcer, known primarily as the raspy radio voice of the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association from 1953 to 1990....
. During this period, he appeared as himself in an episode of the long running Boston based sitcom Cheers
Cheers
Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...
.
In 1987, the Celtics moved their radio programming to WEEI, where Ordway became executive sports director, and later program manager. In 1996, he was promoted to program director
Program director
In service industries, such as education, a program director or programme director researches, plans, develops and implements one or more of the firm's professional services...
, and began The Big Show
The Big Show (sports radio show)
The Big Show is a sports talk radio program on Boston's WEEI 850 AM. Started in August 1995, the show is hosted by former Boston Celtics play-by-play announcer Glenn Ordway and former Boston Globe columnist Michael Holley...
.
Ordway also hosts a program during New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
season called New England Tailgate, discussing the team with former players Fred Smerlas
Fred Smerlas
Frederic Charles Smerlas is a former American football defensive lineman who was a 5-time NFL Pro Bowl selection during 14-year career as a nose tackle with the Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers, and New England Patriots.Smerlas, of Greek-American descent, graduated from Waltham High School in...
and Steve DeOssie
Steve DeOssie
Steven Leonard DeOssie is a former American football linebacker and long snapper. DeOssie played college football at Boston College, and went on to play in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, the New York Giants, and the New England Patriots...
. He has also appeared on the HBO
Home Box Office
HBO, short for Home Box Office, is an American premium cable television network, owned by Time Warner. , HBO's programming reaches 28.2 million subscribers in the United States, making it the second largest premium network in America . In addition to its U.S...
sports documentaries The Curse of the Bambino
Curse of the Bambino
The Curse of the Bambino was a superstition cited as a reason for the failure of the Boston Red Sox baseball team to win the World Series in the 86-year period from 1918 to 2004...
and The Reverse of the Curse of the Bambino.
2008 contract negotiations
Ordway announced on his December 11, 2008, show that he would be going on vacation for the rest of the month as his contract with Entercom Communications was set to expire on December 31, and that he was not sure if he would be returning to the air after his vacation. Ordway's contract negotiations may have been affected by Entercom financial problems. The company risked being delisting by the New York Stock ExchangeNew York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
because its stock price had dipped below a dollar.
In January 2009, it was announced that Ordway and Entercom had an agreement on a 5-year contract which would pay Ordway $1 million per year. It was reported on September 23, 2011
that Ordway's salary was cut in half due to lower ratings, as part of his contract.
Daughter's birth
On March 3, 2008, Ordway called into The Big Show to explain his absence from the show for the past three airings. His wife had just given birth to a baby girl, Mia, at Boston's Children's HospitalChildren's Hospital Boston
Children's Hospital Boston is a 396-licensed bed children's hospital in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area of Boston, Massachusetts.At 300 Longwood Avenue, Children's is adjacent both to its teaching affiliate, Harvard Medical School, and to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute...
and both mother and daughter had suffered severe complications during delivery.
Mia, who was born without a heartbeat and wasn’t breathing, was treated at Children's Hospital. After doctors diagnosed Mia with brain trauma injury, she was placed in a "hydrothermal cooling unit that dropped her body temperature to 92.3 degrees for three days". This same treatment had been used on injured Buffalo Bill player Kevin Everett
Kevin Everett
Kevin Everett, is a former American football tight end who played for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Bills in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft...
.
Ordway's wife Sarah underwent treatment at Boston's Brigham & Women's Hospital for internal injuries suffered during delivery.
On March 19th, 2008 Ordway made his return to The Big Show. He gave an update on both is wife Sara and his newborn Mia who are both on the road to recovery. The co-hosts on the show were WBZ4's Steve Burton
Steve Burton (sports journalist)
Steve Burton is a television sports reporter for WBZ-TV and WSBK-TV in Boston. The son of former New England Patriots player Ron Burton, Steve Burton grew up in Framingham, Massachusetts and is a graduate of Northwestern University holding a bachelor of science degree in Communications and a...
and Tom Caron
Tom Caron
Tom Caron is a sportscaster and anchor on New England's NESN network.-Background:Caron is a graduate of Lewiston High School in Maine and Saint Michael's College in Vermont, where he majored in journalism....
. Caron coincidentally experienced similar childbirth complications with one of his newborn sons who is now 12.
Mia is Ordway's first child with Sarah, he has three children from a previous marriage named Michael, Amanda, and Holly.
All Pro Celebrity Tailgate
In December 2006, the New England Patriots revoked season tickets purchased by Fred Smerlas. Smerlas had been in a partnership with Ordway in a company that hosts $250-a-head tailgate parties at Patriot games. The cost of the package increased to $625 - $750 if the customer wanted a game ticket with a face value of $125. The Patriots determined that the service violated its policy prohibiting season ticket holders from reselling their tickets to third parties except through the team's own ticket exchange, where sellers are required to charge face value. Both Ordway and Smerlas denied money was made on the resale of tickets.Awards and recognition
- In 1990 UPI bestowed the Celtics' broadcasting team of Most and Ordway with a first place finish for pre-game show as well as for play-by-play.
- In 2005, Ordway was nominated for a Marconi award, a prestigious award given for excellence in radio, for "Major Market Personality of the Year".
- In 2005, Ordway was awarded the Jimmy Award. The award honors 'individuals who have, over the years, committed themselves to the mission of Dana-FarberDana-Farber Cancer InstituteDana–Farber Cancer Institute is part of a Comprehensive Cancer Center designated by the National Cancer Institute. It is a major affiliate of Harvard Medical School and is located in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts.-Overview:...
and the Jimmy Fund'.
- Placed 91st on the trade journal Talkers MagazineTalkers magazineTalkers Magazine is a trade industry publication related to talk radio in the United States. Its slogan is "The Bible of Talk Radio and the New Talk Media"...
list of the 2008 "Heavy Hundred". The list ranks what the magazine considers the most popular, influential, or entertaining talk-show hosts from around the country. As of 2009 Ordway had moved up to 87th.
External links
- WEEI.com profile
- IMDB: Glenn Ordway