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Mike Patrick

Mike Patrick

Overview
Mike Patrick is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 sportscaster
Sportscaster
A sports commentator is a type of journalist on radio and/or television who specializes in reporting or commentating on sporting events...

. Mike begins each of his broadcasts by saying "It's great to have you with us." His trademark catch phrases are "Holy Cow
Holy cow
Holy cow or sacred cow may refer to:* Holy cow , an exclamation of surprise* Cattle in religion, particularly the sacredness of cows in Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and Ancient Egyptian religion...

" (which was originated by longtime New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York and are a member of Major League Baseball's American League East Division...

 broadcaster Phil Rizzuto
Phil Rizzuto
Philip Francis Rizzuto , nicknamed "The Scooter", was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who spent his entire career from 1941 to 1956 with the New York Yankees....

), and "Are you kidding me?"

Since 1975, he has worked for WJLA-TV
WJLA-TV
WJLA-TV, channel 7, is the ABC television affiliate in Washington, D.C.. It is the flagship station of the Allbritton Communications Company, which also operates local cable station News Channel 8. The two stations share broadcast facilities in the Rosslyn section of Arlington, Virginia...

, Jefferson-Pilot and ESPN
ESPN
ESPN is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting and producing sports-related programming 24 hours a day....

, where he is best known for his role as play-by-play
Play-by-play
Sports commentary, in broadcasting, is a term that means the reporting of a sporting event with a voiceover describing the details of the game in progress. In North America, in a lot of sports, the sports commentator is assisted by a color commentator, and sometimes a sideline reporter...

 announcer on the network's Sunday Night Football
ESPN Sunday Night Football
ESPN Sunday Night Football was the ESPN cable network's weekly television broadcasts of Sunday evening National Football League games...

telecasts from 1987
1987 NFL season
The 1987 NFL season was the 68th regular season of the National Football League. A 24-day players' strike reduced the 16-game season to 15. The games that were scheduled for the third week of the season were canceled, but the games for weeks 4-6 were played with replacement players...

-2005
2005 NFL season
The 2005 season of the National Football League was the 86th season played by the major professional American football league in the United States. With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 8, 2005 to January 1, 2006...

. He was briefly replaced in 2004
2004 NFL season
The 2004 season of the National Football League was the 85th season for the major professional American football league in the United States. With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 9, 2004 to January 2, 2005...

 by Pat Summerall
Pat Summerall
George Allen "Pat" Summerall is a former American football player and television sportscaster, having worked at CBS, FOX, and ESPN....

, while Patrick recovered from heart bypass surgery.

He has also called college football
College football
College football is American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies. It was the venue through which American football first gained popularity in the United States...

, men's and women's college basketball
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the American basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III.-Division I:There are 347 schools in 32...

, and the College World Series
College World Series
The College World Series or CWS is a baseball tournament held in Omaha, Nebraska that is the culmination of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, which determines the NCAA Division I college baseball champion. The eight teams are split in to two, four team double elimination brackets with the...

 for the network, as well as several NFL playoff
NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held at the end of the 16-game regular season to determine the NFL champion. Six teams from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs based on regular season records, and a tie-breaking procedure exists...

 games for ABC Sports
ESPN on ABC
ESPN on ABC is the brand used for sports programming on the ABC television network. Officially the broadcast network retains its own sports division; however, for all practical purposes, ABC's sports coverage has been delegated to ESPN, a sports cable network majority-owned by ABC's parent, The...

 while the network held the Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live television broadcast of the National Football League. Originally airing on the ABC network from to , Monday Night Football was the second longest running prime time show on American broadcast network television and one of the highest-rated, particularly among male...

television package.

In 2006, Patrick became the lead play-by-play announcer for ESPN
ESPN
ESPN is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting and producing sports-related programming 24 hours a day....

 on ESPN College Football Primetime along with Todd Blackledge
Todd Blackledge
Todd Alan Blackledge is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League. He played for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers .-High School Career:...

 and field reporter Holly Rowe
Holly Rowe
Holly Rowe is a sports telecaster currently working for the sports television network, ESPN. Rowe is best known as a sideline reporter for college football games which are telecast on ESPN.- History with ESPN :...

.
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Encyclopedia
Mike Patrick is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 sportscaster
Sportscaster
A sports commentator is a type of journalist on radio and/or television who specializes in reporting or commentating on sporting events...

. Mike begins each of his broadcasts by saying "It's great to have you with us." His trademark catch phrases are "Holy Cow
Holy cow
Holy cow or sacred cow may refer to:* Holy cow , an exclamation of surprise* Cattle in religion, particularly the sacredness of cows in Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and Ancient Egyptian religion...

" (which was originated by longtime New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York and are a member of Major League Baseball's American League East Division...

 broadcaster Phil Rizzuto
Phil Rizzuto
Philip Francis Rizzuto , nicknamed "The Scooter", was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who spent his entire career from 1941 to 1956 with the New York Yankees....

), and "Are you kidding me?"

Career


Since 1975, he has worked for WJLA-TV
WJLA-TV
WJLA-TV, channel 7, is the ABC television affiliate in Washington, D.C.. It is the flagship station of the Allbritton Communications Company, which also operates local cable station News Channel 8. The two stations share broadcast facilities in the Rosslyn section of Arlington, Virginia...

, Jefferson-Pilot and ESPN
ESPN
ESPN is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting and producing sports-related programming 24 hours a day....

, where he is best known for his role as play-by-play
Play-by-play
Sports commentary, in broadcasting, is a term that means the reporting of a sporting event with a voiceover describing the details of the game in progress. In North America, in a lot of sports, the sports commentator is assisted by a color commentator, and sometimes a sideline reporter...

 announcer on the network's Sunday Night Football
ESPN Sunday Night Football
ESPN Sunday Night Football was the ESPN cable network's weekly television broadcasts of Sunday evening National Football League games...

telecasts from 1987
1987 NFL season
The 1987 NFL season was the 68th regular season of the National Football League. A 24-day players' strike reduced the 16-game season to 15. The games that were scheduled for the third week of the season were canceled, but the games for weeks 4-6 were played with replacement players...

-2005
2005 NFL season
The 2005 season of the National Football League was the 86th season played by the major professional American football league in the United States. With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 8, 2005 to January 1, 2006...

. He was briefly replaced in 2004
2004 NFL season
The 2004 season of the National Football League was the 85th season for the major professional American football league in the United States. With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 9, 2004 to January 2, 2005...

 by Pat Summerall
Pat Summerall
George Allen "Pat" Summerall is a former American football player and television sportscaster, having worked at CBS, FOX, and ESPN....

, while Patrick recovered from heart bypass surgery.

Other ESPN assignments


He has also called college football
College football
College football is American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies. It was the venue through which American football first gained popularity in the United States...

, men's and women's college basketball
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the American basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III.-Division I:There are 347 schools in 32...

, and the College World Series
College World Series
The College World Series or CWS is a baseball tournament held in Omaha, Nebraska that is the culmination of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, which determines the NCAA Division I college baseball champion. The eight teams are split in to two, four team double elimination brackets with the...

 for the network, as well as several NFL playoff
NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held at the end of the 16-game regular season to determine the NFL champion. Six teams from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs based on regular season records, and a tie-breaking procedure exists...

 games for ABC Sports
ESPN on ABC
ESPN on ABC is the brand used for sports programming on the ABC television network. Officially the broadcast network retains its own sports division; however, for all practical purposes, ABC's sports coverage has been delegated to ESPN, a sports cable network majority-owned by ABC's parent, The...

 while the network held the Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live television broadcast of the National Football League. Originally airing on the ABC network from to , Monday Night Football was the second longest running prime time show on American broadcast network television and one of the highest-rated, particularly among male...

television package.

In 2006, Patrick became the lead play-by-play announcer for ESPN
ESPN
ESPN is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting and producing sports-related programming 24 hours a day....

 on ESPN College Football Primetime along with Todd Blackledge
Todd Blackledge
Todd Alan Blackledge is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League. He played for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers .-High School Career:...

 and field reporter Holly Rowe
Holly Rowe
Holly Rowe is a sports telecaster currently working for the sports television network, ESPN. Rowe is best known as a sideline reporter for college football games which are telecast on ESPN.- History with ESPN :...

. In July 2009, ESPN
ESPN
ESPN is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting and producing sports-related programming 24 hours a day....

 announced that Patrick will be teamed with former SMU
SMU Mustangs football
The SMU Mustangs football program is a college football team that represents Southern Methodist University . The team competes in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision as a member Conference USA...

 running back Craig James and Heather Cox
Heather Cox
Heather Cox is an American Sportscaster who is a sideline reporter for WNBA, NBA, college basketball and college football games on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC Sports. She played college volleyball at University of the Pacific. Cox also served as a reporter for NBC Sports coverage of Beach Volleyball at...

 on a Saturday ESPN on ABC
ESPN on ABC
ESPN on ABC is the brand used for sports programming on the ABC television network. Officially the broadcast network retains its own sports division; however, for all practical purposes, ABC's sports coverage has been delegated to ESPN, a sports cable network majority-owned by ABC's parent, The...

 college football announcing team for the 2009 College Football Season.

In addition, Patrick has called the College World Series for over a decade.

Controversy

In a tight SEC September 22, 2009 match-up between Georgia and Alabama, Patrick caused some controversy by going completing off topic while the game was in overtime. After an Alabama field goal, Patrick starting asking his colleague questions about pop star Brittany Spears. From Awful Announcing:
Patrick: "I've got an important question."
Todd Blackledge: "Go ahead."
Patrick: "What's Britney doing with her life?"
Blackledge: "Who?"
Patrick: "Britney."
Blackledge: "Britney who?"
Patrick: "Britney Spears. What's she doing with her career?"
Blackledge: "Why do we care at this point? Is she here?"

While this was bad and awkward enough, it was compounded when Georgia scored a touchdown on their very first play from scrimmage, while Patrick was still in his off-topic rant.

Non ESPN-related assignments


Mike also did the play-by-play of Atlantic Coast Conference Football and Basketball games for Jefferson-Pilot (now Lincoln Financial Sports) between 1984 and 1986.

Mike is the play-by-play man for MVP 06: NCAA Baseball
MVP 06: NCAA Baseball
MVP 06: NCAA Baseball is the fourth edition of the baseball video game series developed by Electronic Arts. Because of Electronic Arts' loss of the Major League Baseball license to Take Two Interactive in 2005, which now has the exclusive MLB license, the publishers decided to transition the MVP...

as well as MVP 07: NCAA Baseball
MVP 07: NCAA Baseball
MVP 07: NCAA Baseball is a video game for the PlayStation 2 that was released February 6, 2007. Former Long Beach State pitcher and 2004 Roger Clemens Award winner Jered Weaver is on the cover, wearing his 2004 college uniform.-New features:...

.

Mike does the play-by-play for the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team based in the Washington, D.C. area. The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, which is in Prince George's County, Maryland. The team's headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn, Virginia, a community...

 preseason football games currently shown on WUSA-TV and Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic.

Personal


A Clarksburg, West Virginia
Clarksburg, West Virginia
Clarksburg is a city in the North-Central region of West Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of Harrison County, and the principal city of the Clarksburg, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population of the city was 16,743 at the 2000 census....

 native and graduate of George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational university located in Washington, D.C...

, Patrick resides in Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the U.S. state of Virginia in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...

 with his wife Janet. He likes to discuss pop culture during his broadcasts, as evidenced by his Britney Spears wonderment during a 2007 Alabama-Georgia football game.

Patrick entered the $10,000 Omaha 8 or Better World Championship and the $3000 HORSE events of the 2009 World Series of Poker, but did not cash in either tournament.