MATT MCCONNELL: SPORTSCASTER OF THE YEAR

          In just his third season as the play by play television announcer for the National Hockey League’s Phoenix Coyotes, he has accumulated quite a few awards.  Indeed, Matt McConnell, ’85, who previously worked eight seasons in Atlanta with the Thrashers, has won two regional sports Emmy awards and was just named the 2013 Arizona Sports Broadcaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.  “That was very rewarding,” says McConnell of the award.  “I’ll pick it up in June.”  A versatile broadcaster who has done both radio and television, professional and college hockey, and many other sports, including college football, basketball and lacrosse, Matt says some people call him the “Michel Petit of hockey broadcasting”—after a professional icer who played for 10 different NHL teams from 1983-98.  Matt started with the International Hockey League, then covered the Pittsburgh Penguins when it had Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr, then the Minnesota Wild, and then the Anaheim Ducks before moving to Atlanta.  He has done broadcast work for CBS Sports Network and Pac-12 Networks.  “My 15 minutes of fame was when I filled in for Marv Albert in Toronto,” he recalls.  “Because of a storm Albert could not make it in and I ended up doing the NBA play by play with Mike Fratello and Cheryl Miller on TNT.  Later in the studio Kenny Smith made fun of me, but Charles Barkley came to my defense.”  A native of Gary, IN, Matt came to MSU and soon decided to major in telecommunications.  His roommate his senior year was Mario Impemba, the sportscaster for the Detroit Tigers and the Oakland Golden Grizzlies.  He believes a good broadcaster is one who does not try to make himself the story.  “The best in my business is Chris Cuthbert (who does a variety of sports, including the Olympics, for  CBC Sports),” says Matt.  “The best in basketball is Dan Shulman.  And in baseball, I’m biased, but the best is Mario (Impemba).”    

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