Bringing It Back:Where are they Now?(Catching up with former area Sportscasters)/Liz Crawford, Brian Formica and Patrick Wright have all said, “Good Night/Good Bye”

**********We are bringing one of our top posts of interest back for your reading pleasure today, and if you have any other former Sportscasters from our area to add in, send them our way….

Since we first posted this back in 2008, we do know that Patrick Wright and Liz Crawford were at WFMY TV 2 and they have moved on, plus we had Brian Formica at both WFMY TV 2 and at WXII TV 12, and Brian has come and gone…Plus there was recently Chris Lea, the former Southwest Guilford HS grad, and he was over at WXII TV 12, and Chris Lea has since moved to WRAL TV 5 in Raleigh….Are there others that we are missing?????**********
(We are thinking Liz Crawford now working and living in Florida with her husband, former WFMY weatherman Grant Gilmore, and Patrick Wright working in communications and media, at Elon University, and Brian Formica still in TV, out in Arizona.)

**********Here we go, as we start looking back-back-back-back-back……**********

Where are they Now? Catching up with former area Sportscasters
First posted by Andy Durham on September 29, 2008 at 4:17 am

As “notjimmelvin” pointed out in the comment box on Saturday afternoon, Time-Warner Cable has added the Big 10 Network to our local cable service. The network is dedicated to covering all things Big 10 so I decided to check it out and watched a little bit yesterday morning. Their “SportsCenter” type program is called “Big Ten Tonight” and as I watched a highlights package, I noticed a familar voice. It was former WFMY sportscaster Rick Pizzo.

It is always interesting to see folks who have been here and have moved on to “bigger and better things”. It got me to thinking about others who have passed through town on their way up the broadcasting ladder.

Here’s a few –

Mark Concannon – Concannon was a sportscaster at WFMY during the mid-1980s. In 1987, Concannon moved to Milwaukee as a sports reporter and since 1990 has been a staple of that market’s morning news coverage. He currently works as a news anchor on the morning show on Milwaukee’s Fox 6.

Chip Caray – Caray, the son of Skip Caray and grandson of Harry Caray, worked for WFMY in the late 1980s. Caray left Greensboro to do play by play work for the NBA’s Orlando Magic, where he stayed until 1996. He has also done plenty of work in baseball, having done play by play for the Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves as well as the Fox Network. Caray still works for the Braves and is also the lead play by play man for the MLB on TBS.

Dan Rath – Rath was a sportscaster for WXII for a number of years. One of his staple bits was the “I dare Dan” segment where viewers would dare Rath to try a new athletic endeavor. You can now dare Dan to try and sell your house in our current unsure housing market. Rath works in Real Estate with Keller Williams Realty in Winston-Salem.

Mike Hogewood – The “Hog” was one of the staple broadcasters in the area for years, working at WGHP in the 1980s before moving to WFMY where he worked for 15 years. In 2001, Hogewood left WFMY to concentrate on other projects. Today, he works for Lincoln/Raycom on football and basketball games and hosts an number of ACC themed shows. Hogewood is also a pitchman for a Greensboro area car dealer.
(Mike Hogewood now deceased, but his son Robert keeps up the Hogewood Family Tradition, as the Public Address announcer for Page High School basketball.)

Scott Pryzwansky – Pryzwansky worked at WFMY in the late 1990s and early 2000s. After leaving WFMY, he has served as a reporter and host for live telecasts of the Men’s ACC Basketball Tournament, ACC Football, and SEC Football. To go along with his broadcasting work, Pryzwansky now operates Pryzwansky Media Coaching and Communications.

Sam Crenshaw – Crenshaw worked at WFMY from 1991 to 1998 before moving to Atlanta. Crenshaw also served as the anchor for “Black College Sports Today” on ESPN. Crenshaw is still in Atlanta, where he works as a sports anchor for the market’s NBC station, Channel 11.

Woody Durham The long time Tar Heel play by play voice worked at WFMY for 14 years in the 1960s and early 1970s. Woody may or may not be related to GreensboroSports.com’s Andy Durham. Certainly the NC State part of Andy’s family hopes this is not the case.
(Woody Durham now deceased, but his son Wes Durham, keeps up the Durham Family tradition doing ACC Sports work on the ACC Network and Wes also does the play-by-play for the Atlanta Falcons, of the NFL.)

Johnny Phelps – Phelps worked in this market for years, doing sports for WFMY, WXLV and WMAG-FM on their morning show with Bill Flynn. Phelps left WXLV to work for CNN’s new sports network, CNNSI. CNNSI ceased operations in 2002. Phelps now works in Real Estate with Harry Norman Realtors who deals with property in North Carolina and Georgia and is based out of Atlanta.

Rick Pizzo – Pizzo left WFMY for the Big Ten Network in 2007.

Marlo Klain – The former WXII reporter has worked with ESPN since 1997. She is currently the Indianapolis-based bureau reporter and IRL reporter for the network.

Dave Goren said,
(Dave was with WXII TV 12 and now works with the Sportscasters and Sports Writers Hall of Fame, plus Dave works as the sideline reporter for Wake Forest football.)

You know you’re getting old when you know most of the people on the list. And I agree with the sentiments on Sam Crenshaw… what a great guy! I miss running into him at events around the market.

Let me also add a few who have worked with me at WXII in the 20 years I’ve been here:

Gus Johnson… now at MSG and CBS Sports;
Derrin Horton… now at the NFL Network;
Todd Lewis… now at the Golf Channel.

Hard to believe it’s been 20 years.

Keep up the great work guys!

-Dave

+++++There were some other names that showed up later on, including Bruce Snyder(WXLV TV 45) and Mike Solarte(Time-Warner Cable), and again you may have others too, so send them in.+++++)
(Jim Conner was another for the list and he was at WXLV TV 45, along with Bruce Snyder, and later Jim Conner worked with Mike Solarte, at Time-Warner Cable Sports Night, and Jim Conner passed away about two years back.

4 thoughts on “Bringing It Back:Where are they Now?(Catching up with former area Sportscasters)/Liz Crawford, Brian Formica and Patrick Wright have all said, “Good Night/Good Bye”

  1. My good friend Jay Shurling was at WGHP and now a financial advisor in Virginia.

  2. Yes, Jay Shurling was a good one at Channel 8 back in the day, and later he did some teaching at GTCC too….

    I guess the two Hall of Famers would be Charlie Harville and Rich Brenner…Maybe Gene Overby too…Wonder how many remember them, Charlie Harville at Channel 2 and at 8, and Rich Brenner at Channel 8, and then again Gene Overby at Channel 12…

    Lots of good ones from over the years, and would be interesting to hear of more…

    Send those names our way…

  3. Another good name from the past to add in here would be Hub Burton, from WFMY News 2 Sports…

    Hub was a fast-talker, but he really could get out a lot of information, in a short amount of time…

    Hub Burton, and who’s up next???

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