Friday, April 1, 2011

"Jimmy" of all trades

(Jim Donovan and my Mother)

The masses are seeing what I've seen and known as long as Jim Donovan and I have worked together!



All of our on air folks are quite talented....but I hold a special place in my heart for James F. Donovan, who does it all.



Donovan undeniably is the best sportscaster around. As the Radio Voice of the Cleveland Browns, you hear how a football game should be called and most folks turn down the TV and pipe up the radio when watching a Cleveland Browns Game.



He's done pretty much every sport including World Cup Soccer, Marathons, Olympic sports, Major League Baseball...



Going back to an election day from the archives, Jim Donovan was called upon to anchor all of our election night coverage due to illness and he nailed it.



You can not turn on SportsTime Ohio without seeing a Jim Donovan show! He's the hardest working man in the building as he oftentimes comes in early to tape multiple shows or is out at Browns' Camp at 8am and works through the 11pm Show.



Throw Jim live in the field and he is flawless....



Well, this week our viewing audience got a glimpse of the range of Donovan's talent as he co-anchored our new 7pm News Show with Robin Swoboda. Chris Tye normally anchors with Robin but was off on vacation.



I can not tell you how many complimentary calls we received at the news assignment desk each night, and well warranted!



Not only do I have the utmost respect for this man as a fellow colleague but must admit I am one of his biggest fans. Again, he nailed every single show never missing a beat. Jim never uses scripts or the teleprompter. He's one of the smartest men I know whose wealth of knowledge surpasses most. It's a given he knows everything there is about sports but has so many other wide-ranging interests from politics, religion, the economy, business, health and fitness, animals such as dogs and horses....you name it, he knows about the topic. I'd never play Trivial Pursuit with Donovan, I'd get crushed!



And the cherry on top is that Jim is just the nicest human being you could ever want to know or run into in your lifetime. His humor keeps you in stitches and his kindness proving that there are still kind people in this world.




As you can see, I think he's ok (!!)......I could go on and on but will end the gushing.




Kudos and job well done to the best sportscaster in Cleveland and beyond!