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EYE ON THE MEDIA THE AUTHORITY ON SPORTS, CHICAGO STYLE...ABC 7'S MARK GIANGRECO
by David R. Guarino
2001-08-22

This article shared 11839 times since Wed Aug 22, 2001
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OK, faithful reader, it's time to fess up. I'm not the biggest sports enthusiast in the world, and I'm the first to admit it. But the subject of this week's column is undeniably my source for sports headlines, interesting trivia and a daily sports segment that combines timely facts, knowledgeable insight and generous helpings of humor. Your sport of choice doesn't matter. Chances are, Sports Anchor Mark Giangreco of ABC 7's powerhouse weekday news team at 10 p.m. has the turf covered.

For the past 19 years, Giangreco has given Chicagoans the coverage they expect when it comes to the diverse field of competitive sports, and we all know how passionate Chicagoans are about their home teams and the players they watch, admire and perhaps have come to idolize. From the legendary Michael Jordan to Sammy Sosa, from The Bulls to the Blue Demons ( my personal fave as a DePaul alumnus ) , Giangreco has his eye on the ball, literally. His award-winning coverage has endeared him to countless faithful viewers for whom he has become a household name.

But Giangreco's love affair with the Windy City didn't start with his coveted post as a vital link in ABC 7's top rated 10 p.m. daily news lineup of Diann Burns, John Drury, and Jerry Taft. Indeed, the Brooklyn-born Giangreco arrived in Chicago back in 1982, when he landed an important post with NBC 5 news as an anchor/reporter. Viewers may recall his long stint aside anchors Carol Marin and Ron Magers with Jim Tillman delivering the weather forecast on Channel 5's nightly 10 p.m. newscast.

Giangreco began his broadcast career in radio. In 1974 the aspiring journalist was hired by WING-AM/WJAI-FM radio in Dayton, Ohio. In 1978 television beckoned, and Mark found himself part of the weekend newscast at WDTN-TV in Dayton as a sports anchor/reporter. From there, Giangreco moved on to Louisville, Ky., and a pivotal position as Sports Anchor and Director at WLKY-TV.

A graduate of the University of Dayton, Giangreco's ambitious career path is laced with awards and distinctions. He is the winner of three Emmys, two Peter Lisagor Awards and two Associated Press Awards for "Best Sportscast." In addition, Giangreco was given The Iris Award from the National Association of Television as well as The Dante Award from the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans.

Giangreco has become known for his deadpan humor and witty delivery. He became the perfect foil for Carol Marin's deliberate and steady demeanor during their many years together at NBC. He has melded beautifully with Burns, Drury and Taft at ABC 7 and Giangreco continues to raise the bar as he delivers sports stories and special segments with his own inimitable blend of laid-back humor and passionate reporting.

Mark and wife Cindi have three children: Mark, 17, Christopher, 15, and Matt, 13.

DG: You came to ABC 7 in December 1994. I know that you also spent a great deal of time at WMAQ-TV ( NBC 5-Chicago ) , correct?

MG: Twelve years.

DG: But one of your big breaks actually came when you were working at WLKY in Louisville, Ky., in the early 1980s. You did a report on the Triple A Louisville Red Birds which won an award.

MG: Right. They broke the Miami attendance record set by the Montreal Royals years and years ago. And that actually got me a shot on Good Morning America. They used my piece and that was really a big deal back then. You know it's funny, I got my first taste of how network television operates. I sent them the piece and they just chopped the heck out of it. ( Mark smiles ) But at least it got on.

DG: I guess those of us in the newspaper business have a lot to be grateful for in terms of space allotments…

MG: That's right. I've had offers to work on The Today Show, Good Morning America, ESPN and so forth. I would never take a network job, David. Not ever.

DG: Why is that?

MG: You have so much more control on a local level. You know, you want to identify with the city. Chicago's the only town I ever wanted to work in. I was so enamored with Chicago even as a little kid growing up in Buffalo, NY. I thought Chicago was it, and I was this big "Top 40" radio freak. Larry Lujack was my idol.

DG: What about Dick Biondi?

MG: Dick Biondi was in Buffalo in 1959; I was seven years old listening to Dick Biondi. And so this is the only place I've ever really wanted to be. Because I identified with this kind of town. Buffalo is exactly like Chicago, but smaller and more economically depressed. It's the same ethnic mix of people, it's the same weather, and it's the same attitude. So I would never want to take a network job, ever. It's not as glamorous as you might think, and it's not a step "up" by any means. It's just more cooks spoiling the broth; it's more people to answer to. I've got autonomy here ( at WLS ) ; we've got our own little sports office. And the news department, here, to their credit, editorially they leave us alone. We do what we want, they like what we do, we fill our three and a half minutes and I don't have to have my copy proofread by anybody in the newsroom. You know, if I overstep my boundaries and do something they don't like the news director will let me know. They hired me for who I am and what I do and I do it.

DG: Which is precisely why you've been here at Channel 7 for as long as you have…

MG: Well, I've been lucky, David. I beat the posse out of town when Channel 5 blew up and the whole thing ( with Jerry Springer ) exploded. Channel 7 rescued me. I owe Joe Ahern and Phyllis Schwartz everything. Joe was the General Manager here ( at ABC 7 ) at the time, Phyllis was the News Director. I had a history with Phyllis at Channel 5. And they brought me over here, and they took a huge gamble because they already had a solid team here. And they were No. 1, had just come out of a ratings period and they were No. 1 again. There was some friction between Joe and Tim Wiegel, and there was a lot of friction between my General Manger, Pat Wallace at Channel 5 and me. So, basically, I think it was very personal on both sides. I was lucky that I was able to come over here, and I'm glad that Tim was able to go to Channel 2; it all worked out. ( Wiegel passed away this summer, about a month after this interview. )

DG: And you started your career in 1974 Mark?

MG: Yeah, I went to the University of Dayton, Ohio, a fine Midwest Catholic University where we beat Notre Dame every year I was there. And I majored in Communications, Radio and TV. And I was lucky enough to land a job at the No. 1 top-40 radio station in town when I was a sophomore just reading the news at night on the late shift, seven at night till three o' clock in the morning on the weekends. And then that evolved into a Monday through Friday job, and it took me awhile to graduate because, you know you get home at four o'clock in the morning and it's kind of tough to get up for an eight o'clock class. So it took me about five and a half years to graduate, but I was getting all this incredible practical experience. I was actually working and getting paid for it, it wasn't some kind of internship. It wasn't some "radio theory" class; I was actually doing it. And so I learned on the job and that was invaluable. That evolved into a full-time job, I started working morning drive then. And when I graduated from college I stayed there for about four years ( at WING ) . And then that led to a part-time TV job where I was anchoring the sports on the weekends. So I was part of kind of a two-man team in the morning on radio. You know, I was the sidekick. The newscaster and the sportscaster with the morning disc jockey who was a big personality in town. Then since I was sort of established in the market they were looking for a weekend sports anchor and they asked me to audition. I did; I was terrible; they hired me anyway. I didn't know anything about television. And they took a chance on me and it was on the job training again; it was just great.

DG: And then you got your first full-time television job.

MG: Right. I got my first full-time television job in 1978 in Louisville, Ky., at the ABC affiliate there. I was there for four years and was lucky enough to catch the big break here …

DG: And go to Channel 5. By the way, Mark, can you tell me something about the incredible rapport that exists between yourself and your colleagues ( Diann Burns, John Drury, Jerry Taft ) on the 10 p.m. newscast on ABC 7?

MG: You know I have a lot of history with most of the people here. Jerry Taft and I worked together over at Channel 5. I've known Jerry for 19 years. Diann and I are friends; we used to sit together at the Bulls games at the press table when I was at Channel 5. John Drury, I didn't know but long admired, I had an instant rapport with him. And so I think what you see is the way we are off the air as well. It is a natural, warm, easygoing ( and we love to rip each other ) time; we're enjoying ourselves. We hope the audience does as well. And I had the same situation with Ron ( Magers ) and Carol ( Marin ) and Jim ( Tillman ) . I've been fortunate to be part of two anchor teams where it was very genuine; very warm and you could do your thing. And you were surrounded by your friends. I have a lot of friends in the business; some are with other stations here in town where it is so phony and so fake and so staged. People put it on for a half-hour and they don't speak to one another once they leave the set. They have nothing in common and you see, it's very obvious to people whether it's real or not.

DG: When I interviewed Carol Marin, she talked about your ongoing relationship with her when you were a part of the NBC 5 10 p.m. newscast. And she said that, besides being very fond of you, she looked upon you as "the irritating brother," and she as "the older sister." Can you comment for us?

MG: Right. It was like older sister and annoying little brother. That's basically what it was. We were always sniping and always ripping one another. We were just great, great friends and continue to be and you know I just have so much respect for her. By her own admission she describes herself as a "dinosaur" in this business. I mean, she's the last of the true ethical, crusading journalists in this business. The rest of us are a bunch of actors who read the TelePrompTer. I mean, she is so focused and so into whatever she's doing. She would never give into the fluff and commercialism; she'd go kicking and screaming. As long as we are part of a commercial television station, newscasts are not going to be the cathedral of journalism. There's a lot of crap in every 10 o'clock newscast. Carol was always there to fight it; she was always the conscience of the newsroom. You know, she'd say, "this is selling out, this is disgraceful." I think she's now finally doing what she should have been doing all along, working for 60 Minutes, the most credible newsmagazine show in the business and just working on her stories. She's not into the glamour and glitz, she's interested in getting the story and getting it right.

DG: And your recollections of working with Ron Magers?

MG: Well Ron is the consummate anchor. He is Mr. Interlocutor, so smooth; he's like a machine. He could literally ad-lib an entire newscast. He doesn't need any TelePrompTer or a script. He's at his best on election night or during a breaking news story. He's like my best friend, older brother-mentor. I learned so much from him. He makes everyone else so much better on the set. And Carol recognized that and she was the hard-core journalist. Ron knew how to deliver a package and present it. And together, they were such a great blend. Jim ( Tillman ) was a saint, an elegant gentleman. And I was the jerk sports guy. The comic relief wise guy.

DG: There was a segment you did on the 10 p.m. news on 7 called "Make Mark Do Your Job," that I think many a reader might remember. Did you enjoy doing those spots and what can you tell us about the experiences?

MG: We did about 26 of those. ( Mark smiles ) I did enjoy it; it was basically just some comedy bit. People enjoyed having us come to their workplace. I kind of did it on a dare. We were trying to come up with an idea for a sweeps piece that was different and not necessarily sports related. It wanted to showcase my personality and me making a fool of myself, which is something I'm really good at. ( We both laugh ) So my producer ( who's got a really great comic mind ) and I decided what would be great professions to spoof and got a hold of some people...and you know people would write in and offer their job. You know I was a garbage man, a kindergarten teacher, a short-order cook, a shoe salesman. We even went out to Las Vegas and I was a blackjack dealer, a standup comedian and a race car driver. We did a lot of great bits. While it was running the ratings were through the roof and people on the street still say to me to this day, "Hey, come on, do my job!"

DG: What is the worst thing about a reporting career centering on major sports figures? What's the best thing?

MG: The best thing about our job is that it's different every day, I enjoy putting the shows together, producing the shows, you meet a lot of interesting people; you're working with the best video in the newscast, the most exciting stuff. The downside of it is, you're chasing these guys constantly, David. I can't tell you how many times I've found myself running down the hallway of some arena chasing some guy; trying to do an interview. My cameraman's walking backwards, falling down over people. You know there are the "gang" interviews, 18 microphones, 15 cameras, guys pushing.

DG: What compliment flatters you the most?

MG: The greatest compliment I've ever received, and I received it many times, is: "You're from here, right? You grew up here, right?" No, I didn't, but I grew up in a place just like Chicago and I appreciate it.

DG: Can you comment on the swift public apology of Tavarez ( of the Chicago Cubs ) for his antigay remarks in San Francisco and also the reaction of the Chicago Cubs' top brass to this aggressive anti-gay/lesbian rhetoric?

MG: Well, I think that Julian Tavarez has had a reputation of being a very emotional, volatile kind-of off-the-wall personality. He seems very immature and very reactionary, and by his own admission he said, "You know, I say and do a lot of stupid things." These remarks were made in the heat of the battle, you know it was right after the game. He was agitated, and let's face it: A lot of these guys, you know, they're a bunch of Neanderthals, they're ball players. I mean, they're not politically correct, they don't have extensive education, they're not socially, culturally aware. They're not sensitive. A locker room, a clubhouse is a cave. That macho, grunt, kind of caveman mentality prevails most of the time. I'm sure there's a lot of gay bashing; a lot of jokes, and he ( Tavarez ) just blurts this stuff out. He uses the most broad-based, wide-ranging stereotype. San Francisco. You know, everyone in San Francisco is gay and that's a bad thing. That he would lash out at some fans who are giving him some flack. As a franchise that has to be socially aware in this day and age, the Cubs moved immediately to nip that, hoping that their punishment would be enough, and it was. Major League Baseball decided not to take any action. It was satisfied with the suspension and the punishment and the fine. Frankly, I was surprised that the gay and lesbian community were satisfied with the punishment, because I really didn't think it was enough. I thought that there would be pickets outside of Wrigley Field. I personally think that that kind of behavior is intolerable at this point in time in our society.

DG: What is your fondest wish?

MG: My wish is to be really truly happy and I don't think I've found that yet. I've been very lucky in my career, no question. But I'm looking for something else.

DG: My thanks to you for spending some time with us.

MG: I'm glad I did it, David. I'd like people to know that we're not as natural and true to ourselves when we're on the air; there's another layer to everybody. A lot of times we're not in the mood, we have an attitude, we don't feel well, you know, something happened in our personal lives that is really upsetting us. But you've got to come up here and be an actor and turn it on. . So maybe it can change somebody's mind who reads it.

____

Needless to say, there are many more layers to Giangreco than I could discover in one interview. But one thing's for sure. For some 19 years Giangreco has been reporting on the hits, the misses, the bitter and the sweet for the teams and the players Chicagoans know and love.

E-mail: DavdRonald@aol.com


This article shared 11839 times since Wed Aug 22, 2001
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