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Peoria has a strong tradition of sports broadcasters and sports journalists

Chicago Cubs sportscaster Jack Brickhouse, a veteran of 32 years and some 4,726 baseball telecasts, gets a little help from a pocket calculator in radio booth at Chicago's Wrigley Field on Aug. 21, 1979. Brickhouse says baseball is a game of records where the fans delight in 'unbroken' records.
Chicago Cubs sportscaster Jack Brickhouse, a veteran of 32 years and some 4,726 baseball telecasts, gets a little help from a pocket calculator in radio booth at Chicago's Wrigley Field on Aug. 21, 1979. Brickhouse says baseball is a game of records where the fans delight in 'unbroken' records.

Peoria is home to a very rich and proud sports tradition.

Passionate fans of Bradley University athletics, the Peoria Chiefs and Rivermen span all of central Illinois. Let’s not forget the River City fanatics of the Chicago and St. Louis professional teams.

However, those working the sidelines have made Peoria a hotbed for well-known and respected sports journalists. Here are four of Peoria’s most well-known sports personalities, plus some other very notable broadcasters.

Jack Brickhouse

Peoria connection: Born and raised in Peoria; attended Manual High School and Bradley University

Career: In 1934, Brickhouse first hit the WMBD radio airwaves at age 18. Six years later he moved to Chicago and WGN, where he began broadcasting Cubs and White Sox games.

After missing the 1945 season, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II, Brickhouse became the face of the Chicago Cubs games as WGN-TV play-by-play announcer. His career on television spanned from 1948 to 1981 and included more than 5,000 broadcasts.

Brickhouse’s list of accolades range from the 1983 Baseball Hall of Fame’s Ford C. Frick Award — awarded to the broadcaster for “major contributions to baseball” — to his induction two years later into the American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame.

“He always said Peoria was his first love,” Bradley basketball play-by-play man Dave Snell said following Brickhouse’s death at age 82 from a heart attack on Aug. 6, 1998.

Charley Steiner

Peoria connection: 1971 Bradley University graduate

Career: Originally from Malverne, N.Y., Steiner made his way to the Midwest, where he began his broadcasting career on WIRL radio in Peoria.

His career has included stops as a sportscaster in Iowa, Connecticut and Ohio along with a 14-year stay at ESPN as well as radio work for the New York Yankees. Since 2005, Steiner works on the radio and TV broadcast team for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In March 2015, Bradley unveiled the Charley Steiner School of Sports Communication following a seven-figure gift from Steiner.

“This is beyond overwhelming,” Steiner told the Journal Star at the dedication. “Of the 23,981 days I’ve lived on this earth, there haven’t been very many, or any, for that matter, more satisfying and gratifying than this moment.”

He became just the 17th sportscaster inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame on Nov. 9, 2013.

Rick Telander

Peoria connection: 1966 Richwoods High School graduate

Career: Before becoming a well-known author and sports columnist, Telander was a football player, playing defensive back then quarterback for Richwoods. He then earned all-Big Ten honors as a defensive back at Northwestern University. Telander was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1971.

But after he was cut from the Chiefs in training camp, Telander started his writing career, which now spans 40-plus years.

He’s a former Sports Illustrated senior writer and the author of eight books. His critically acclaimed book turned movie “Heaven Is a Playground” stemmed from his experience playing basketball on the New York city playgrounds in 1974. He also got a national audience as a panelist on the television show “Sportswriters On TV.”

In 2012, Telander and former Richwoods football coach Tom Peeler were in Peoria to attend a Knights practice. There “NFL Films Presents” got footage for a documentary produced on Telander’s life.

“It’s just so cool to be back here at Richwoods football practice with coach Peeler,” Telander told the Journal Star.

He serves as the senior sports columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times.

Ralph Lawler

Peoria connection: 1957 Peoria High grad; 1961 Bradley University grad

Career: As a Bradley student, Lawler started his broadcast career at Pekin’s WSIV-AM and Peoria’s WAAP-AM. From there, he moved to Philadelphia, was named the 1976 Pennsylvania Broadcaster of the Year, while calling Phillies, 76ers and Flyers games.

In 1978, Lawler started broadcasting for radio and TV when the NBA’s Clippers relocated from Buffalo, N.Y., to San Diego. The Clippers then moved to Los Angeles in 1984. Last month, Lawler started his 37th season as the broadcast voice of the Clippers.

“Peoria has such a warm spot in my heart,” Lawler said in April. “It was such a great place to grow up. I thank my roots in Peoria for helping me be the kind of man that can come out (to California) and do a job like this.”

Lawler was a member of the 2014 Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame class.

Other broadcasters with ties to Bradley basketball include Chick Hearn (Los Angles Lakers), Vince Lloyd (Chicago Cubs radio broadcaster), Bob Steinbrinck (UCLA football and basketball), Tom Kelly (University of Southern California football and basketball) and Denny Matthews (Kansas City Royals). The late Bill King (Oakland A’s, Oakland Raiders, Golden State Warriors) and Bob Starr (St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, California Angels) also got their starts with Bradley.

Jim Kelch, who is a part of the Cincinnati Reds TV and radio broadcasts, got his start with the Peoria Chiefs and Rivermen.

Adam Duvall can be reached at 686-3207 or aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria has a strong tradition of sports broadcasters and sports journalists