Benjamin "Frank" Deford, III (born December 16, 1938, in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American sportswriter and novelist.

In addition to his 50-year tenure at Sports Illustrated, where he now holds the title of Senior Contributing Writer, he appears regularly on National Public Radio and Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO, and has written 16 books. He has been named Sportswriter of the Year six times and was twice voted Magazine Writer of the Year by the Washington Journalism Review. In 2012 he became the first magazine-writer recipient of the Red Smith Award. He is also a long-time advocate for research and treatment of cystic fibrosis.

Deford began his career as a researcher in the baseball department of Sports Illustrated in 1962. In addition to his Sports Illustrated duties, he has also been a correspondent for HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel since 1995, a regular Wednesday commentator for National Public Radio since 1980. His 1981 novel Everybody's All-American was named one of Sports Illustrated's Top 25 Sports Books of All Time and was later made into a film of the same title. However, most of Deford's fiction is set out of the sports realm. The most recent of his ten novels is the acclaimed "Bliss, Remembered," a 1930s romance between a pretty young American and the son of a German diplomat, a story written from the point of a woman. He has also been a screenwriter on the films Trading Hearts (1987) and Four Minutes (2006).

Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster, on the air for NBC Sports television since the early 1980s.

Bob Costas was born in Queens, New York as a son of Jayne (née Quinlan), of Irish descent, and John George Costas, of Greek descent and an electrical engineer. In Ken Burns' Baseball, Costas indicated that he had a very poor relationship with his father, but did not go into specifics. He grew up in Commack, New York, graduating from Commack High School South. Following high school, he majored in Communications & Rhetorical Studies at Syracuse University where he dropped out of school. Later, he received an honorary degree from S. I. Newhouse School of Communications.

His sportscasting career started while attending Syracuse University, as an announcer for the Syracuse Blazers minor-league hockey team playing in the Eastern Hockey League and North American Hockey League.

Costas' career as a professional began at KMOX radio in St. Louis, where he served as a play-by-play announcer for the Spirits of St. Louis of the American Basketball Association. He also called Missouri Tigers basketball for KMOX, and co-hosted the station's Open Line call-in program.

Don Criqui (born May 5, 1940, Buffalo, New York) is an American sportscaster, currently employed as a play-by-play announcer for CBS Sports. Criqui's duties include occasional television coverage of National Football League games, women's and men's college basketball, occasional college football and radio play-by-play of ISP Sports' coverage of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football. Since 1995, he has been the voice of the New England Patriots pre-season football.

Criqui began with CBS in 1967 before moving to NBC Sports in 1979. When CBS reacquired the NFL in 1998, Criqui rejoined the network, and continues to serve as a play-by-play announcer as part of the NFL on CBS. He has also announced a number of other sports for CBS, NBC, and ESPN including college football, college basketball, the ABA, the NBA, the NHL, professional golf and tennis tournaments, Triple Crown horse racing, the Canadian Football League [1] and several Summer Olympics events. During his tenure at NBC, Criqui called fourteen Orange Bowl games. Criqui's most memorable call was the 1984 Orange Bowl between undefeated Nebraska and Miami. Nebraska was on a 22-game winning streak coming into the game, but lost to Miami 31–30 when the Cornhuskers failed on a two-point conversion attempt which would have won the game. His most famous college basketball call was most likely the last second upset by St. Joseph's over top seeded DePaul in the Mideast regional second round of the 1981 NCAA Tournament.

Bob Trumpy (born March 6, 1945 in Springfield, Illinois) is a former professional American Football tight end who played for the American Football League's Cincinnati Bengals from 1968 to 1969, and for the NFL Bengals from 1970 through 1977. He is currently an analyst for CBS Radio Sports/Westwood One.

After graduating from the University of Utah in 1967, Trumpy was selected by the Bengals in the 12th round (301st overall) of the 1968 Common Draft. Despite his low draft selection, Trumpy worked hard in the offseason and managed to earn the starting tight end spot in the team's lineup. He didn't disappoint in his rookie season, recording 37 receptions for 639 yards and 3 touchdowns, and earning a place on the AFL Western Division All-Star team. In 1969, Trumpy was selected by The Sporting News as the AFL's All-League tight end.

The following year, Trumpy had the best season of his career, catching 37 passes for 835 yards (a franchise record 22.6 yards per catch average) and 9 touchdowns. In a game against the Houston Oilers, Trumpy became the first Bengals tight end ever to record 3 touchdown receptions in a single game, assisting his team to a 31-31 tie.

Alfred Manuel "Billy" Martin, Jr. (May 16, 1928 – December 25, 1989) was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager. He is best known as the manager of the New York Yankees, a position he held five different times. As Yankees manager, he led the team to consecutive American League pennants in 1976 and 1977; the Yankees were swept in the 1976 World Series by the Cincinnati Reds but triumphed over the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games in the 1977 World Series. He also had notable managerial tenures with several other AL squads, leading four of them to division championships.

As a manager, Martin was known for turning losing teams into winners, and for arguing animatedly with umpires, including a widely parodied routine in which he kicked dust on their feet. However, he was criticized for not getting along with veteran players and owners, burning out young pitchers, and for having an addiction to alcohol. During the 1969 through 1988 period as a manager, Martin totaled 1,253 victories with a .553 winning percentage.