James Kenneth McManus (September 24, 1921 – June 7, 2008), better known by his professional name of Jim McKay, was an American television sports journalist.

McKay is best known for hosting ABC's Wide World of Sports (1961–1998). His introduction for that program has passed into American pop culture. He is also known for television coverage of 12 Olympic Games, and for his reporting on the Munich massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

McKay covered a wide variety of special events, including horse races such as the Kentucky Derby, golf events such as the British Open, and the Indianapolis 500. McKay's son, Sean McManus, a protégé of Roone Arledge, is president of CBS Sports and News divisions.

McKay was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and raised in the Overbrook section of the city in an Irish American Roman Catholic family. He attended Our Lady of Lourdes Grade School and Saint Joseph's Preparatory School. At the age of 14 his family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where he attended Loyola Blakefield high school. He received a bachelor's degree from Loyola College in Maryland in 1943. During World War II, he served in the United States Navy as the captain of a minesweeper.

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.

Brent Woody Musburger (pronounced /ˈmʌsbɜrɡər/; born May 26, 1939) is an American sportscaster for the ESPN and ABC television networks. Formerly with CBS Sports and one of the original members of their legendary program The NFL Today, Musburger has covered NASCAR, NBA, MLB, and NCAA football and basketball games. Musburger has also served as a studio host for games, a play-by-play man, and halftime host. He has also performed post game wrap up segments and covered championship trophy presentations. He is a member of the Montana Broadcaster's Association Hall of Fame.

Born in Portland, Oregon, Musburger was raised in Billings, Montana by parents Cec and Beryl. He was an umpire for minor league baseball during the 1950s. He was also a boyhood friend of former Major League pitcher Dave McNally. His brother, Todd Musburger, is prominent sports agent. When he was an adult he built a log cabin in Big Timber, Montana.

Musburger's youth included some brushes with trouble: when he was 12, he and his brother stole a car belonging to their mother's cleaning lady and took it for joy ride. His parents sent him to the Shattuck Military Academy in Faribault, Minnesota. Educated at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, he was kicked out for a year for owning and operating a car without a license.

Richard "Rick" Paul Reilly (born February 3, 1958 in Boulder, Colorado) is an American sportswriter. Long known for being the "back page" columnist for Sports Illustrated, Reilly moved to ESPN on June 1, 2008 where he is a featured columnist for ESPN.com and wrote the back page column for ESPN the Magazine. Reilly hosts ESPN’s Homecoming with Rick Reilly, an interview show, and he is a contributing essayist for ESPN SportsCenter and ABC Sports.

Reilly began his career in 1979 as an undergraduate assistant with the Daily Camera in Boulder, Colorado. He left the Camera in 1981 to be a football writer on the sports staff of the Denver Post, then on to the Los Angeles Times in 1983 before joining Sports Illustrated in 1985. Reilly has become a recognized name in the sportswriting industry because of his human interest pieces; his column, “Life of Reilly” was featured on the back page of SI from 1997 until 2007 when he announced that he would leaving Sports Illustrated to join ESPN. The "Life of Reilly" was the first signed opinion piece in SI's history. Reilly officially left SI during the week of November 29, 2007, after 23 years with the magazine.

Michelle Wingshan Kwan (born July 7, 1980) is an American figure skater. She is a two-time (1998 and 2002) Olympic medalist, a five-time (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2003) World champion (a record bettered only by Sonja Henie among ladies skaters) and a nine-time (1996, 1998–2005) U.S. champion (the all-time record, as tied with Maribel Vinson-Owen).

She competed at a high level for over a decade and is the most decorated figure skater in U.S. history. Known for her consistency and expressive artistry on ice, she is widely considered one of the greatest figure skaters of all time.

For well over a decade, Kwan maintained her status not only as America's most popular figure skater but as one of America's most popular female athletes, consistently making the top ten on many such polls and lists (often as the only figure skater) even years after she had stopped competing. During the decade of her reign Kwan enjoyed unprecedented popularity and amassed numerous multi-million dollar endorsement deals, starred in multiple TV specials and was the subject of extensive media coverage.