- published: 29 Mar 2016
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Craig Sager (born 1949 in Batavia, Illinois), is currently a sideline reporter for TNT and TBS. Sager is a graduate of Northwestern University. He has previously covered sports for CBS and CNN. His nickname is "America's Sideline Reporter" and Mr.Fancy Suit.
Sager graduated from Northwestern University in 1973, earning a bachelor's degree in speech. He is a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. He made both the football and basketball teams as a walk-on, having grown to 6 ft 4 in.[citation needed] He also served as Willie the Wildcat, the school's mascot.
Before working for CBS, he worked in Kansas City, Missouri, for KMBC, as well as WINK-TV in Fort Myers, Florida, WTSP in St. Petersburg, Florida, and WXLT in Sarasota, Florida where he began his broadcast career in 1972.
Sager was sports director for WINK-TV in Ft. Myers, Fla., where he was honored with the Sportscaster of the Year Award from the Florida High School Coaches Association. He also had a stint at WSPB radio in Sarasota, Fla.
Gregg Popovich (born January 28, 1949) is an American basketball coach, and is currently the head coach of the National Basketball Association's San Antonio Spurs. Taking over as coach of the Spurs in 1996, Popovich is the longest tenured coach in both the NBA and all Big Four sports leagues. He is often referred to as "Coach Pop" or simply "Pop." He has won four championships as head coach of the Spurs.
Popovich was born in East Chicago, Indiana to a Serbian father and mother of Croatian descent.. He attended Merrillville High School and graduated in 1970 from the United States Air Force Academy. He played basketball for four seasons at the Academy, and in his senior year was the team captain and the leading scorer. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Soviet Studies, and he underwent Air Force intelligence gathering and processing training. At one point, Popovich considered a career with the Central Intelligence Agency.
Popovich served five years of required active duty in the United States Air Force, during which he toured Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union with the U.S. Armed Forces Basketball Team. In 1972, he was selected as captain of the Armed Forces Team, which won the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) championship. This earned him an invitation to the 1972 U.S. Olympic Basketball Team trials.