An American sportscaster, born in Montana, USA, to Beryl Ruth, an umpire for minor league baseball in the 1950s. He was educated at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He began his career as a sportswriter for the Chicago American newspaper. He was inducted as an honorary member of the Northwestern University Athletic Hall of Fame. Some of his credits include The Waterboy (1998) and Planes (2013).