By Andrew Coen
Since leaving the Five Towns area 41 years ago, Kornheiser has certainly made the most of his passion for reporting on sports, from writing for the Washington Post to broadcasting on ESPN TV and radio. Last week the Lynbrook native added to his unmatched sports journalism resume when he was tapped to be one of the new voices on "Monday Night Football" when the NFL institution moves to ESPN after 36 seasons on ABC.
Kornheiser will join play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico and NFL Hall of Famer and former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theisman in calling the games starting in September. The announcement of the new lineup was triggered by longtime "Monday Night Football" announcer Al Michaels's decision not to move over to ESPN, and instead to do Sunday night football games on NBC.
Kornheiser's jump to "Monday Night Football" comes six years after he auditioned for a job that eventually went to comedian Dennis Miller, but Kornheiser said in a phone interview two days after ESPN's announcement that he was still in shock over the selection. "I really don't know why they hired me," he joked. "It is incredibly good fortune."
Kornheiser has been a sports reporter and columnist for the Washington Post since 1979, and previously covered sports for The New York Times and Newsday. The Hewlett High School graduate has also been the host of the nationally syndicated "Tony Kornheiser Show" since 1992, and the co-host of ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" for the past five years.
In 1999, Kornheiser was inducted into the Hewlett-Woodmere Alumni Association Hall of Fame. "I guess they saw something that I didn't," he joked of the honor.
Kornheiser's roots as a sports journalist go back to his work as editor of the Hewlett Bulletin, the school's monthly newspaper-magazine. After graduating from Harpur College (now Binghamton University), he landed his first sports reporting job at Newsday.
Many of Kornheiser's Hewlett classmates, whom he saw last October at a 40-year high school reunion at the Lawrence Country Club, say he is a down-to-earth man who has worked hard for everything he has earned in his journalistic career. "It is nice to see one of the good guys get ahead," said his friend and classmate Steve Pearsall, who now lives in upstate Cortland. "Tony is one of those good guys."
Although Kornheiser has always had a passion for sports, he did not have the size or athletic ability to compete even in high school, so becoming a sportswriter was a way to be involved in what he loved. "Every sportswriter in America is a failed athlete," he said. "All I ever wanted to do was be a sportswriter."
In addition to his passion for sports, Kornheiser has enjoyed making others laugh throughout his life, which he stated in that 1965 yearbook. His comedic instincts helped land him the "Monday Night Football" job, and ESPN officials said they decided to add him to the lineup because of the combination of his sports knowledge and his ability to entertain viewers.
"He deserves it," said Kornheiser's classmate and longtime friend Edward Plutzer, whom Kornheiser often visits in Atlantic Beach. "This is all he wanted to do from the time he was out of high school."
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