Former OSU QB and Current ESPN Personality Kirk Herbstreit to Host Cleveland Sports Awards

The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission (GCSC) is proud to announce that Kirk Herbstreit, the analyst of ESPN’s College GameDay, will host the 2009 Greater Cleveland Sports Awards on February 3, 2010 at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel.

Herbstreit has been a college football studio analyst since 1996. He joined ESPN in September 1995 as a college football sideline analyst for ESPN2, has previously been a game analyst for ESPN’s Thursday night college football telecasts and is currently in the booth for Saturday night college football games on ABC. He has provided color commentary on the show College GameDay where he previews upcoming football games at various universities around the country. He is also a frequent contributor to ESPN.com, ESPN The Magazine, and co-host of The Big Show on 97.1 The Fan and to the WFNZ radio program Primetime with the Packman during college football season.

In addition to being an analyst, Herbstreit is a former quarterback for The Ohio State University, where he earned his degree in business administration in 1993.

Herbstreit will join the list of former emcee greats including Jim Nantz, Bob Costas, Dan Patrick, Chris Rose, Roy Firestone, Greg Gumbel, Robin Roberts and Bill Walton.

Presented by Medical Mutual of Ohio and the 2010 Cleveland Auto Show, the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards is the biggest sports show in Northeast Ohio, honoring the best and brightest of the area’s amateur and professional sports. The star-studded dinner event consistently boasts attendance levels exceeding 1,000 and features many national and local celebrity guests including Olympians as well as current and former Browns, Cavaliers and Indians players. Award presentations include: High School Athlete of the Year, Collegiate Athlete of the Year, Amateur Athlete of the Year, Professional Athlete of the Year, the Cleveland Clinic Courage Award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award. Nominees are chosen by the local media and finalists are selected by the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards committee. This year, the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission will also celebrate “Ten Years of Sports” reflecting on the many achievements since the Sports Commission’s refounding in 2000.

Tables to the benefit are $7,500 for platinum; $5,500 for gold; $2,500 for silver or $250 per individual ticket. The Golden Ticket raffle, which will award one lucky sports fan two Season Tickets to each of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Indians and Browns home games in 2010, is also now on sale. Only 300 tickets will be sold at $100 each, with the winner to be announced at the Sports Awards. Tickets and additional information are available online at Cleveland.com/sportsawards or by calling GCSC at 216-621-0600. Proceeds from the event will help benefit the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission.