Adnan Virk
| Adnan Virk | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 29, 1978 Toronto, Ontario |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | Sports anchor |
Adnan Virk (born July 29, 1978 in Toronto, Ontario)[1] is a Canadian sports anchor, currently working for ESPN. He is the fifth Canadian and first Muslim Sports anchor to be hired by ESPN.
Early life
Virk was born in Toronto to Zakaria and Taherah Virk; his parents had immigrated to Canada from Lahore, Pakistan, in 1972.[2] In 1983[3] the family relocated to Morven, Ontario,[4] a small town just outside Kingston, where his father owned and operated a variety store.[2] After graduating high school, Virk studied radio and television arts at Ryerson University.[3]
Career
From 2003[2] to 2009 he hosted several programs on The Score,[5][6] and was an associate producer for Sportscentre at TSN. He was also the co-host of Omniculture and Bollywood Boulevard[7] at Omni Television. In 2009, he joined Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment (MLSE)[8] as a host and reporter for Raptors TV, Leafs TV and Gol TV Canada.[2] In April 2010 he joined the ESPN family of stations in Bristol, Connecticut.[9]
Since joining ESPN, he is one of three main anchors for Baseball Tonight.[10] During 2014 spring training he began calling play-by-play for an ESPN affiliate.[10] In the baseball off-season, he has hosted SportsCenter and Outside the Lines. He has also filled in for Keith Olbermann on the Olbermann talk show.[10]
Personal
Virk was born a Pakistani Canadian Ahmadi Muslim family, and considers himself to be a practicing Muslim. He lives in Hartford with his wife Eamon Maye, whom he married in 2007, and their son, Yusuf.[4]
References
- ↑ "Adnan Virk". IMDb. 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 Fatteh, Parvez (11 July 2010). "Adnan Virk Joins ESPN". The Muslim Observer.
- 1 2 Kennedy, Patrick (15 April 2010). "Bench warmer gets hot job". Kingston Whig-Standard.
- 1 2 Petrick, Stephen (14 April 2011). "Adnan Virk's long road from ESS to ESPN". The Napanee Guide.
- ↑ Chick, John (9 April 2010). "Raps broadcaster headed south, is Bosh next?". Metro.
- ↑ Warmington, Joe (31 October 2008). "CRTC gives Score a leg up". Toronto Sun.
- ↑ Zelkovich, Chris (2 May 2008). "Calmer, gentler Virk takes reporting role". Toronto Star.
- ↑ Dowbiggin, Bruce (15 March 2013). "Racist tweets about TSN hosts reveal Canada's nasty side". The Globe and Mail.
- ↑ Zelkovich, Chris (22 April 2010). "Adnan Virk latest Canadian to join ESPN". Toronto Star.
- 1 2 3 Hale, Jeff (21 March 2014). "Adnan Virk is Joan Rivers to Keith Olbermann's Johnny Carson". Yahoo Sports Canada. Retrieved 10 August 2014.