Alan Hahn
Alan William Hahn (born June 19, 1971) is a studio analyst during New York Knicks basketball games on the MSG Network and the co-host of a daily sports talk radio show, "The Hahn & Humpty Show", on WEPN-FM in New York City with co-host Rick DiPietro.
Early life and education
Hahn is a Long Island native born in Smithtown, New York. He learned how to read as a child by sounding out headlines in his hometown newspaper, Newsday. He kept many articles from Newsday about the New York Islanders hockey team when they were a Stanley Cup dynasty. Hahn attended St. Anthony's High School in South Huntington, New York, where he played varsity basketball in the intensely competitive Catholic High School Athletic Association. He also wrote a column in the school's sports publication, The Friar Scoreboard, which started his interest in sports writing.
Hahn later earned a basketball scholarship at LIU Post for one of the most accomplished NCAA Division II coaches, Tom Galeazzi. At LIU Post, Hahn wrote for the school newspaper, The Pioneer, where he met current Newsday sportswriter Tom Rock. Hahn earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism at LIU Post.
Sportswriting careers
Hahn started his journalism career at Newsday in 1995 as a part-time sports department clerk. He went from answering phones to covering high school games over the next year. In 1999, Hahn was promoted to full-time and was assigned to the New York Islanders beat. He covered the Islanders until 2006, when he was moved to the New York Knicks beat. He developed a large following for his coverage of the Knicks and for his popular blog, The Knicks Fix. Hahn was the first journalist to report that LeBron James would sign a contract with the Miami Heat basketball team.
In 15 years at Newsday, Hahn covered every professional team in the Metropolitan New York area, including two Stanley Cup runs by the New Jersey Devils hockey team and two seasons as the backup writer for the New York Jets football team.
Broadcasting career
Hahn appeared as a regular guest on Knicks Night Live on the MSG Network in the summer of 2010 and was used as an occasional analyst on Knicks game broadcasts on MSG Network during the 2010-11 season. Following the 2011 NBA lockout, Hahn left Newsday and was hired by MSG Network to serve as studio analyst on all Knicks home and away games, where he works with fellow Long Islander, and former NBA All-Star, Wally Szczerbiak.
In 2012, Hahn was named host of The Mike Woodson Show, which airs weekly during the season on the MSG Network. Hahn also hosts a pregame segment, The Knicks Fix, which appears before every home game broadcast and a weekly podcast bearing the same title, with guess such as rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy, actor Jerry Ferrara, actor/comedian JB Smoove, and former NBA star Patrick Ewing.
In 2012, Hahn started appearing as a regular fill-in host on WEPN-FM, also known as ESPN New York 98.7 FM. He has hosted or co-hosted basically every weekday show at the station, including several appearances on the drive-time show, The Michael Kay Show. Starting in the summer of 2013, Hahn was given a semi-regular spot on Saturday mornings, called The Alan Hahn Show, which is also referenced as "Hahn Solo" because he usually hosts alone.
Other sports media
Hahn has written five sports books over his career, including the popular 100 Things Knicks Fans Must Know and Do Before They Die (Triumph, 2012), The New York Knicks: An Illustrated History (MVP Books, 2012), Bruin Redemption: The Stanley Cup Returns to Boston (F&W Media, 2011), Birth of a Dynasty: The 1980 New York Islanders (Sports Publishing LLC, 2004) and Fish Sticks: The Fall and Rise of the New York Islanders (Sports Publishing LLC, 2003), which he co-wrote with Peter Botte of the New York Daily News.
Hahn appeared in the acclaimed documentary, Big Shot, which was directed and narrated by Kevin Connolly and was part of the ESPN Films 30-for-30 series in 2013.
Awards
In 2000, after his first year as a full-time staff writer, Hahn received Newsday's prestigious Publisher's Award for Sports Writing.
In 2013, Hahn received his first Emmy Award for his role in "Friday Night Knicks" on MSG Networks, which won the Live Sports Event: Series category for the 2011-12 season.
Citations
1. Hired by MSG: http://msg-stage-msgcom.myomnigon.com/press/msg-networks-hires-alan-hahn.html
2. Neil Best tweets about hiring:
https://twitter.com/sportswatch/status/147348483467264000
3. LeBron James tweet: https://twitter.com/alanhahn/status/18009137969
4. Big Shot: http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/63201938/
5. Emmy Award: http://www.nyemmys.org/attachments/wysiwyg/5423/56th%20NY%20Emmy%20Awards%20Winners%20Press%20Release.pdf