Kenny Mayne
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[edit] Biography
Kenny Mayne (born September 1, 1959) is a sports journalist for ESPN.
A native of Kent, Washington, Mayne was an honorable mention junior college All-American quarterback in 1978 at Wenatchee Valley Community College in Wenatchee, WA. Kenny graduated from University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1982, with a degree in Broadcasting, where he was the back-up quarterback and ahead of future NFL star Randall Cunningham on the depth chart. While at UNLV, Mayne played football for two years and later signed as a free agent with the Seattle Seahawks.
[edit] ESPN
Kenny started at ESPN in 1994 as a SportSmash anchor on ESPN2, and soon moved over to the main network. He became well known for his dry sense of humor and his unique home run calls, such as "Yahtzee!", "I am amused by the simplicity of this game!" and "I am king of the diamond! Let there be an abundant clubhouse feast! Bring me the finest meats and cheeses in all the land!", "this is a reminder that Entertainment coupons cannot be used to buy surf-and-turf", and "the ball was hit over some fencing that they've constructed in the outfield.". He would also routinely thank the viewers for having electricity, and would tell players who had made mistakes in the outfield to "rent the Tom Emanski Defensive Drills video--it's endorsed by Fred McGriff".
For a time, he served as co-anchor of the 11PM SportsCenter with Dan Patrick after Keith Olberman left ESPN for Fox Sports Network. While his dry sense of humor and sarcastic catch-phrases won him a huge following, his rocky relationship with management, as well as some tragedy in his family life, contributed to him leaving the "SportsCenter" desk two years later and moving to an assortment of late night ESPN shows which were usually re-aired throughout the next morning. Though this move was seemingly a demotion for Mayne, due to the shows re-airing throughout the next day and week, he often received more air-time and opened himself up to a larger audience than the late night SportsCenter allowed him. Included in his repertoire was the game show 2 Minute Drill. Mayne is now most often seen as commentator for select horse racing events, as well as providing offbeat feature stories on Sunday NFL Countdown in a weekly segment called "The Mayne Event." On April 7, 2007, SportsCenter aired a joke in which Mayne tries out for the Los Angeles Galaxy, but is interrupted by ESPN NEWS breaking news of him retiring from soccer and working for ESPN.
ESPN hired Mayne in 1994 after Mayne had sent ESPN a note inquiring whether or not the network would hire him. The note simply asked to check a box, including one option which read, "We'll hire you when there's an ESPN5."
On January 17, 2007, ESPN signed Mayne to a one year contract to do features and cover horse racing and will return to SportsCenter for about 50 shows in 2007.[1]
[edit] Highlights
- SportsCenter Anchor
- NFL Countdown, Mayne Event
- Host, RPM2Night
- Host, 2 Minute Drill
- Broadcast demolition of Kingdome, 2000; mockumentary made by ESPN's "Cheap Seats" followed
- Broadcast 138th Belmont Stakes 2006
