Tanya Lyon
Tanya Lyon is currently a video/multimedia anchor and reporter with The Orange County Register (in Southern California). Tanya has over eight years of anchoring, reporting and producing experience for both TV, print and the web. On camera experience includes everything from hard news to sports, including appearances on Good Day LA to promote the Register’s content as well as Fox Sports West as a sideline reporter.
Tanya is a graduate of University of California Irvine with a major in classical civilizations. While in high school she ran track and field and cross-country. At UCI, she ran 1500 and 3000 meters. During college and continuing today, she is involved in community activities from helping to establish a 5K run for an injured teammate to establishing a fitness program for local elementary school children.
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Bob Fitzgerald
One of the most recognizable sports personalities in the Bay Area, Bob Fitzgerald is currently in his 14th season as television play-by-play announcer for the Warriors. In addition to announcing Warriors games on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, Fitzgerald will also continue to maintain an active role on the “Warriors Weekly Radio Show” and post game radio shows throughout the basketball season. Since his arrival, the Warriors broadcast team has received nine nominations and won two Emmys for “Best Live Sports Broadcast,” the initial two for the organization. Fitzgerald has previously received four Emmy nominations for “Best On-Camera” and was awarded the 2007 Emmy for “Best On- Camera, Play-by-Play Sports” for Northern California.
Fitzgerald is well known throughout the Bay Area sports scene. Currently a co-host of the popular “Fitz and Brooks” show from 12:00 – 3:00pm on KNBR 680, Bob has 15 years of talk show service on the Warriors flagship station. For the last 14 years, Fitzgerald has been the television and radio voice for the San Jose SaberCats of the Arena Football League and spent six years as the play-by-play voice for ESPN’s NBA Basketball video game series. Fitz also wrote a column for the Oakland Tribune and ANG Newspapers for seven years.
On a national basis, Fitzgerald currently calls NFL and college football games for CBS radio/ Westwood One and Sports USA Radio. This summer, Fitzgerald will call all of the basketball for NBC Sports’ coverage of the 2012 London Summer Olympic. His past Olympic involvement includes the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics (Water Polo), 2004 Summer Olympics (Team USA Men’s and Women’s Basketball), the 1996 Summer Olympics (Swimming) as well as network television NFL broadcasts for NBC Sports. He also called the NBA Development League Finals series for Versus in 2010. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Fitzgerald also received his Masters Degree in Sports Management from The Ohio State University. While at Notre Dame, he worked as a play-by-play broadcaster for Fighting Irish football and basketball on campus radio station WVFI.
Brian Davis
Television Play-by-Play announcer
Brian Davis enters his fourth season as television voice of the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder. A veteran broadcaster, Davis returned to the NBA in 2004 as host of Seattle Sonics broadcasts on FSN Northwest.
Davis regularly covered the Chicago Bulls during the Michael Jordan era and became a contributor to NBA Radio, hosting game broadcasts and serving as sideline reporter for the network during the 1991 playoffs and NBA Finals. He later hosted Bulls broadcasts on FSN Chicago and occasionally called Sonics games in Seattle. He has an extensive play-by-play resume at the college level, including the Big Ten, Pac-10, Conference USA and the Mid-American Conference.
Davis has called games at the professional level in four other sports: NFL football, as radio voice of the Seattle Seahawks; College Football on CBS/Westwood One; NHL hockey, in a reserve role with Chicago Blackhawks; and soccer, with Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire. He has also worked as pre-season play-by-play announcer for the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals.
As a sports anchor for CBS Radio and its Chicago all-news affiliate, Davis covered major events including the Olympics, NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals. His resume includes football play-by-play in the Big Ten, Pac-10 and MAC. He is an accomplished interviewer and talk show host and has won several professional awards, including one for investigative journalism during his days as a news reporter in Chicago.
Davis holds a journalism degree from Northwestern University. He and his wife, Judy, have two children and make their home in the Oklahoma City area.
Tom Penders-Basketball Analyst
Tom Penders is one of the winningest coaches in NCAA Division I history: part east coast gym rat, part standup comic, and now co-author of the acclaimed book, “Dead Coach Walking.”. Tom coached for almost four decades steering programs at 7 universities: Tufts, Columbia, Fordham, Rhode Island, Texas, George Washington and Houston. His success in lifting each of them from the depths of ‘death row’ to winning glory land lead to his nickname of “Turnaround Tom” More about Tom can be seen on his web site: www.tompenders.com. His recent book tour had him on most every sports radio station in America. He has been on ESPN numerous times talking about the status of college athletics in general and Division 1 Basketball in particular. In between coaching jobs Tom has appeared as a game analyst and studio commentator on ESPN, CBS College Sports and CBS/Westwood One radio.
Carol Lewis
The first American woman to long jump over 23 feet, Carol won five junior national championships in track and field, more than any other athlete in history. She went on to win eight U.S. and four NCAA national championships and compete in the long jump in three Olympic Games before injury ended her athletic career. At the same time, she obtained a B.A. in Radio, TV and Journalism and became an expert commentator for all the major networks. She was a reporter for Entertainment Tonight, had her own radio show in Houston, and was the only woman in NBC’s Olympic track and field broadcast crew for the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. Vivacious and attractive, Carol is a dynamic speaker who is fluent in Italian and conversant in a number of other languages.
Amy Bender
Amy Bender is a Los Angeles-based multi-media sports anchor, host, producer and reporter. Bender’s current roles include host of “Countdown to London” for NBC Universal Sports and sideline reporter and play-by-play announcer for FSN West, she’s also in her 14th year as host of the National Cheerleading Championships on ESPN.
Bender has also worked in Salt Lake City, Chicago and Phoenix. Most recently she spent time at KSTU, the Fox affiliate in Salt Lake City and before that at KPHO, the CBS affiliate in Phoenix as both a sports anchor and producer-host of a lifestyle program. While in Chicago, Bender hosted CLTV’s Sportspage, an hour long live call-in show where celebrities regularly made their way on to the set. Her resume also includes sidelines for PRCA Rodeo on CBS and Triple Crown of Polo on ESPN as well as hosting pre-game shows for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks, a show she also co-produced.
Bender co-owns Palm and Central Productions which has produced a number of programs including a documentary honoring the legacy of Pat Tillman which aired on FSN on the 1-year anniversary of his death. “Life on the Edge”, a reality-based show featuring Arizona Cardinals Running Back Edgerrin James aired weekly during the 2006 NFL season on KPHO.
Other past radio work in Phoenix includes three seasons as sideline reporter-producer for Arizona State Football broadcasts and two seasons as game day anchor for the Arizona Cardinals. While in Utah, Bender served as a producer on the Jazz radio network while also working in the team’s media and public relations department.
Bender is a graduate of the University of Utah where she worked in the sports information office.
Her love of sports began in Kansas City. She grew up following the Royals’ George Brett and as a third grader learned to do division with his batting average. The Chiefs never won her over but the Cowboys did. The Bender’s 11 year old daughter, Landry is named after the former Dallas Cowboys coach.
Trey Bender
Trey Bender is a Los Angeles based play by play announcer and host whose resume includes football, basketball, baseball and swimming in the WAC, Mountain West, Big 12 and Big 10 conferences on ESPN Regional and ESPNU as well as NBC Universal Sports. Additionally, from 1996-2002 Bender was the television voice of the University of Kansas, his alma mater.
Bender has also worked in Phoenix and Chicago. He was the voice of college sports on Fox Sports Net Arizona and Chicago. While with FSN, he also hosted a variety of programs for the network focused on the college sports scene.
Bender’s radio resume is just as extensive. While in Arizona, he was the voice of ASU Baseball and his time in Chicago includes a three year stint as the voice of Loyola University Basketball. While in Chicago, Bender began as a national sports anchor and talk show host for the Sporting News Radio Network. It’s a position he continues today as an anchor and part time host on Yahoo Sports Radio.
Bender began his broadcast career in 1991 as voice of the Angels minor league affiliate in Boise. He moved to Arizona in 1993 where he quickly became a mainstay in the market as voice of the AFL’s Arizona Rattlers and a radio anchor/reporter.
Bender is the son of long-time network announcer, Gary Bender. His wife, Amy is also a sports announcer. Their 11-year-old daughter Landry is named after the Dallas Cowboys legendary coach.
Amanda Borden
Amanda Borden was captain of the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Team, dubbed the Magnificent Seven(including members Dominique Moceanu, Amy Chow, Jaycie Phelps, Dominique Dawes, Shannon Miller and Kerri Strug), which took home the gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Along with their gold, they made history by becoming the first U.S. Womenʼs Gymnastics team ever to win an Olympic games. More than 15 years later they are still the only American Womenʼs Gymnastics team to have one team gold. Amanda describes the experience as, “the biggest moment of my gymnastics career and one of the biggest moments in women’s gymnastics history.”
Amanda proved herself to be a steady and consistent gymnast from the start of her training in 1984 at Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy. Her talent and ability led her to be named to the National Team six times and the World Championship Team three times, eventually reaching the pinnacle of her career as Team Captain of the history making, 1996 Gold Medal Olympic Team. USA Gymnastics Code of Points number 2.302, otherwise known as the “Borden,” is named after Amanda. The Borden is a straddle pike jump from side position with or turn on the balance beam. USA Gymnastics also named Amanda Sportswoman of the Year in 1995.
After the 1996 Gold Medal win, Amanda appeared in numerous national tours and television appearances and graduated summa cum laude from Arizona State University with a degree in early childhood education. As the owner of Gold Medal Gymnastics Academy, with two locations in Tempe and Chandler Arizona, Borden has combined her educational training with her athletic expertise and continues to serve as a gymnastics and cheerleading commentator for CBS Sports, Fox Sports, ESPN and NBC.
While proud of her past, Borden says her focus now is on the next generation of athletes: “My goal is to touch the lives of children all across Arizona to help them reach their goals, whatever they may be”.
In addition, Amanda is a member of the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame and US Olympic Hall of Fame. She currently sits on the Arizona Gymnastics Board. Most recently she was honored by Arizona State University with the Alumni Achievement Award for her success and contributions in business and the community.