Wanna know who is probably most responsible for ESPN SportsCenter anchors riffing on highlights? Van Earl Wright.
As the unseen voice of CNN Headline News sportscasts in the late ’80s, Wright made a name for himself by catch-phrasing many of his calls. That lead to on-screen gigs with CNN’s Sports Tonight and Fox Sports Net national shows.
Most recently, Wright was seen anchoring FSN’s Final Score, hosting a morning show on Fox Sports Radio and narrating the new version of American Gladiators. But he’d since disappeared off my radar screen until today.
Introducing Van Earl Wright, your “Alumni Relations Guy” for the Cirque Lodge in Utah.
The “Lodge” is actually an alcohol and drug rehab center for celebrities. Wright’s gig is as follows:
When clients leave our drug rehab facility, we want to stay in touch with them. Alumni Relations does just that. It helps us to stay in touch with our former residents, and to help them on their road to maintain a successful recovery. We have a number of programs and activities to help Alumni along the way. Van Earl is a part of following up and helping clients in any capacity that we can.
The facility is a converted recording studio once owned by the Osmonds. Cost for a month’s treatment? A cool $30,000.
Wright’s Wikipedia entry, though extensive, makes no mention of his new gig. But obviously he’s not shy about letting people know about the post, which is fine by me. And goodness know his gig will in no way inhibit him from getting media gigs in the future - as that’s probably the finest networking opportunity $30K a month can buy.
5:14 pm on October 12th, 2009
Wow - that’s a blast from the past. he was great.
5:44 pm on October 12th, 2009
L&L,
your handle reminds me I NEED to get back to Hawaii this winter. north shore. damn I love that place.
5:58 pm on October 12th, 2009
Val Earl, another guy that should be inducted into the Andrew Siciliano memorial I love my own voice hall of fame.
8:29 pm on October 12th, 2009
I remeber this clown from back in the day, he sure loved to talk about himself. My, have the mighty have fallen.
9:49 pm on October 12th, 2009
ahh, it all makes sense now. my high school was a block away from the old Prime Ticket building that Fox Sports took over and VEW came to do an interview with our high school tv station. Suffice to say, he gave one of the most rambling and incoherent interviews I’d ever heard, even by high school tv standards. It makes me glad that to know he was prob as high giving the interview as I was watching it.