Jay Crawford

Jason "Jay" Crawford (born July 4, 1965) is an American sports journalist who is currently employed by ESPN. Crawford anchors the live 11AM-1PM edition of SportsCenter with Chris McKendry. Prior to that, Crawford spent nine years hosting ESPN's morning show Cold Pizza and its successor ESPN First Take, as well as Cold Pizza's spinoff series 1st and 10 until its 2011 cancellation.

Early life and career

Born in Sandusky, Ohio, Crawford graduated from Perkins High School in Sandusky, Ohio in 1983. He went on to graduate from Bowling Green State University with a bachelor's degree in Radio, Television, and Film in 1987.

Prior to joining ESPN he was the local sports director for WFTS-TV in Tampa, FL from 1998 to 2003. Prior to that stint he had a similar role at WBNS-TV in Columbus, OH from 1993 to 1998. He was a weekend sports anchor for WTIC-TV in Hartford, CT from 1992 to 1993. He started his sports career in 1987 at WYMT-TV in Hazard, Kentucky.

Crawford made three appearances as a minor league baseball pitcher in 2005, splitting time between two independent teams, the St. Paul Saints and the Long Beach Armada. He registered a 0-1 record with a 2.25 ERA, and in his final outing, Crawford threw two hitless innings, striking out each batter he faced using a change-up that reached a top speed of 62 mph, while his fastball was recorded at 93 mph.

On May 21, it was announced via Twitter that in July 2012, Crawford will co-anchor SportsCenter in the noon to 3:00PM Est slot with Chris Mckendry replacing John Buccigross who moves to the 11:00PM slot. In 2004, he hosted some horse racing telecasts for ESPN.