Quick Facts
Biography
Vincent Robert Cellini (/tʃəˈliːni/; born June 10, 1959 in Cleveland, Ohio) is a long-time sports broadcaster for radio and television, currently working at Turner Sports.
Early life and career
Cellini was a lifeguard at Grovewood, a city pool on the east side of Cleveland. Vince was great with the local kids who came to the pool.
In 1981, Cellini graduated from the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio, with a bachelor's degree in communications. Cellini played tight end on the college's football team. He set three team records: most touchdowns in a season and in a career, and yards per catch in a season.
In 1982, Cellini began working as a sports anchor and reporter at Cleveland's WJW-TV. He also hosted a sports talk radio show on WWWE Radio in Cleveland.
CNN/Turner Sports
In 1989, Cellini left WJW-TV to join CNN Sports. In 1996, Cellini earned a CableACE Award for his work on CNN Sports Tonight, which he co-hosted with Van Earl Wright. He also hosted a late night program "Calling All Sports" from 1994 to 1995. He left the program and later joined the TNT Sunday Night NFL broadcasting team.
Cellini joined the network in January 2003 after a long stint at the now-defunct CNNSI network. During his tenure within Ted Turner's company, Cellini also worked on CNN itself at times, and was working alongside anchor Carol Lin at the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, at the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The Golf Channel
Cellini's first day on The Golf Channel was January 13, 2003, when he assumed hosting duties from Peter Kessler on Golf Talk. The very first guest Cellini interviewed on that night was legendary golfer Arnold Palmer, who, along with Joseph Gibbs, co-founded The Golf Channel in 1995. Cellini's other Golf Channel duties include anchoring the network's flagship news show, Golf Central, and hosting "Top Shelf Wednesday", a 2 1⁄2-hour primetime lineup of shows. In February 2005, Cellini, along with fellow Golf Channel colleague Stephanie Sparks, began hosting the network's reality television competition show, The Big Break, with their tenure as hosts beginning with the show's third season, The Big Break III: Ladies Only. They also hosted The Big Break IV: USA vs. Europe, which aired in the Fall of 2005. Cellini and Sparks returned to host again on February 7, 2006, for The Big Break V: Hawaii, a second "ladies only" edition. Cellini left The Golf Channel in July 2007, then rejoined the channel the following January, resuming his role as a member of the network's group of studio personalities. [1]. According to different internet sources, including Golfweek.com, his contract, which expired in 2009, was not renewed after much negotiations.
Return to Turner Sports
NBA TV
Vince Cellini serves as a full-time host for NBA TV's GameTime and a collection of online programs across Turner Sports' digital properties. A longtime cable sports veteran, Cellini was a former anchor on CNN Sports Tonight and received a Cable ACE Award for his work in 1996.
NASCAR.com
Cellini is the host of mini-shows titled "Fantasy Showdown" and "The Preview Show" for NASCAR.com, as of August 18, 2011. NASCAR.com is also owned by Turner
Golf on TNT
Cellini has covered the PGA Championship since 2011 for TNT.
Other work
Since 2010, he has been co-host of Hawks Live show with Mike Glenn. This half-hour show precedes and then follows NBA Atlanta Hawks Telecasts on SportSouth. Beginning in 2011, he has been co-hosting a local Cleveland-area golf show called "Par Three Shootout".
Personal
Vince's brother, Nick, was a sports talk radio host at Sports Radio 790 The Zone (WQXI-AM) in Atlanta. Vince is married with three sons.