John Saunders, ESPN host, dead at 61
Longtime ESPN host John Saunders has died. He was 61.
Saunders hosted studio and play-by-play programming for ESPN for nearly 30 years.
He joined ESPN in December 1986 to anchor SportsCenter, but got involved in much more for the sports network.
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Saunders became a voice on college basketball, the WNBA and hosted ESPN's coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs from 1993-2004.
He worked on coverage of the World Series and Major League Baseball All-Star game, as well as college football, and hosting The Sports Reporters.
Born in Canada, Saunders was an all-star defenseman in the junior hockey leagues of Montreal and played at Western Michigan before becoming one of the most prominent broadcasters of his time.
Saunders was a founding member of The V Foundation for Cancer Research and served on the board of directors.
He is survived by wife Wanda and daughters Aleah and Jenna.
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Information from ESPN was used in this post.
