Dan O'Toole

Dan O'Toole
Born (1975-09-10) September 10, 1975
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Other names Toolsie, Old Man Toolsie, Daniel Gerard O'Toole
Occupation Sports anchor
Known for SportsCentre, Fox Sports Live, The Jay and Dan Podcast, Mayor of Orono

Daniel Gerard O'Toole (born September 10, 1975) is a Canadian television sports anchor. From 2003 to 2013, he co-hosted the 1:00 AM (ET) weekday broadcast of TSN's SportsCentre, alongside Jay Onrait. On May 3, 2013, O'Toole and Onrait revealed they would be leaving TSN and Canada at the end of June to work as co-anchors on the newly created Fox Sports 1 channel based in Los Angeles. He began working for Fox Sports 1 in August 2013 after he and Onrait hosted their final show on TSN on June 28, 2013.[1] After their Fox show was cancelled in 2017 the duo returned to TSN where they currently host SC With Jay and Dan.[2]

Biography

O'Toole grew up on a farm in the rural community of Keene, Ontario and attended St. Peter's Secondary School in nearby Peterborough, Ontario.[n1] He graduated from Algonquin College in 1996 with a diploma in radio broadcasting. He has two daughters: Ruby, age six, and Sydney, age nine, with his ex-wife Corrie. He has two older brothers, Vince and Sean.

Broadcasting career

From 2003 to June 28, 2013, O'Toole co-hosted the 1:00 AM (ET) weekday broadcast of SportsCentre alongside Jay Onrait. As host of Sportscentre, he brought viewers a complete summary of the day's sports events, including highlights and post-game reports.[3]

O'Toole previously worked as a news anchor at CKVU-TV and moved to Vancouver in 1997 where he worked as a traffic reporter for CJJR-FM and CFUN-AM.[4] He moved to Fort McMurray, Alberta in 1998 where he worked as a sports director for CJOK-FM and CKYX-FM for three years. While there, O'Toole called play-by-play for the Fort McMurray Oil Barons of the AJHL. He then worked for CTV Edmonton as the Fort McMurray evening news reporter.

During his time at TSN, O'Toole routinely travelled to communities across Canada co-hosting SportsCentre with Onrait as part of the annual summer TSN and Kraft Celebration Tour.

O'Toole was alongside Cory Woron hosting SportsCentre International Broadcast Centre for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.[5]

Following the London 2012 Olympics (where O'Toole did daily SportsCentre highlights from Trafalgar Square with Onrait), O'Toole and Onrait took their television personas and unique brand of humour to the sound booth and began a weekly podcast. The "Jay and Dan Podcast" soon became one of the most successful podcasts in Canada. Along with discussing O'Toole's childhood, current events, TV commercials, and vintage television show themes, the duo play host to a variety of guests.[6]

On May 3, 2013, TSN announced that O'Toole and his broadcast partner Jay Onrait would be leaving SportsCentre for "broadcast opportunities on U.S. television [in Los Angeles, but] will continue hosting... Sportscentre until late June". The two confirmed the revelation on their weekly podcast and announced they would be working as co-anchors for the newly created Fox Sports 1 channel based in Los Angeles. They cited a promising opportunity to revive the sports highlights culture in American broadcasting as one of the key factors in their decision to leave TSN.[1]

During the week of Super Bowl 50, O'Toole was unusually harsh and biting toward his employers at Fox Sports 1. He sent several tweets toward people that were the subject of a Deadspin news article. The tweets may have been attributed to the recent layoffs and budget cuts at Fox Sports Live.[7] On February 23, 2017, Fox Sports Live was canceled and the two hosts' contracts were not renewed.[8] On March 1, 2017, during NHL trade deadline coverage, TSN announced it had re-signed both Onrait and O'Toole in their previous roles at the network.[9][2] They currently host the show SC With Jay and Dan at 12:00 am EST.

Notes

  1. ^ Tweeted on Dan O'Toole's official Twitter page (@tsnotoole).[10][11]

References

  1. 1 2 "Best wishes to Onrait, O'Toole as they head to Los Angeles". TSN.ca. May 3, 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Beloved prodigal sons Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole return to TSN". TSN.ca. March 1, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  3. https://www.tsn.ca/tsn_talent/bio/?id=74
  4. https://www.tsn.ca/tsn_talent/bio/?id=74
  5. https://www.tsn.ca/tsn_talent/bio/?id=74
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-02-23. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
  7. http://deadspin.com/fs1-host-dan-o-toole-blasts-fox-sports-for-layoffs-1757823253
  8. https://www.thestar.com/sports/2017/02/23/fox-pulls-plug-on-onrait-and-otoole-prompting-speculation-theyre-headed-back-to-canada.html
  9. http://awfulannouncing.com/international/jay-onrait-dan-otoole-returning-tsn-canada.html
  10. "Question directed at Dan O'Toole". Twitter. April 10, 2011. Archived from the original on April 11, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
  11. "Response from Dan O'Toole". Twitter. April 10, 2011. Archived from the original on April 11, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
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