Rob Parker (sports journalist)
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| Rob Parker | |
| Born | 1962 New York, New York, U.S. |
| Show | Parker and the Man |
| Station(s) | WCHB,Detroit, Michigan |
| Time slot | 9 - 12 p.m., Monday-Friday |
| Style | Sports radio |
| Country | |
| Website | Parker & The Man |
Rob Parker (born in New York City, 1962-) is a Detroit News newspaper sports columnist and radio broadcaster. Parker co-hosts Parker & The Man with Mark Wilson (Wilson is the 'Man') on Detroit's 1200 AM WCHB from 4PM- 7PM five days a week.
Parker & The Man has been one of the top rated sports radio shows in Michigan for the past seven years. It debuted on 1200 WCHB on April 30th 2007, after it was unexpectedly canceled in December 2006 on WKRK. CBS which owned the station released Parker and Wilson as the station decided to replace them with Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Tigers broadcasts formerly carried exclusively on the 1270 AM station WXYT, also a CBS owned station. Parker and the Man had recently celebrated their 7th anniversary on the air and were promoted as "Michigan's Number One, night time sports talk show". Their return to radio continues their popular show in the Detroit market. Parker and Wilson first appeared as a team on WDFN.
Parker is also a regular on Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith's weekly Back Page Panel, a sportswriters roundtable discussion of the week's hottest sports topics. Parker attended Southern Connecticut State University and Columbia University for graduate studies in journalism. Parker used to be the Detroit Pistons beat reporter, and has covered some of the most important sports events in recent Detroit history. He first worked as a broadcaster on WDFN's afternoon drive show with longtime host Mike "Stony" Stone, before leaving and being replaced with Bob "Wojo" Wojonowski, a fellow Detroit News sports columnist. In 2006, Parker expanded to television, he hosts Sports Rap, a weekly sports digest show on the FSN Detroit cable channel. Parker is a member of the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association.
Personally, Parker is divorced, and came to Detroit from New York partially because his former wife was from the area. He is known over the air for his distinct New York vocal accent and his joking whine when speaking. He is a self-confessed lover of Major League Baseball, particularly The National League. African-American, Parker is not shy to discuss the racial aspects of current sports events, such as the NBA off-court dress policy, or the lack of African-Americans in NFL coaching positions. He recently penned a much-debated column where he called Hank Aaron a "coward" for declining to attend when Barry Bonds would break the career Major League home run record.[1]
Parker owns a barber shop in Detroit and sometimes strays from a strict diet of sports topics to discuss Detroit politics and larger social issues. Mark Wilson, "The Man," tends to play the straight man to Parker. Parker dated FOX Sports sideline reporter Pam Oliver for several years. They broke up, partially, according to Parker's on air comments, because of the media scrutiny.
- Rob Parkers' latest Detroit News columns are available online.
- WCHB 1200 AM web site, listen to Parker & The Man online web stream.
- Parker and the Man show's MySpace website