What will the SI honour mean for Dan Shulman?

  Dan Shulman is in that rare position of being a media star abroad, but his work on ESPN largely unknown at home.

   He lives just north of Toronto where he says many of his friends and family don’t really know what he does.

  In the United States, however, he is among the leading play by play voices in sports television. Last Friday, his profile skyrocketed when Sports Illustrated selected him the top national announcer for the first decade of this century, beating out broadcast icons such as Al Michaels, Joe Buck and Jim Nantz.

   Shulman, who works for ESPN, said he was shocked by the selection.

   “I was called by my agent 10 minutes before it was posted online,” he said. “I had absolutely no idea.”

   ESPN isn’t available in Canada. And since it’s been eight years since Shulman worked for TSN and even longer on Toronto radio, his profile in this country has diminished.

   “Most of my friends and family have no idea what I do anymore,” he said. “Most of them either don’t have the Rogers NBA digital sports package, or can’t quite figure out how to find the games, or something like that.

 “I know my dad’s got it down pat. He watches every game, so he’s figured out how. I wish more of the stuff I did down there was visible here, because this is home.”

Shulman, teamed with the singular Dick Vitale, is ESPN’s lead college basketball voice and also calls NBA and baseball games for the network. He’s No.3 on the ESPN/ABC lineup of NBA announcers behind Mike Breen and Mike Tirico. He’s occasionally heard on the ABC doubleheader. On Jan. 31, he will fill in for Tirico.

   Like all lists, the SI broadcasting selections will stimulate debate. Picking Mary Carillo of tennis as the top game analyst was must plain wrong. And CBS’s Nantz gets snubbed somewhat. The Shulman choice was outside the box, because he works for a cable channel rather than a broadcast network. But as Ralph Mellanby, the veteran sports producer, said this weekend, he is the complete package. He has probably the best voice in U.S. sports television. He’s smart, likeable on and off the air, and always impeccably prepared.

   SI.com’s Richard Deitsch, who compiled the list, wrote, “While he might not have the same cachet as Al Michaels, Jim Nantz or Joe Buck, Shulman is the best national play-by-play announcer today. He is exceptional at multiple sports (NBA and MLB), and he and his baseball partner, Dave Campbell, form as splendid a duo as there is on radio. As ESPN’s lead announcer, Shulman has made Dick Vitale palatable (at times) and deserves an award for that alone. The guy is a pro’s pro.”

  Just what this selection does for Shulman’s career remains to be seen. He figures not much, and he says he isn’t looking for anything.

 “It’s very flattering,” he said. “I’m just honoured to be mentioned among the other guys who are on the list. I don’t think it really changes anything about me. I just keep doing the same thing I’m doing. Go to work, do the game and come home. It’s not in my nature to get too caught up in something like that. I’m incredibly flattered and honoured, but I don’t think it will have a tangible impact on my career that I can foresee anyway.”

  Shulman’s first job in broadcasting was in Barrie, Ont., with CKBB radio. He worked at Toronto’s Fan all-sports station in the early 1990s and then joined TSN. Choosing to continue living in Toronto, he commutes to his ESPN assignments, spending between 160 and 180 nights a year in hotel rooms.

   Shulman, 42, is in the third year of a five year deal with ESPN. It’s hard to believe there will not be competition for his services when his contract comes up for renewal. Still, he says he’s happy in his present position.

  “I’m beyond thrilled to be doing what I’m doing right now. I don’t look ahead too much. I try to just enjoy it.”

  SI’s choice as best broadcaster of the decade was Bob Costas, who works for HBO and MLB Network, but is mainly known as an NBC host and the network’s Olympic prime time anchor. Deitsch wrote, “There is no harder job in sports broadcasting than hosting an Olympic Games, a gig that requires equal parts geopolitical expert, historian, traffic cop and journalist.”

  In ranking Carillo the top game analyst in the business Deitsch describes her as “honest, thoughtful and always prepared . . . Carillo has excelled in a sport that far too often soft-pedals commentary because of the many conflicts of interests and relationships. She provides a reporter’s eye in the booth.”

  It’s another outside the box choice, but hardly inspired. Carillo’s work is superficial. She can be snarky, but there isn’t even much of that anymore. And she rarely conveys a smart, insightful analysis. The best analysts in tennis are the McEnroes, John and Patrick.

  Nantz is largely ignored by the list. He’s a bit of a softy, but his work in golf is fine, and he’s a serviceable announcer and host. The list gives him an honourable mention in college basketball play by play and as a studio host.