Most Popular Sportscaster in New Jersey
DOHA, QATAR - NOVEMBER 25: Microphone of Fox Sports prior to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group A match between Netherlands and Ecuador at Khalifa International Stadium on November 25, 2022 in Doha, Qatar. (Photo by Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
All sports fans have a favorite or favorites when it comes to sportscasters. It’s usually a guy or gal who broadcasts their favorite team.
For me, it’s difficult to whittle it down to just one. Being a Philly fan I grew up listening to legendary baseball broadcaster and Hall of Famer Harry Kalas broadcast the Phillies games along with Hall of Famer and former Phillie Richie Ashburn. Harry is the first name that comes to mind, but there are a few others that I adore. I also like the current 76ers broadcast team of Kate Scott and Alaa Abdelnaby. Kate was an immediate improvement when she was paired with Alaa last year after Marc Zumoff retired. When it comes to Flyers hockey, I loved, loved, loved hearing Gene Hart call the play-by-play and am also a big fan of Jim Jackson. Let’s round out my Philly love with the Eagles voices, play-by-play announcer Merrill Reese with commentator and former Eagle Mike Quick. Merrill actually announced my niece Morgan and her new husband John when they were introduced at their wedding earlier this year which was both unexpected and unbelievable.
When it comes to national sportscasters I give the nod to Joe Buck, Pam Oliver, Jon Miller, Al Michaels, Doris Burke, and Jim Nantz.
According to a new study by Shane Co. Nantz also happens to be the most popular sportscaster in the country. Their team identified 34 of the most popular commentators and utilized Google Trends and also determined a clear winner in each state.
So who is the most popular sportscaster in the Garden State?
ESPN broadcaster Steve Levy was the top choice in New Jersey. According to the study, Steve was also most popular in four other states including his home state of New York.
The popular ESPN Manningcast last fall rolled over into Peyton Manning and Eli Manning entering this prestigious group. No surprise with their specific states, either, with Peyton spending most of his NFL career in Indiana and Eli playing college football in Mississippi.
You can view the full study here, including a look at each state’s top choice.
The Top 10 Festive Baby Names For a December Due Date
Expecting a holiday bundle of joy but don’t know what to name your baby? There has been a notable rise worldwide in Google searches for “Christmas baby names” over the past 12 months — a whopping 272% increase. Researchers at Absolute Digital Media have ranked the top 209 festive baby names using Forebears, to establish which festive baby name is most popular worldwide. It calculates this by determining how many people have that name, which country it is most prevalent and the origin meaning. Another analysis was conducted using Name Berry‘s seed list of Christmas baby names. Christmas names considered include: names that mean blessed or holy, star or light, joy or peace; nature names related to snow or the trees and flowers of Christmas; names of the Holy Family, the angels and the Wise Men. Some of the names on the list are more unique, such as Snow, Drummer, Lumi, Lucian, Kerensa and Pace.
54 of the most popular festive baby names in the world are most prevalent in the United States.
If you’re expecting a baby born during the end-of-year holidays, or simply want a name that reflects the magical season, see the top 10 list of Christmas baby names below:
Joel Katz is the Morning Show Personality, Assistant Program Director, Podcast Host, Voiceover artist, audio producer, and Digital Content Writer for Magic 98.3. Joel has been working in New Jersey radio since college and started at Magic in 2002 as the Morning Show Host, “I can’t think of another place where I’d fit more perfectly; it’s just a great company with awesome people.” Joel is married to Kathleen, his elementary school sweetheart (they were each other’s first dates at age 9), shares a birthday with his oldest son, Ty, and has twins, Kiera and Liam. Joel runs at least 3.1 miles every day and enjoys playing basketball, doing laundry, saving his turn signal for when he really needs it, kissing dogs through a fence, using coasters, making that cool noise by rubbing his fingers on balloons, and chasing after ping pong balls on a windy cruise ship.
