Joe D'Ambrosio (born July 19, 1953 in Hartford, Connecticut) is an American sports broadcaster and play-by-play announcer.

Career

Known as “the Voice of the

Huskies Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that mai ...

,” D'Ambrosio was the play-by-play announcer for the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

’s football and men's basketball games on

WTIC (AM) WTIC (1080 kHz "WTIC NewsTalk 1080") is a commercial AM radio station in Hartford, Connecticut. It airs a news/talk radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. The station's studios and offices are on Executive Drive in Farmington. The transmi ...

NewsTalk 1080
www.wtic.com
since 1992. He also broadcasts select UConn baseball, soccer, and women's basketball games. In April 2014, D'Ambrosio called his fourth NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship with the University of Connecticut. He has been the play-by-play voice for a total of eight NCAA basketball national championships, including his years as the voice of the UConn women's basketball team D'Ambrosio was replaced as the UConn play by play voice after the 2017-2018 season's when the broadcast rights were awarded to ESPN Radio in Hartford. Currently, D'Ambrosio does morning sports on WTIC Radio and co hosts the WTIC Morning Show with Ray Dunaway. In October 2018, he joined WTIC-TV as a part time sports anchor, hosting the Friday Edition of the "Fox 61 Sports Ticket". He also calls UConn men's ice hockey and baseball on Fox 61. D’Ambrosio was heard nationally on ESPN Radio as a '' SportsCenter'' update anchor. He has been affiliated with ESPN radio since 1996, and during his tenure there has hosted shows including '' MLB on ESPN Radio'' and ''Countdown to Kickoff'', and he has covered major sporting events including several Super Bowls, Bowl Championship Series,

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

, and

Major League Baseball All-Star Game The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...

s. For more than ten years, he has held the unusual distinction of being employed by the corporations owning ABC (ESPN),

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

(WVIT-TV), and

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

(WTIC AM) simultaneously. "Joe D" began his career on WLIS radio in

Old Saybrook, Connecticut Old Saybrook is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 10,481 at the 2020 census. It contains the incorporated borough of Fenwick, as well as the census-designated places of Old Saybrook Center and Saybroo ...

, where he worked as a DJ and hosted the popular oldies show "Twilight Time." He was also their sports announcer and started broadcasting for the Huskies for the Connecticut Radio Network while with WLIS. For three seasons (2009 - 2011), D'Ambrosio was a member of the broadcast team of the

New Britain Rock Cats The New Britain Rock Cats were a minor league baseball team that competed in the Eastern League. They were the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox for 12 years, the Minnesota Twins for 20 years and the Colorado Rockies for one. They played ...

, doing both color commentary and play-by-play alongside long-time Rock Cats Director of Broadcasting, Jeff Dooley.

Honors

He has been named Connecticut Sportscaster of the Year nine times by the

National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association The National Sports Media Association (NSMA), formerly the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, is an organization of sports media members in the United States, and constitutes the American chapter of the International Sports P ...

, now known as the National Sports Media Association. In 2003,

Dick Vitale Richard John Vitale (; born June 9, 1939), also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known for his 41-year tenure as a college basketball broadcaster f ...

named D’Ambrosio to his "All- Cawood Ledford Team," Vitale's own "Sweet Sixteen" list of the best college play-by-play announcers.

References

External links

Joe D'Ambrosio on Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Ambrosio, Joe 1953 births Living people American radio sports announcers American television reporters and correspondents College basketball announcers in the United States Major League Baseball broadcasters UConn Huskies football announcers People from Bloomfield, Connecticut Women's college basketball announcers in the United States People from Hartford, Connecticut University of Connecticut people College hockey announcers in the United States American sports radio personalities