David L. Diles (October 14, 1931 – December 29, 2009) was an American sports broadcaster, journalist, and author. He was a broadcaster for

ABC Sports ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial America ...

and hosted the '' Prudential College Football Scoreboard Show''.

Early life

Dave Diles was born October 14, 1931, in

Middleport, Ohio Middleport is the largest village in Meigs County, Ohio, along the Ohio River. The population was 2,208 at the time of the 2020 census. History Middleport was founded during the 1820s, a time of great prosperity and rapidly increasing commerce ...

. At age 13 he started delivering the local newspaper, ''The Daily Sentinel'', in

Pomeroy, Ohio Pomeroy ( ) is a village in Meigs County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the Ohio River about south of Athens. The population was 1,573 at the 2020 census. History Pomeroy was founded in 1804 and named for landowner S ...

. Diles moved to

Athens, Ohio Athens is a city in Athens County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 23,849 at the 2020 United States census. Located along the Hocking River within Appalachian Ohio about southeast of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, Athe ...

, and attended

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

. He then worked for a local newspaper, the ''Athens Messenger'', and later the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

in Columbus and

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

until 1961.

Career

In 1961, he became sports director of ABC's Detroit station

WXYZ-TV WXYZ-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside independent station WMYD (channel 20). The two stations shar ...

until 1972 and then again from 1979 to 1982. He hosted many other sports broadcasting programs, including ''College Football Scoreboard'', '' Wide World of Sports'', the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

auto racing, professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

, and

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

play by play. He is also known for hosting ''Race for No. 1'' and ''The Big Ten Today''. During the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, Diles was the host of a local Detroit sports radio broadcasting show called ''Dial Dave Diles''. This was the city's first radio

sports talk Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comed ...

show. Diles is known for his work for commentating play by play for the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

and

Pistons A piston is an engineering component of engines and pumps. Piston(s) may also refer to: Science and technology * Misnomer for a hydraulic cylinder * Piston (optics) * Piston (subcellular structure) * Piston valve * Fire piston, an ancient device ...

, and the Ohio State basketball team. He also covered the Olympics. He wrote eight books about network television sports and the experiences of coaches and players in the professional and college sport business. This included co-authoring 1979's ''Terry Bradshaw, Man of Steel'',
Christian-themed autobiography
of the Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback. Diles was the president of the Football Writers of America, Michigan Chapter, and the Detroit Sports Media Association. Outside of sports, Diles was a substitute host for Lou Gordon on occasion.

Recognition

Diles was awarded many honors in the sports world. Some include: *Three times named the Associated Press Sportscaster of the Year *Received four Associated Press Documentary Awards *National Sports Service Award from '' Sport Magazine'' *

National Football Foundation The National Football Foundation (NFF) is a non-profit organization to promote amateur American football on all levels throughout the United States and develop "the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and the drive for academi ...

and

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for higher education, colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic schola ...

*Inducted into the Michigan Media Hall of Fame *Inducted into the

Michigan Sports Hall of Fame The Michigan Sports Hall of Fame is a Hall of Fame to honor Michigan sports athletes, coaches and contributors. It was organized in 1954 by Michigan Lieutenant Governor Philip Hart, Michigan State University athletic director, Biggie Munn, pres ...

in 2006 *Received the Silver Circle Award from the

National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), also known as the National Television Academy until 2007, is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of televisio ...

Later life

Diles received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Ohio University. He established a scholarship at the university for students from his hometown in Meigs County. He was a trustee for another local college, The

University of Rio Grande The University of Rio Grande and Rio Grande Community College (originally Rio Grande College) is a private university and public community college merged into one institution in Rio Grande, Ohio. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commissi ...

. Dave Diles died on December 29, 2009, after a battle with cancer which caused a stroke. He was 78 years old. Diles' hometown named a park after him. The Dave Diles Park is named in his honor located in his hometown of Middleport, Ohio, along the banks of the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diles, David L. 1931 births 2009 deaths American sports journalists People from Middleport, Ohio Ohio University alumni NBA broadcasters College football announcers College basketball announcers in the United States Olympic Games broadcasters American golf commentators Los Angeles Clippers announcers Detroit Pistons announcers NFL announcers Detroit Lions announcers Bowling broadcasters Motorsport announcers Track and field broadcasters Deaths from cancer in Ohio Major League Baseball broadcasters