David Kaplan (radio)
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David Kaplan is an American sports columnist,
radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3  hertz (Hz) and 300  gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...
and television personality. He currently co-hosts ''Kap and J. Hood'' on
ESPN 1000 WMVP (1000 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, carrying a sports radio format. Owned by Good Karma Brands, the station serves the Chicago metropolitan area as the market affiliate of ESPN Radio, the flagship sta ...
and manages a YouTube channel, @rekapdavidkaplan, where he posts recaps of
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...
,
Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...
, and
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...
games, along with coverage of other Chicago and major sporting events. Kaplan is the only person in Chicago media history to simultaneously host a daily television show, a daily radio show, and write a regular column for a major newspaper.


Early life and career

Kaplan grew up in
Skokie, Illinois Skokie (; formerly Niles Center) is a Village (United States), village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 67,824. Skokie lies approximately north of Chicago's dow ...
, and graduated from
Hamline University Hamline University ( ) is a private university in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1854, Hamline is the oldest university in Minnesota, the first coeducational university in the state, and is one of five Associated Colleges of th ...
in
St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...
, where he earned a bachelor's degree in English. He has been married twice previously.


Basketball career

Kaplan served as an assistant coach on head coach John McDougal's staff for the
Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It was founded as "Northern Illinois State Normal School" in 1895 by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld, initially to provide the state with c ...
men's basketball team from 1982 to 1986. He also worked as a scout for two
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
teams, the
Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...
and the
Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly shortened to Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Division (1967–1970), and ...
.


Broadcasting career

Kaplan began his broadcasting career at Chicago sports radio station WMVP-AM before joining
WGN (AM) WGN (720 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, featuring a talk radio format. WGN's studios are in the Chicago Loop, while the transmitter is in Elk Grove Village. WGN also features broadcasts of Chicago Blackhawks hoc ...
as a sports reporter in 1995.


WGN Radio and ''Sports Central''

In 1995, Kaplan became the host of ''Sports Central'' on WGN, which quickly became Chicago radio's top-rated sports talk show. He co-hosted the show with former Chicago Bears star Tom Waddle for over 10 years, making them the longest-running sports talk duo in Chicago radio history. After Waddle left to join ESPN Radio in February 2007, Kaplan hosted the show solo until March 2010. Sports Central, which began in 1982, was Chicago's longest-running sports talk show until it was replaced by a non-sports talk show in March 2010 by then-program director Kevin Metheny, who was portrayed as Kenny "Pig Vomit" Rushton in the Howard Stern film '' Private Parts''. In December 2010, following Metheny’s departure, Kaplan signed a long-term contract to remain at WGN Radio, becoming the primary host of a new evening talk show called ''WGN Sports Night''.


Comcast SportsNet and ''Chicago Tribune Live''

In January 2008, Kaplan was named the host of ''Chicago Tribune Live'' on
Comcast SportsNet NBC Sports Regional Networks is the collective name for a group of regional sports networks in the United States that are primarily owned and operated by the NBCUniversal division of the cable television company Comcast. The networks were origina ...
(CSN). In November 2009, he and the ''Chicago Tribune Live'' team were awarded an
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
for Best Interview Program. In 2013, the show was rebranded as ''Sports Talk Live'', which Kaplan hosted until its cancellation in August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


Additional television appearances

Kaplan appeared as a guest on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' and featured in the acclaimed documentary ''
Hoop Dreams ''Hoop Dreams'' is a 1994 American documentary film directed by Steve James, and produced by Frederick Marx, James, and Peter Gilbert, with Kartemquin Films. It follows the story of two African-American high school students, William Gates ...
'' during his basketball scouting career. In 2011, he appeared in the ESPN documentary ''Catching Hell'', which chronicled the story of the 2003 Chicago Cubs and fan Steve Bartman’s controversial role in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series.


College basketball and NBC Sports Network

In November 2012, Kaplan was hired by NBC Sports Network to call college basketball games, after previously working as a basketball announcer for ESPN. He also calls college basketball games for various conferences, including the Atlantic 10 Conference on NBCSN, the Missouri Valley Conference, and the Horizon League. Kaplan has also served as an announcer for the Chicago Machine and the
Chicago Shamrox The Chicago Shamrox were an American professional lacrosse team that played in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) in the 2007 and 2008 NLL seasons. Home matches were played at the Sears Centre in northwest suburban Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The ...
.


''Kap and Haugh'' and move to ESPN

From 2013 to 2015, Kaplan co-hosted ''Kap and Haugh'' on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, alongside longtime ''Chicago Tribune'' lead sports columnist David Haugh. After a 21-year career at WGN Radio, Kaplan signed a multi-year contract with ESPN in 2015, where he began hosting ''Kap and Co.'', a daily sports radio show on ESPN 1000 in Chicago, airing from 9:00 AM to noon CT. Kaplan’s co-hosts included U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer
Eddie Olczyk Edward Walter Olczyk Jr. (; born August 16, 1966) is an American sportscaster and former professional ice hockey player. He spent 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), playing as a center for the Chicago Blackhawks, Toronto Maple Le ...
, who also serves as a color analyst for the
Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...
and the NHL on NBC, and Jordan Cornette, who later moved to Bristol, Connecticut, to work for ESPN and the ACC Network. Cornette’s wife, Shae Peppler Cornette, also co-hosted with Kaplan, along with NBC Sports Chicago broadcaster Pat Boyle. Currently, Kaplan co-hosts ''Kap and J. Hood'' with Jonathan Hood on ESPN 1000 from 7:00 to 10:00 AM CT.


Cubs Pre- and Postgame coverage

Kaplan hosted pregame and postgame shows for the Chicago Cubs on either WGN Radio or television for 25 seasons from 1995 to 2019. He was the former pregame and postgame host for NBC Sports Chicago’s Chicago Cubs broadcasts, partnering with former Cubs outfielders
Todd Hollandsworth Todd Mathew Hollandsworth (born April 20, 1973) is an American former professional baseball outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). In , he won the National League Rookie of the Year Award, setting a record as the fifth consecutive Los Angele ...
,
David DeJesus David Christopher DeJesus (; born December 20, 1979) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, Washington Nationals, Tampa Bay Ray ...
, and
Doug Glanville Douglas Metunwa Glanville (born August 25, 1970) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and Texas Rangers. He is also a broadcast color analys ...
.


''Unfiltered with David Kaplan''

On March 28, 2022, NBC Sports Chicago announced that Kaplan would host a new 30-minute weeknight sports talk show titled ''Unfiltered with David Kaplan'', which premiered on April 4, 2022. In November 2022, Kaplan announced that he would leave NBC Sports Chicago at the end of the year to focus on his ESPN radio show and his growing YouTube channel.


Awards

Kaplan was inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame in 2021. He has won three Emmy Awards for his television work, including two at Comcast SportsNet and one for hosting ''A Piece of the Game'', a nationally aired sports memorabilia show that has received multiple awards for excellence. From 2009 to 2011, Kaplan co-authored the award-winning ''Around Town'' column in the ''Chicago Tribune'' with longtime writer Fred Mitchell. He was inducted into the WGN Radio Walk of Fame in May 2018 and was also inducted into both the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) Hall of Fame and the Chicago Public League Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2017.


References


External links


YouTube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, David 1960 births Living people Lacrosse announcers College football announcers Major League Baseball broadcasters College basketball announcers in the United States American television personalities People from Skokie, Illinois Hamline University alumni Radio personalities from Chicago