Dan Patrick Still Loves the Grind of Sports Radio

For sports fans of a certain age, Dan Patrick, who began at CNN Sports in 1984 before joining ESPN in 1989, has been a presence on par with air and sunshine—and just as vital. In the days when you had to wait until 6 p.m. or (good god, no!) 11 p.m for sports news beyond your city, Patrick was Dan Rather with catchphrases and sarcasm to spare. He turned SportsCenter into an event—and pushed it into the mainstream with longtime tag team partner Keith Olbermann.