Play By Play Announcer

Don Chevrier

Don Chevrier, for 14 years the television voice of curling in Canada, joined the NBC Olympics team as curling play-by-play announcer. In Salt Lake, Chevrier worked alongside entertaining analyst Don Duguid. From 1972-81, Chevrier and Duguid were a popular team on CBC's Saturday afternoon "Curling Classic" series, whose original host was a young television personality named Alex Trebek.

Chevrier and Duguid called a number of Canadian and world curling championships while building a loyal following. "In (Salt Lake) Dugie and I are going to have to be like teachers," Chevrier said. "It's curling 101, to teach Americans the game and use terms that are understandable. But I think you can be educational and also entertaining. Dugie has a great sense of humor and will say some outrageous things on the air. Once the American audience figures it out, they'll enjoy curling."

Salt Lake was Chevrier's eighth Olympic assignment, a run that began in 1972 when he hosted the opening and closing ceremonies and called hockey for CBC's coverage from Sapporo. In 1976 at the Montreal Summer Olympics, Chevrier returned in that role, while also calling the boxing action.

At the 1980 Lake Placid Games, Chevrier called the USA-USSR "Miracle on Ice" hockey game (and subsequent gold medal game vs. Finland) live for ABC Radio, while working other events for CBC.

In 1984 in Sarajevo, Chevrier covered hockey and speed skating for both ABC and ABC Radio. Chevrier worked boxing and baseball at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles for ABC and ABC Radio. In 1988 from Calgary, Chevrier's assignments included curling play-by-play for both ABC and CTV; and hockey play-by-play for ABC Radio.   Chevrier was the play-by-play announcer for CTV's coverage of hockey at the Lillehammer Games in 1994, including the dramatic gold-medal game in which Sweden - in a shootout - denied Canada its first Olympic hockey gold medal since 1952.

Throughout the 1980s, Chevrier was a contributor to ABC's Wide World of Sports, primarily covering boxing. Chevrier often worked with Howard Cosell and in fact does a pretty fair Cosell impersonation. Chevrier, whose broadcast resume includes 21 different sports (the most obscure being team handball at the 1976 Olympics) over 33 years in television, has also handled play-by-play on Monday Night Baseball for ABC Sports; NHL games for ESPN; CFL games for CBC and ESPN; and USFL games for ABC Radio. In 1967, Chevrier began a 30-year run as host of ABC Radio's World of Sports show.

This year's Kentucky Derby was his 20th as national radio host in the U.S. Chevrier was the television voice of the Toronto Blue Jays for 20 years (1977-96), beginning in the club's first season. In 2001, Chevrier filled in on radio broadcasts of 20 Blue Jays games. He also called four years of Ottawa Senators games.

Chevrier began his career at age 16 doing high school sports on radio in Edmonton. He went on to earn two "Nellies," the Canadian equivalent of Emmy Awards, as national sportscaster of the year. A native of Toronto, he resides in Palm Harbor, Fla., where he claims to be Florida's only curling announcer.

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Colour Commentator

Katherine Barber

Katherine is the Editor-in-Chief of the Oxford Canadian Dictionary.

Katherine Barber grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and took a BA in English Literature and French at the University of Winnipeg (1980). Following a year in France as an assistante de langue, she moved to Ottawa to pursue studies in translation and an MA in Lettres francaises at the University of Ottawa (1989). She taught courses in translation, writing, and history of the language (both English and French) for five years at the University of Ottawa.

She was the principal reviser on the Bilingual Canadian Dictionary project at the University of Ottawa, then joined Oxford University Press in 1991 to set up a new dictionary department and embark on the Canadian Oxford Dictionary. She has been Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Dictionary department since then and has supervised the production of two editions of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, which is the official dictionary of The Canadian Press, The Globe and Mail, and most of Canada's Hansard Editors; the Canadian Oxford High School Dictionary; the Canadian Oxford Paperback Dictionary; and the Canadian Oxford Thesaurus.

She received the University of Winnipeg Distinguished Alumni Award in 2000. She makes frequent appearances on CBC Radio and Television to discuss matters of language and Canadian English in particular.

Her interests outside lexicography are ballet, choral singing, gardening, and cooking.

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Junior Pronouncer

Mary Ito

Mary is currently the host of TVO's More to Life and 2nd Opinion.

Mary Ito has had an extensive career in television and radio broadcasting including roles as host, reporter, writer and producer. Before joining TVOntario, Mary anchored a daily health segment on Global TV. Health Matters was the highest rated segment on the early evening news. She also contributed lifestyle and entertainment features to Global's News at Noon show.

Mary worked at CFTO-TV, as a reporter and alternate host for the morning talk show Eye on Toronto, and worked as a replacement weekend news anchor for CFTO News.

Mary also hosted two nationally syndicated radio shows. While at CFRB Radio, she hosted a family program and an entertainment show, and produced several other talk shows. Mary was also a regular lifestyle contributor to CBC Radio.

Mary is a founding member of the annual "Kidsummer Festival" which runs in Toronto every summer, offering free events to children and their families.

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Senior Pronouncer

Tina Srebotnjak

Tina has been the host of TVO's Imprint for four seasons. Imprint is North America's longest running book show and celebrated it's 15th anniversary this year. Ontario's premier program for book lovers features the top talents in Canadian and international literature, lively discussions about literary issues, and profiles of rising stars on the publishing scene.

Before that, she spent 24 years as a host and producer at CBC Radio and Television, including four years as a producer at Morningside, and eight seasons as the co-host of Midday, CBC Television's popular noon hour programme.

Tina began her career as a researcher in 1976. She went on to cover the Quebec Referendum in Montreal in 1980.

Long immersed in politics and culture, Tina has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and French from the University of Toronto, and a BA in Journalism from Carleton University in Ottawa.

Tina lives with her family in Toronto.

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Master of Ceremonies

Kenneth Oppel

Kenneth Oppel, the author of young adult bestsellers Silverwing, Sunwing, and Firewing, published his first novel for children at age 15. Additional titles include Dead Water Zone, The Live-Forever Machine, Follow That Star, a children's picture book Peg and the Whale, and his new novel Airborn, which was released in March 2004. He is also an accomplished screenwriter. He has received countless awards, including the 1995 Air Canada Award for best Canadian writer under 30.

Kenneth Oppel always promised himself he'd never write a talking animal story. Despite loving Charlotte's Web, The Wind in the Willows, and the Narnia books as a kid, by the time he came to write his own books for children, he had developed very puritanical views, as he says, about anthropomorphized animals dressed in Edwardian clothing, saying things like "Oh Ratty, I do apologize, I’ve bungled things terribly." His personal tastes as a children’s novelist seemed to run to otherworldly, quasi-gothic dramas set against backgrounds of urban decay. He liked megalomaniacs and deviant geniuses. He liked nocturnal, subterranean settings.

By 1995, Oppel had written thirteen children's books, two picture books, eight chapter books and three novels. He published his first novel at age fourteen after receiving encouragement from author Roald Dahl. And then a friend introduced him to bats. Silverwing, Sunwing, and Firewing have sold over 900 000 copies worldwide and have won numerous awards, including the Mr. Christie's Book Award, the CLA Book of the Year for Children Award, the Ruth Schwartz Award, as well as a host of children's choice awards across the country.

Kenneth Oppel lives in Toronto with his wife and two children.

Visit www.kennethoppel.com

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Roving Reporter

Joe Motiki

Joseph Motiki, born and raised in Toronto, graduated in 1995 from the Radio & Television Arts program at Ryerson Polytechnic University.

While an undergraduate at Ryerson, Joe became the host of What in 1994, a late-night phone-in program for youth on TVOntario. The show was nominated for a 1995 Gemini Award for Best Youth Program in Canada.

In March 1995, after What's critically-acclaimed run, Joe became co-host of The tvokids Crawlspace, TVOntario's afterschool block of children's programs. During Joe's four years on the show, the Crawlspace became the number-one block of afterschool programming in Ontario, beating out YTV, CBC and Fox. During this time Joe made over two-hundred appearances at various children's events across Ontario, and was a presenter on Night Two of the 1997 Gemini Awards.

Joe also co-hosted UNICEF's International Children's Day of Broadcasting on multiple occasions, including the TVO broadcast that won an International Emmy Award in 1997. He was also an Ontario Spokesperson for UNICEF in 1997 and 1998, visiting schools across the province to inform them about the purpose of UNICEF during their Halloween drives. Joe, along with co-hosts Patty Sullivan, Kevin Brauch and Rekha Shah, were recognized by UNICEF for their work.

Joe left TVOntario in May 1999, and spent a year as an on-air feature host on EZRock 97.3 FM in Toronto. He hosted the 1999 Golden Marble Awards for excellence in children's advertising in New York City, live events for companies such as EMI Music, Universal and HMV North America, and hosted the youth-and-sports quiz show Kidzone on LeafsTV. He has also served as host of the Alliance for Children and Television Awards on two occasions, most recently in May 2003.

He's also starred in many animated programs, such as 7th Portal (Stan Lee Media), Rescue Heroes (KidsWB) and Medabots (Fox). His numerous acting credits include Doc, Blue Murder and Disney's The Other Me and The Scream Team.

Joe, 31, traveled to South Africa in 1991-92. He's currently hosting the youth sports program POV Sports On CBC.

For more information you can go to his website at www.joe4life.com .

Joe is single and resides in Toronto.

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Judge

Judith Robinson

Judith Robinson is currently the Manager of Course Development for the Independent Learning Centre at TVOntario.

Previously, she was an Education Officer for the Education Quality and Accountability Office and worked with the team to develop and administer the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test.

Judith was the English Department Head at two secondary schools: Runnymede Collegiate Institute, and York Humber High School. She was a secondary School teacher with the Toronto District School Board and also lectured philosophy and cross curricular arts courses at York University.

Judith has a MA in Philosophy, a B.Ed. (Secondary English and Drama) and a M.Ed. in Curriculum.

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