Big Ten Network Talent Mike Hall

Mike Hall, Studio Host

ALMA MATER: Missouri 2004

HOMETOWN: Glen Ellyn, IL

PREVIOUS PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Anchor for ESPN and ESPNEWS (2004-05); Signature Anchor for ESPNU (2005-07).

MY FIRST JOB IN SPORTS WAS …: I suppose it would be as a participant on ESPN's "Dream Job." Before that, when I was 12 I was a Little League umpire but I wasn't very good and quit soon after I got the job. I did, however, get paid gas money to do radio play-by-play (1340 KXEO) for the Mexico Bulldogs football and basketball teams. It was a high school 40 minutes from the Mizzou campus.

THE BEST BIG TEN TRADITION IS …: Fighting for a bronzed pig!

MOST ADMIRED ATHLETE GROWING UP: Its easy to say Michael Jordan. And though it's true, I won't. I'll go Tom Waddle. A thin wide receiver who kept getting cut by the Bears and kept coming back to make the team and make big catches over the middle. As he continually put the well-being of the team in front of that of his own body, it became impossible not to root for him.

GREATEST ALL-TIME BIG TEN SPORTS MEMORY AS A SPECTATOR: No question, it's the 2008 Capital One Bowl. Granted I was working but not really. I was in charge of pre-game and post-game stuff so during the game I got to just stand on the sidelines and watch that crazy contest unfold. Then, getting to be on the field asking questions to a bevy of joyous wolverines was a memory not to be forgotten. I didn't even mention being in the locker room as Coach Carr gave his final post-game address to his team.

GREATEST ALL-TIME ATHLETIC ACCOMPLISHMENT: Remember that early 1990s toy Skip-It? Never mind. Um, I'd say being a starter on the MU Ultimate Frisbee team my freshman and sophomore years until the Journalism school's demanding schedule forced me into early retirement.

FAVORITE QUOTE: Either of these two: "It seems like a nickel ain't worth a dime anymore." That's by Yogi Berra. Or this quote from a fourth-grader to my sister who is a teacher and a vegetarian: "Miss Hall, my brother asked me this question and I didn't know what to tell him 'cause I didn't know the answer. Can you eat Animal Crackers?"

Big Ten Network Talent Bios

Dave Revsine	Mike Hall	Stephanie White	Tim Doyle	Vera Jones
Wayne Larrivee	Mark Neely	Glen Mason	Jim Jackson
Others: Trenni Kusnierek, Ann Kreiter, Rick Pizzo.