On Someone Else's Nickel: A Life in Television, Sports, and Travel

Tim Ryan is no doubt the only sportscaster who has crash-landed in the Namib desert, been charged by a rhino in Zimbabwe, herded sheep at the beginning of a Winter Olympics telecast, and dodged flying bottles at a professional boxing match.

In his new memoir, On Someone Else’s Nickel, Ryan recounts all of these tales and more in the lively, trustworthy voice that sports fans will recognize from televised sporting events of the past fifty years. Armchair travelers and sports enthusiasts alike will be taken on a riveting journey as Ryan shares anecdotes from his adventures in broadcasting that span thirty sports in more than twenty countries over fifty years. And while the events themselves are impressive―ten Olympic Games, more than three hundred championship boxing matches, Wimbledon and U.S. Open tennis, World Cup Skiing, just to name a few―it’s the lesser-known stories that happened along the way to the big events that really stand out in Ryan’s telling. As he details how he came to call the first Ali-Frazier fight for the Armed Forces Network, or hosted a tennis tournament featuring the McEnroe brothers to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association, Ryan shines a light on sports and the world beyond sports―the world of family, friends, colleagues, and connections that endure when the game has been won, the medals awarded, the champion crowned, and the mic turned off.