Mark Champion
Mark Champion (born August 8, 1950) is an American radio sportscaster who is the current primary radio play-by-play voice of the Detroit Pistons, a position he has served in since 2001. When the Pistons are on national television, however, George Blaha (usually the TV play-by-play man for Bally Sports Detroit) takes his place. Born in Muncie, Indiana and educated at Ball State University, Champion served as a local sports reporter on Tampa-area radio and television stations in the 1970s. In 1979, he became the radio play-by-play announcer for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After a decade-long stint at Tampa Bay, Champion moved to the Detroit area in 1989, calling games for the Detroit Lions (1989–2004), Detroit Pistons (2001–present), Detroit Fury (2001–2004), and Michigan State Spartans men's basketball. In 2004, Champion was the recipient of the prestigious Ty Tyson Award for Excellence in Sports Broadcasting, awarded by the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association. In 2005, Champion was replaced on the Lions radio broadcasts with Dan Miller, who was sports director of Fox 2 Detroit television and, more significantly, a friend of Matt Millen, the Lions' general manager at that time. This drew accusations from Detroit media critics that the Lions had installed a