Dick Crippen - Catch 47 Show Host

Dick Crippen - Catch 47 Show Host

Dick Crippen, host of Bay Sports with Dick Crippen on Catch 47, has been a staple of Tampa Bay Area broadcasting for more than four decades.

For more than 35 years he has been sports director at both the NBC affiliate (19 years - WFLA-TV) and before that at the then ABC affiliate (16 years - WTSP-TV). He has also worked extensively in radio and was best known as part of the Q Morning Zoo on Q105 Radio.

Dick's sports broadcasting career also includes several years with NASCAR's Motor Racing Network and 17 years doing the radio broadcasts for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He also served as stadium announcer and television broadcaster for the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Dick's work has taken him around the country, as he broadcast the Unlimited Hydroplane Circuit on ESPN for 10 years and is currently associated with the APBA Offshore Racing Circuit. He has also done a drag boat series, the 12 hours of Sebring, motorcycle racing and is host of Boattest Reports, which has moved from Speedvision to the Outdoor Life Network.

Dick has been an integral member of the Super Bowl Task Force that landed three Super Bowls for Tampa Bay and has also been part of the birth of the NFL, NASL, NHL, and Major League Baseball in Tampa Bay. His job in sports took him to 10 Super Bowls as well as Final Fours; Sugar, Orange and Fiesta Bowls; years of Florida/Florida State matchups and several World Series. He was named Florida Sportscaster of the Year four times in the '90s by the National Sporstcasters and Sportswriters Association.

Dick is currently executive director of community development for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and also heads up their Rays of Hope Foundation. He serves on eight boards of directors, including the St. Petersburg YMCA, PARC (Pinellas Association for Retarted Children), United Way of Tampa Bay, Florida Blood Services, CASA, Pinellas Education Foundation, and the Salvation Army Advisory Board. He is also a lifetime member of the board for the Suncoast Ronald McDonald Houses and serves on the Board of Counselors at the University of Tampa and the President's Council at the University of South Florida.

Dick and wife Penny, reside in St. Petersburg.