We’ve all grown up with Marv Albert in our living rooms. But for Kenny Albert, it takes on the literal meaning. The younger Albert was born just as the elder Albert was attaining popularity in New York as a sportscaster.

Kenny arrived in February 1968, just weeks before the new Madison Square Garden opened–a place his dad would call his second home for more than 30 years. Two years after Kenny’s birth, Marv had his coming out party when the Knicks were on the run to their first championship. He would be at the mic providing the radio description of the exhilarating season.

While Marv is recognized as a legendary sportscaster, for Kenny, and his three siblings, he’s just dad. From his earliest age, Kenny recalls tagging along to the Garden as his father would prepare to call a Rangers or Knicks game.

“That was normal. That was what I grew up with,” Albert tells FishbowlNY. “I thought it was strange that people actually had dinner with their father, and going out with their parents every night. Because with us, it was more of a scramble.”

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With the state of broadcasting linked to state of the economy, cost-cutting of talent is commonplace. So it’s nice to see a good, old-fashioned retirement!

Don Gould did that Sunday, in walking away from his weekend morning sportscasting role on WINS for the next phase of his career in South Florida. 

It was earlier this year that Sid Rosenberg, while living in Miami, was dismissed from his weekday morning sports duties on WINS. That coupled with Gould’s move south would indicate WINS and Total Traffic (formerly Shadow/Metro) management’s preference to keep its entire staff in one location.

Nevertheless, Gould, who turned the official retirement age of 65 Sunday, says the hours were wearing thin.

His WINS stint started in 2006, after Gould met with then-executive editor Mark Mason. Even though the talent was paid by Shadow/Metro, Mason cast a big “shadow” over the hiring process.  While breaking bread at a diner, Gould, although flattered, told the longtime radio programmer that it may not be the right match.

“I don’t do sports the way everybody else does sports,” Gould recalls.

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It’s all things New York Giants, as the Super Bowl kicks off in two days.

This week’s poll keeps up the Big Blue theme, as we asked your favorite Giants broadcaster.

FishbowlNY readers selected the late, great Marty Glickman numero uno, with 28 percent of the vote. Glickman a 23-year run behind the mic for Giants’ games.

At number two, the Giants current play-by-play, Bob Papa, who has served in the role since 1995. He received a hefty 26 percent of respondents.

Another longtime Giants announcer, the late Jim Gordon was selected third. Gordon, who picked up 19 percent of the vote, was in the Giants broadcast booth for 18 seasons.

Marv Albert, is forever linked with the Knicks and Rangers, but from 1973 to 1976 Albert succeeded his mentor, Glickman, as the Giants lead play-by-play man.

Photo: jewishsports.net

With the 149-day NBA lockout on the path to ending over the weekend, the season will be salvaged with a Christmas Day start. The only remaining issue is for the league and the union to iron-out a new collective bargaining agreement.

For many weeks, fans were subjected to revenue sharing and economics 101.

But there is a bigger picture with the NBA likely to resume next month.

There will be no Marv Albert calling local NBA games, after decades in the broadcast booth. But Albert, 70, announced in June that he would leave the YES Network to concentrate on his new NFL gig with CBS. He’s still the top broadcaster of NBA action on TNT. He joined TNT in 1999.

Not many years removed from his Syracuse University days, Albert hooked up with the Knicks in 1967. Virtually every season for the next 37 years, Albert was the lead voice, either on radio or TV. Read more

For those who thought Len Berman wouldn’t return to TV–think again!

The longtime WNBC sports anchor, whose contract was not renewed in 2009, is bringing back his signature monthly highlight package “Spanning the World” back to The Today Show.

Berman will be featured in-studio tomorrow during the 8:30 a.m. segment of the broadcast.

Berman, who narrated the clips on Today for 20 years starting in 1989, is happy to be home.

“I’m thrilled to reconnect with my good buddies Matt [Lauer], Al [Roker], Ann [Curry] and Natalie [Morales],” Berman says. “A great crew on and off camera. It was always one of my highlights.”

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Breaking: FishbowlNY has learned that WCBS-AM has named interim morning sports anchor Brad Heller to the position permanently. Heller replaces longtime morning sportscaster Jared Max, who left for ESPN 1050/WEPN in March.

Heller has been with Shadow Broadcasting Services, which provides sports reports to the station, throughout much of the last decade.

In 2006, Heller left New York for Columbia, South Carolina, where he was play-by-play voice for the University of South Carolina’s women’s basketball team.

Heller attended Syracuse University, like some famous sportscasters before him: Marv Albert, Len Berman, and Bob Costas.   

FishbowlNY attempted to reach WCBS-AM for a comment.

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament got started Tuesday night with the newly created First Four teams on truTV. The doubleheader averaged a .6 rating in New York. Breaking it down further, the opening game registered a .7, while the nightcap scored a .6 rating.

Nationally, the games fared slightly better with an average rating of 1.0.

This season marks the first cooperative NCAA Tournament coverage between TruTV, CBS Sports, TBS,  and TNT. As part of the combining resources, Marv Albert will call his first NCAA Tournament action. The Nets’ play-by-play voice joins Turner colleagues Steve Kerr and Craig Sager on CBS Friday afternoon.

MSG Network received a whopping 60 nominations Thursday for the 54th Annual New York Emmy Awards.

Among the other regional sports networks, the YES Network notched 46 nominations, while MSG Varsity picked up 32 nods.

SNY was recognized 23 times.

Breaking it down further, in the category Sports Coverage: Series, MSG was bookended by News 12 Westchester (twice), News 12 New Jersey, and News 12 Connecticut.  

The odds may be against MSG in that category, but not so for Sports Programming: Regularly Scheduled Program. MSG took five nominations (MLB Productions for the YES Network with the other – Yankeeography: George Steinbrenner ).  

YES’ other signature original program CenterStage, hosted by Michael Kay, is nominated for Best Interview/Discussion for the edition with Mike Tyson.

The show goes against two WNBC/NYNonstop shows–The Debrief with David Ushery and Talk Stoop with Cat Greenleaf.

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As part of CBS joining forces with Turner Sports to call the expanded NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament this year, fans will be treated to TNT NBA announcers calling some of the action.

That means Marv Albert will team up with his TNT partner Steve Kerr for regional semi-final and regional final rounds on CBS.  

It also marks Albert’s return to announcing college basketball games, something he hasn’t done since his NBC days.

Albert, of course, is also the Nets’ play-by-play voice on the YES Network.

The NCAA Tournament begins on March 15.