Drennan ready to talk sports on new STO show
By Kevin Kelley
Sports
Published March 28, 2007

Bruce Drennan had a problem many people think they would like to have.

“Unlike 95 percent of the people that bet through an illegal bookmaker — they lose — I won,” Drennan said.

The former radio sports talker and Indians announcer recently served a five-month prison sentence for filing false tax statements after not reporting sports gambling revenue.

He said he met bookmakers through golf leagues. He never bet on the Internet, he said, and he never became addicted to gambling.

Drennan had something to keep his spirits up while doing his time — the possibility of a comeback doing a sports talk show on SportsTime Ohio when his sentence was over. STO President Jim Liberatore had brought up the idea with him before he entered prison.

“That motivated me and inspired me the five months I was in (the federal penitentiary at) Morgantown (W.Va.),” Drennan said. “It helped me beyond words to do the time.”

STO, the cable home of the Cleveland Indians, has tapped Drennan to host its main sports talk show, which will air Sunday from 7 to 9 p.m. and Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. A guest host will run the show on Fridays.

The show’s name – “All Bets Are Off.”

Liberatore said the name has two meanings. First is the reference to the gambling situation Drennan recently found himself in.

 The second meaning is that all topics will be open for discussion on the show.

“Bruce is a perfect match because he has some of the traits that STO wants to have — a local affiliation with the fans, a passion, an expertise and understanding of this community,” Liberatore said.

“The name of the show was not my idea,” Drennan said, “but I guess it’s fitting.”

Drennan said his time in prison was a humbling experience. But even worse were the months of investigation that preceded that, he said.

Drennan said he’s prepared to discuss his brush with the law on the show.

“I fully intend to incorporate my story, my case, my experiences leading up to the five months at Morgantown, and my five months at Morgantown,” said Drennan, who is also in discussions to work part time for WOIO/Action 19 News.

“Everything that happened was by my own doing, my own fault — nobody to blame but me,” Drennan said. “And certainly I’ve paid the price.”

Drennan said his most humbling experience in prison was when Florida beat Ohio State in college football’s championship game and his southern jailmates teased him about it.

“Well what’s the great big sportscaster from Cleveland say about Ohio State now?” Drennan said with a Southern accent, imitating the ribbing he got from southerners at the prison.

“I had to tuck by Buckeye tail between my legs and shut my big mouth,” Drennan said. “And that’s never easy for me.”

What does Drennan think about whether Pete Rose should get in the Hall of Fame?

Rose was a baseball manager while he was betting on baseball, Drennan noted. And “Charlie Hustle” was in denial for a long time about his gambling, he added. But Drennan said he has a real problem with Rose not being in the Hall of Fame based on his baseball accomplishments, especially when many others in the hall, like Ty Cobb, weren’t exactly shining examples of upright citizens.

Drennan still faces five months of home confinement as part of his sentencing, but he does have work privileges.

“I’m a homebody anyway,” Drennan said. “I like nothing more than spending time at home with my (93-year-old) mother, my wife, my dogs. I really don’t go out much anyway.”

Drennan said his perspective on life has changed dramatically because of his time in prison.

 “I appreciate the smallest things,” he said. “Scotch tape, a paper clip, drinking out of a real glass, using real silverware, being able to wear a regular belt buckle.”

Drennan said STO has given him a blank check on how to conduct his show. He says interviews with local as well as national sports figures will be a big part of the broadcast.

But his approach to sports talk won’t change. Except for one thing.

“I have my own style. Obviously I’m very opinionated,” Drennan said. “I’m not going to jump to judgment if an athlete gets in trouble from now on.”

False allegations spread about him taught him to sit back and get the facts first, he said.