Brian Hanley

I was born in 1960 on the westside of Chicago at the venerable St. Anne’s Hospital. My late, great dad, Bernard, and beautiful and selfless mom, Suzanne, raised nine children. My five brothers, three sisters and I grew up in Oak Park and River Forest, where I attended St. Luke’s grammar school. My first newspaper job was an afternoon paper route delivering the late, great Chicago Daily News. My love of journalism grew while at Fenwick High Scool (Oak Park), from where I was graduated in 1978 as an Illinois State Scholar.

While at Marquette University, from where I was graduated with a journalism major and broadcast minor in 1982, I was an intern for the late, great Tim Weigel at WLS-TV here in Chicago. With Tim’s letter of recommendation, I was able to gain acceptance to the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where I did graduate work.

I began my career at the Chicago Sun-Times in 1984, as a part-time editorial assistant, while also attending Medill. My first full-time beat came in 1988, when I was assigned to cover Illinois and the Big Ten. I was fortunate to chronicle the 1989 “Flying Illini’’ basketball team under coach Lou Henson, a Final Four squad.

In my 24 years at the Sun-Times, my beats have spanned the Sox, Cubs, Blackhawks, Northwestern, and the Bulls.

Thanks to Seth20Mason, Ron Gleason, and then-owner Dan Lee–with a tip of the hat to sports talk radio pioneer Chet Coppock–my Score career began with the station’s creation. I shared afternoon drive duties with Terry Boers, the quickest wit I have known, and Dan McNeil.

My brodcast career was reignited in 2005 under the current Score braintrust of GM Paul Agase and Program Director Mitch Rosen, both of whom has taken the station to its greatest heights. From the midday show to our move to morning drive, I have enjoyed great success due to the talents of my broadcast partner Mike Mulligan, executive producer Joe Ostrowski, and sound surgeons Rock Mamola and Chris Collins, now Score sports director.

Of course, the constant that has continued to amaze me throughout these many years has been the loyalty, creativity, and absolute intelligence of our listeners who are the pillars of the Score.