Joe Rossi Hall of Fame

2009 Hall of Fame Inductee Irv Brown – Broomfield There are few people in Colorado sports like Irv Brown. A former high school and college coach and official turned radio and television broadcaster, Irv has established himself among the most knowledgeable people in Colorado sports history. He and wife Pat live in Broomfield. Irv is a graduate of Denver's North High School and the University of Northern Colorado. He coached for 25 years at the high school level and at Metropolitan State College and the University of Colorado. He has served as Commissioner of the former Colorado Athletic Conference and as supervisor of officials for three collegiate conferences. Throughout his career, however, Irv never forgot his high school sports roots and has given much of his personal and professional time to promote prep athletics. While coaching three sports at Arvada High School, Irv's 1964 baseball team won the state title, losing only seven games all year. He was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 2001 and was listed 39th among Sports Illustrated's list of Colorado's 50 Greatest Sports Figures for his officiating. Perhaps more well-known now for his work on radio and television, Irv was one of the nation's premier basketball officials, having worked six Final Fours. Just a few years back, he was recognized as one of the 20 most influential officials in the country. In 1995, Irv received the CHSAA's Distinguished Service Award for promotion of high school sports. Irv now hosts a talk show with long-time partner Joe Williams on KKFN Radio (950 AM) from 2- 6 each day. He has worked as a youth baseball consultant Denver's professional sports teams conducting clinics across the state. Irv continues to broadcast games in a variety of sports for several networks and on local cable. He remains one of the most productive mentors of broadcast talent in the state. He is a member of the Air Force Academy football broadcast teams. The Colorado Rockies gave him their Pioneer Award for his work, and he broadcast the first taped ESPN event and the first ESPN live event in ESPN history. Both events were football games as ESPN first began.