About Barry Tompkins biography
Barry was born and raised in San Francisco and began his career in local television there at KPIX-TV in 1968. Since then he has spent five years at NBC, ten years at HBO, eight years at ESPN, and the past fourteen years at Fox Sports.
His credits include play-by-play commentary of The Super Bowl, the Rose Bowl, the NCAA Final Four, eight Olympic Games, The Tour de France, Wimbledon, the French Open and the U.S. Open Tennis, the World Gymnastics Championships, World Swimming and Diving Championships, World Figure Skating Championships, and horse racing’s Triple Crown, World Cup Skiing, San Francisco Giants baseball, and over 100 World Championship fights.
In addition he has covered the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open, and PGA golf events, The Indy 500, Baseball World Series, hockey’s Stanley Cup, and the Soccer World Cup.
Barry is in his 30th year as the voice of Pac-10 Conference Football and Basketball for Fox Sports Net and continues to broadcast a wide variety of events on national television.
In addition to his broadcasting work, Barry writes a humor column for the Marin Independent Journal and is a contributing columnist for Comcast Sports News Bay Area.
He is married to author Joan Ryan. They live in Marin County, California with their son Ryan, 19, now a freshman at Mitchell College in New London, CT, and Bill The Dog, a 9-year old mutt who believes for all the world that he is in fact a human—he just has two more feet.
Marin Independent Journal columns
- 01/22/12
- Here's the score on those 49ers tickets
- SO I UNDERSTAND there's a football game in town today.…more (Marin IJ)
- 01/15/12
- First impressions, big mistakes and Terrapin Crossroads
- I'VE BEEN THINKING a lot about perception lately. How things are seen and interpreted as opposed to how things really are. Judging the book by its cover sort of thing.…more (Marin IJ)
- 01/08/12
- It's an out-of-this-world trip — but it will cost you
- I REPORT TO YOU today from the Department of Thanks but No Thanks. It has to do with a new item on the market, which has all the appeal to someone who travels on a weekly basis of watching home videos of a colonoscopy examination.…more (Marin IJ)
- 12/25/11
- Christmas gifts, wrapping paper and garbage bags
- WELL, THAT'S IT for another year. The big guy in the red suit has come and gone and what's left is gathering up the remnants and waiting for the American Express bill to come next month. I'll get to the damn reindeer droppings on my roof tomorrow.…more (Marin IJ)
- 12/18/11
- When it comes to gifts, the nose knows best
- I JUST DON'T like Christmas shopping. My reasons are both simple and just: The stores are too crowded.…more (Marin IJ)
- 12/11/11
- Why do some things make us laugh -- and others not?
- THIS WAS ONE of those weeks. The kind when your brain says, "I'd really like to give you something to write about that's side-splitting hysterical, but I just don't have it in me. In fact, you're on your own this week – I've got a hot date with your sciatic nerve. Ask me next week, I might have some knee-slapping Christmas hilarity for you. In the meantime – try to go it alone funny man." …more (Marin IJ)
- 12/04/11
- Time to 'check-in' for a regular coffee
- When I moved to New York many years ago the adjustment to life in the big city was not a big one. I grew up in San Francisco; I was an urban kind of guy. And, after all, why was walking down Market Street at night that much different than walking down Broadway? …more (Marin IJ)
- 11/27/11
- When entering the 'Biggest Loser' becomes a viable option
- I CAN'T TALK to you right now. Come on back and read this in a few minutes. I'm just about done filling out the contestant entry form for "The Biggest Loser." After the last couple of weeks, I have finally reached the point that I can no longer convince myself that the bathroom scale is lying to me. …more (Marin IJ)
- 11/20/11
- Step up to the bar for some high-tech headaches
- I READ THIS WEEK that the new Nook Tablet is now on the market and my first thought was, "Terrific, I've had a few aches and pains, my athlete's foot is acting up, and I'm fresh out of Beano." Any new tablet ought to take care of at least some of my problems.…more (Marin IJ)
Read earlier columns at marinij.com and csnbayarea.com.