ROSEMONT -- Comcast SportsNet Chicago president Jim Corno Sr. was one of nine inductees in the 2012 class of the National Italian-American Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday night.
Corno Sr., a regional sports television pioneer, was inducted alongside eight-time MLB All-Star John Smoltz, seven-time NHL All-Star Mark Recchi, Olympic gymnast Alicia Sacramone and Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti among others at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.
Former MLB catcher Mike Piazza emceed the event.
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Its an incredible honor for him and the family, said Jim Corno Jr., who accepted the award on behalf of his father, who was unable to attend the event. He takes this very personally. Three of his four grandparents were all right from Italy. Our whole family is very deep rooted in Italian traditions and so this brings it home for us.
Corno Sr. first took over as president of SportsVision in 1984, a station that had roughly 14,000 subscribers. He also held the same title at SportsChannel and Fox Sports Net Chicago before he moved to Comcast SportsNet Chicago in 2004, which has an estimated 4.8 million subscribers between Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. Under Cornos watch, SportsChannel became the first 24-hour-a-day regional sports network.
Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, MLB Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda and NHL Hall of Famer Tony Esposito all attended the 35th annual event.