an all sports station. In 2005, Zaret began a 6-year run with the Pistons. Early life Zaret was born in Nutley, New Jersey and also lived in Huntington, New York and Springfield, Massachusetts where he graduated from High School in 1968. He studied speech communications at the University of Michigan and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1972. When a college professor, Dr. Edgar Willis, told him that his gravelly voice would be a distraction to radio audiences, Zaret concentrated on other aspects of radio and television. When at a party in 1974, John Petrie, the program director at WABX-FM heard him speaking in animated fashion about sports and invited him for an audition and subsequently, a job doing sports commentaries. Unavailable in cars without a special converter, FM radio was a medium for music enthusiasts, garnering ad revenues representing a mere fraction of AM radio. That would dramatically change and have a powerfully positive effect on his career. Despite having no television experience, Zaret's popularity on radio and with fellow baby boomers led to his hiring at WDIV at age 30. Other media, honors and awards Zaret won five Michigan Emmy Awards for his television work and numerous radio honors for commentary and reporting. He wrote three books, "84, Last of the Great Tigers" in 2004. He followed that in 2005 with "Blue Collar Blueprint, how the Pistons constructed their championship formula." In 2006 he wrote McLain's biography, "I Told You I wasn't Perfect" which reached #3 on the ESPN best-seller list. He created "Eli Zaret Advertising" in 2003, writing hundreds of radio and television commercials. In 2014 he created "Rules of the Game" sponsored by Ford that ran for 3 years in Detroit Tiger radio broadcasts. In 2019 he established the "No Filter Sports" podcast. References 1950 births Living people American television sports anchors Detroit Pistons announcers Detroit Tigers announcers New York (state) television reporters Television personalities from Detroit People from Nutley, New Jersey People from Huntington, New York People from Springfield, Massachusetts University of Michigan alumni