John Chandler

John Chandler joined the Newschannel5 sports department in July 2002 as a sports reporter and producer. A native of Westlake and graduate of St. Ignatius High, John is excited to be back in Cleveland.

This is John's third tour of duty at WEWS. He started as a sports intern in 1997, and returned in 2000 for a nine-month stint as a sports producer, before heading for New England.

Of course, this is a family business -- John used to stay up late to watch his uncle, Nev Chandler, on Newschannel5 at 11. Nev was sports director here at WEWS for over a decade, while serving as play-by-play voice of the Cleveland Browns.

John previously served as sports reporter and weekend sports anchor at WVII, the ABC affiliate in Bangor, Maine. While there, the Associated Press awarded him second place for Best Sportscast in the state. In addition, John received recognition by both the Associated Press and the Maine Association of Broadcasters for writing and anchoring "Remembering Coach," a documentary on the life of former University of Maine head hockey coach Shawn Walsh. Walsh led the Black Bears to two national titles before his death, in September of 2001, at age 47.

John attended Boston University, where he majored in Broadcast Journalism. While in Boston, he began his on-air career as a reporter and fill-in anchor for the Boston Red Sox pre-game show, "Forever Baseball."

When he's not out reporting on local teams, John still keeps tabs on the sports scene. But don't expect to see him on a basketball court near you -- he's an awful athlete. His family understands -- they're just happy to have him back on the North Shore.

You can drop John an e-mail at Chandler@newsnet5.com