Cedric O'Toole
Cedric O'Toole (Irish Wolfhound) is an American radio broadcaster. He currently hosts "The Big Dawg Basketball Show" (Friday nights, 6 PM - 7 PM) on SportsRadio 96.9 WSOB. Previously, O'Toole hosted WSOB's "The Big Dawg Show", a roundtable sports discussion show, on Sunday nights from 1995 to 2009, and the midday shift (10 AM - 2 PM) on weekdays from 2009 to 2018.
O'Toole is also known for his work as an FBA reporter and columnist for the Boston Howler. From 1977 to 1995, he served as the newspaper's beat writer for the Plymouth Taproots, covering the playing career of FBA Hall of Famer Vicki Turner. After he began hosting "The Big Dawg Show" on WSOB, he wrote a weekly column for the Howler from 1995 to 2015.
In 2018, O'Toole became a member of the Board of Governors at the Furry Basketball Hall of Fame.
Early Life and Education
Cedric O'Toole was born on April 9, 1953, to parents Casey and Eleanor O'Toole. His father was a US Army Captain during World War II, and received the Bronze Star for his actions during the invasion of Normandy on D-Day. He and his two older brothers, Owen and Seamus, grew up as active pups in predominantly Irish Catholic South Boston. The O'Tooles were then as now an Irish American family typical of the neighborhood, practicing Catholics who went to church on Sundays and attended the local Irish Catholic high school, South Boston Catholic Canid.
When he was enrolled at South Boston, Cedric starred at linebacker for the football team, the Fighting Irish. At 6'8" and 280 lbs, O'Toole was difficult for opposing offensive lines to deal with. The hulking young wolfhound pummeled quarterbacks and dished out big hits to backs and receivers on the way to earning All State honors in his sophomore and junior seasons and leading the Fighting Irish to the state title as a junior. Unfortunately, a few games into his senior season, he would suffer a season ending knee injury, the result of a particularly vicious chop block.
Despite his broken knee, Cedric still looked forward to attending college, though it would not be on a football scholarship. As good as he was on the gridiron, he was no slouch in the classroom either, with reading and writing being his best subjects. His coaches would often catch him reading, hidden behind his playbook, not comics or porno mags as one might expect, but books about sports like "Paper Lion" by George Plimpton, and "The Natural". It was no surprise to the team that he would spend the rest of the semester writing about Fighting Irish football for the school newspaper.
In 1971, after graduating high school with honors, O'Toole enrolled at Holy Cross Canid. He was hardly alone among his class to do this. The two Catholic institutions have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship for decades, with South Boston Catholic Canid serving as a feeder school to the Worcester college. It would not take long, however, for O'Toole to make his mark.
Over the next four years, O'Toole made covering sports, both on and off campus, his business. The young wolfhound worked his way up at the school paper, from staff writer, to columnist, to sports editor. During his time there, he was a vocal presence in the newsroom, pushing to aggressively cover not just the school teams, but also the local major league teams. O'Toole also hosted a weekly sports show at the college radio station, one of the first sports talk shows of its kind anywhere. His work for both the paper and radio station earned him recognition in the greater Worcester community, and after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in the spring of 1975, he received and accepted a job offer to cover Boston sports for the Worcester Gazelle. It was there he would spend the first few years of a long career covering sports both in the paper and on the air.
Personal Life
O'Toole lives in a South Boston apartment much like the one where he grew up, with his wife Maggie. His older son Donovan, known as "Donnie" to family and friends, is a classically trained Irish folk singer, a baritone who has performed traditional Irish ballads with orchestras around the world. His younger son Terry O'Toole was selected 1st overall by the Albany Alphas in the 2018 FBA Draft.