Mark Giangreco

Never let it be said that Mark Giangreco isn’t a man of his word.

On Tuesday the hirsute sports anchor at ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7 made good on a sports bet and submitted to some creative manscaping live on the radio.

Giangreco, 63, a graduate of the University of Dayton, lost to Chicago Bulls beat reporter Nick Friedell, a Syracuse University alum, on a first round March Madness tournament game last Friday between the two schools. Syracuse won 70-51.

Mark Giangreco

“I have to tell you, the second I made that bet I was sweating,” Giangreco said.

As payment, Giangreco had a Syracuse “S” shaved into his chest live on ESPN Radio sports/talk WMVP AM 1000. While cameras rolled and a crowd gathered outside the station’s State Street studio window, listeners were regaled with the play-by-play by ESPN 1000 host Marc Silverman. “This is way bigger than Giangreco had ever anticipated for the S,” he said.

When it was over, an admittedly “buzzed and confused” Giangreco said: “I will never write another check to the University of Dayton as long as I live. Ever.”

In 1987, sportscaster Chet Coppock made good on a bet with Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed by pushing a peanut across the Michigan Avenue Bridge with his nose. Giangreco appears to have topped that one on Tuesday.