Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame 2022: Joe Buck - The Voice of the Modern Generation

08/12/2022

Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame 2022: Joe Buck - The Voice of the Modern Generation By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital

Thursday, December 8, 2022 - 3:45 pm

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

Leading up to the 2022 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame ceremony on Dec. 13 at the New York Hilton, SVG is profiling the nine inductees in this year's class. For more information, CLICK HERE.

What makes a play-by-play man generational?

Is it longevity? Joe Buck checks that box: a fixture in broadcasting since 1989, when he first called baseball games for the Louisville Redbirds, a minor-league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Is it having a special collection of all the right tools? Again, check.

His voice was butterscotch, recalls Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer David Hill, former president of Fox Sports. Magnificent timbre, mellow but magisterial, good breath control, and his use of the pause was masterly.

Is some part of it luck? Being in the right place at the right time for some of the most memorable moments in modern sports: Mark McGwire's 62nd home run. The David Tyree Catch in Super Bowl XLII. The final out of the Boston Red Sox World Series Championship in 2004 and the Chicago Cubs' in 2016. The Minneapolis Miracle.

In my opinion, he's the Curt Gowdy of this generation - doing it all from the Super Bowl, World Series, and U.S. Open to bass fishing, horse racing and everything in between, says longtime Fox Sports producer Pete Macheska. His voice is synonymous with some of the biggest moments and brightest spotlights, entertaining without ever getting in the way of the story unfolding on our screens. An industry-defining broadcaster and exceptional person. There aren't many like Joe Buck.

Or is it something more? Maybe what makes a play-by-play man generational is being just the right voice to meet the moment, however wild or unpredictable those moments may be.

Joe is an amazing talent and one of the greatest play-by-play guys in sports television, says Rich Russo, a veteran director at Fox Sports who was at the front bench for many of Buck's NFL broadcasts. When you turned on a game on Fox and heard his voice, you just knew it was a huge game and a big event. Joe has had some of the most iconic calls in the history of sports television. He has an incredible ability to know and understand the moment and when to make a call and when to just lay out and let the pictures speak for themselves.

Buck got the call-up to the big leagues in 1991, joining his father, Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Jack Buck, in the radio and television booths for the Cardinals. But it was when Fox Sports launched in 1994 that he got his big break.

Hill and Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer and former Fox Sports Vice Chairman Ed Goren had already secured their squad, bringing in a team of Hall of Famers, the legendary Pat Summerall and John Madden, to lead its first foray into football. They had even signed another iconic veteran of the business, Dick Stockton. Now they wanted that younger voice, someone who would take the brand into the next generation.

[When we were starting Fox Sports,] I wanted young, fresh voices, says Hill. I knew of Jack Buck by repute, and I'm a great believer in bloodlines. Even though Secretariat sired winners like Rising Star and Lady's Secret, none of his progeny came close to emulating his remarkable career. So it was with some trepidation that I [watched Joe's] tape. Boom. This kid knew his stuff.

At just 25 years old, Buck became the youngest man to ever call a regular slate of NFL games, and both Fox Sports' legacy and Buck's career were headed to the moon.

In 1996, Fox Sports landed the rights to Major League Baseball, and Buck became the lead voice on the package, following in his father's footsteps and calling baseball, the sport most closely associated with his father. Joe Buck and baseball became similarly linked. Over the next quarter century, his voice accompanied every marquee moment for the sports, including 22 MLB All-Star Games and 24 World Series. He was the youngest person ever to call a World Series game for a broadcast network.

And there was Mark McGwire's 62nd homerun in 1998. The Yankees dynasty of the late '90s. The breaking of the Curse of the Bambino in 2004. The first championships for two long-suffering fanbases in Chicago. Even an unforgettable throwback to his father in the 2011 World Series: when David Freese's walk-off home run sailed out of Busch Stadium to win Game 6, Joe summoned the words bellowed by his father when Kirby Puckett won Game 6 of the 1991 World Series with a home run: We'll see you tomorrow night!

In 2002, he doubled up his duties and became the lead voice of the NFL on Fox, partnered from the get-go with Super Bowl-winning former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman. For more than two decades, the pair has called 280+ regular-season games, 40 playoff games, 18 NFC Championship Games, and six Super Bowls.

Joe does every aspect of the job while never missing a moment, says Aikman, always having a keen sense of timing and elevating every meaningful situation. Simply, he is the best I've ever seen.

From annual Thanksgiving Games to the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history - the New England Patriots' win over the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI - Buck has become a regular guest in the homes of Americans, taking them through the biggest nights of their falls and winters - at times under-appreciated, at others just the voice you wanted calling a play destined for the history books. Through it all, he has won the Sports Emmy for Best Play-by-Play a record-tying eight times.

Buck is currently in his 29th season calling NFL games, which has been marked by a monumental shift to ESPN and the iconic Monday Nig
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2022/12/08/sports-broadcasting-hall-of-fam...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

15/07/2026

DMC Production Reimagines Live OB with Calrec

DMC Production's AR 1 and AR 2 units reverse the conventional OB workflow, keeping all production-critical processing at the venue while operators work remo...

15/07/2026

FCC to Vote on Replacing National Broadcast Ownership Cap

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/07/2026

ATSC Updates Industry Audio Loudness Guidance

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/07/2026

GigaCloud and Cubbit partner to deliver sovereign and res...

GigaCloud, a leading Ukrainian cloud service provider, and Cubbit, the first geo-distributed cloud storage enabler, today announced a new Business Alliance Part...

15/07/2026

SMPTE Launches 110th Anniversary Campaign to Advance Its...

SMPTE, the global society for media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has announced the launch of the SMPTE 110th Anniversary Campaign, a fundraising...

15/07/2026

STUDIO TECHNOLOGIES UNVEILS MODEL 762 STEREO LEVEL CONTRO...

Studio Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio, video, and fiber-optic solutions, unveils the new StudioComm Model 762 Stereo Level Control, ...

15/07/2026

COW Jobs: Producer, Virtual Events - Hybrid, Full Time, Salaried

COW Jobs: Producer, Virtual Events - Hybrid, Full Time, Salaried Brie Clayton July 15, 2026 0 Comments Producer, Virtual Events (Hybrid | Full-time | ...

15/07/2026

SIMBA powers new streaming delivery network with Broadpea...

Brazilian media organization builds nationwide CDN with Broadpeak's high-performance software for low-latency streaming and new content distribution service...

15/07/2026

DHD Introduces Discovery Utility for Network-Connected Au...

DHD announces a new utility designed to increase the efficiency of its audio mixing systems during initial installation and subsequent configuration. Anyone w...

15/07/2026

BCNEXXT Brings Next-Generation Vipe to IBC2026 Breaking t...

BCNEXXT Brings Next-Generation Vipe to IBC2026, Breaking the 1:1 Channel-to-Server Ratio New innovations liberate broadcasters from legacy playout infrastructur...

15/07/2026

S&P Analysis: Three Quarters of Americans Watch Live Sports

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/07/2026

Scripps Sports, Ion Score Women's Volleyball Rights

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

15/07/2026

Audiences to get behind-the-scenes access to Trinity College Dublin's Old Library in new RT series

Trinity's Treasures features Ruth Negga, Eleanor McEvoy, and David Norris, a...

15/07/2026

Building Ireland explores the River Shannon region from Leitrim to Limerick in a new series

Join geographer Dr Susan Hegarty, Engineer Tim Joyce and Architect Orla Murphy a...

15/07/2026

NVIDIA and Japan Bring Full-Stack AI and Robotics to Every Industry

Home to leading manufacturers, robotics pioneers, infrastructure builders and gaming, of course, Japan is one of the world's centers of AI - building across...

14/07/2026

Bowling Green State Upgrades Doyt Perry Stadium With New Daktronics LED Display

South end zone videoboard, cloud-based control system will be ready for 2026 football season...

14/07/2026

Mizzou Athletics Launches Connected Digital Platform

Redesigned website, enhanced mobile app unify content, ticketing, and personalized fan engagement...

14/07/2026

DePaul Athletics, Playfly Sports Agree to Multimedia Rights Partnership

Agreement spans sponsorship sales, digital monetization, radio production, and new practice facility naming rights...

14/07/2026

American Association Expands Broadcast Reach Through FanDuel Sports Network Partnership

Independent league adds 14 regional sports network affiliates, growing distribut...

14/07/2026

Euroleague Basketball Introduces Euroleague Basketball+ Digital Ecosystem Initiative

New strategy aims to unify competitions, content, fan engagement, and commercial...

14/07/2026

Professional Fighters League, ESPN Reach Multi-Year Media Rights Deal for Brazil

ESPN and Disney+ become exclusive home of PFL events in key international MMA market...

14/07/2026

TEGNA Names Scott Gill VP of Technology and Operations

Gill will oversee engineering, technology, and sports operations across the company's 64 local television stations...

14/07/2026

Guest Post: Dynamic Media Facilities Could Reshape the Future of Broadcast Workflows

Submitted by North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) As broadcasters con...

14/07/2026

Bayerischer Rundfunk Debuts Fully Software-Defined SMPTE ST 2110 Radio OB Van Built Around Lawo Technology

Modernized mobile unit combines HOME Apps, mc 56 console, and IP infrastructure ...

14/07/2026

Scripps Sports, ION Secure U.S. Rights to 2027 FIVB Womens Volleyball World Cup

Every match of the 32-team tournament will air across ION and Scripps Sports platforms in English and Spanish...

14/07/2026

FloSports Lands Exclusive U.S. Rights to IIHF Mens World Championship Beginning in 2027

FloHockey to stream every game of the annual international tournament under four...

14/07/2026

Minnesota Lynx Add Three Games to KARE 11s Over-the-Air Schedule

Victory+ telecasts to be simulcast on TEGNA-owned station, expanding free local distribution...

14/07/2026

Avalanche Tones debut with Chainsaw Suite

Plug-ins for heavy music Avalanche Tones is the brainchild of Ava Toton, a 17-year-old musician and developer who says her goal is to make the lives of gui...

14/07/2026

IK Multimedia introduce ReSing Voices Brazilian Pack

Launched alongside new Singer Showcase purchase model IK Multimedia's innovative vocal-synthesis software has just gained its latest voice add-on, the R...

14/07/2026

MIDI Innovations Awards 2026

Registration open until 1 September 2026 The MIDI Association have revealed that the registration deadline for this year's MIDI Innovation Awards has no...

14/07/2026

Launchkey MK4 88 joins Novation line-up

88-note model completes MK4 range Novation have just introduced the final model in their flagship MIDI controller keyboard range, the Launchkey MK4 88. Roun...

14/07/2026

CBS Atlanta Adds a Noon Newscast

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/07/2026

Tegna Names Scott Gill VP, Technology and Operations

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/07/2026

Colorado Wildfires Bring Close Call for Broadcasters

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/07/2026

IBC2026 sets conference agenda

IBC2026 has unveiled a powerful Conference programme bringing together global media leaders, technology innovators, creators, sports organisations, broadcasters...

14/07/2026

Nominations for Best of Show Awards at IBC2026 Now Open

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/07/2026

Broadcast Solutions delivers industry-first software-defi...

Broadcast Solutions, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, has delivered two highly capable outsid...

14/07/2026

UPDATED: Scripps, DirecTV End Blackout, Ink New Retrans Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/07/2026

12 States Sue to Block $110 Billion Warner Bros./Paramount Merger

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/07/2026

Heidi Raphael to Head N.Y. State Broadcasters Association

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/07/2026

CBS Atlanta Expands Live Local News Programming

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/07/2026

Nemotron Labs: How Open Models Give Enterprises and Nations AI They Can Trust, Control and Customize

Editor's note: This post is part of the Nemotron Labs blog series, which exp...

14/07/2026

Techtel Successfully Relocates AICD Broadcast Studio to New Sydney Headquarters

Techtel Successfully Relocates AICD Broadcast Studio to New Sydney Headquarters BroadcastBroadcast EquipmentLive StreamingBroadcast Studio2026 14 July Writ...

14/07/2026

First look revealed for Friday the 13th prequel, Crystal Lake, from A24 coming to Sky and NOW in the UK and Ireland this October

Tuesday 14 July 2026 First look revealed for Friday the 13th prequel, Crystal ...

14/07/2026

Surround Is Still the Standard

When immersive audio dominates industry headlines, it's easy to assume that every broadcaster is preparing for an Atmos future. The reality is quite differ...

14/07/2026

Fresh Thinking from MAD//Fest London 2026

Emma and Sophie from ICG's marketing team joined thousands of fellow marketers, brands and agencies at MAD//Fest London 2026, one of the UK's biggest ma...