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 ...

09/10/2026

Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026

September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026 New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...

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...

22/09/2026

Young Journalist Award 2026: Meet the Final 12

From Malaysia to Mexico and from DR Congo to Ukraine, this year's 12 finalists for the 2026 Thomson Foundation Young Journalist of the Year award tell extra...

22/09/2026

ESPN, Precision Lasers Light Up NHL Player Media Tour in Las Vegas

The annual preseason content-gathering event brought 36 NHL players to Las Vegas, where ESPN used 2.5 kilowatts of laser power and a motion-control camera syste...

22/09/2026

Neumann Introduces KK 104 A and KK 105 A Wireless Capsule Heads

Neumann has introduced the KK 104 A (cardioid) and KK 105 A (supercardioid) wireless capsule heads, succeeding the KK 204 and KK 205. The new capsules are compa...

22/09/2026

NFL and TMRW Sports Announce Pro Flag Showcase During Super Bowl LXI Week

The NFL and TMRW Sports have announced a new annual Pro Flag Showcase to be held during Super Bowl LXI week in Los Angeles. The event will feature top flag foot...

22/09/2026

Washington State University Unveils New Daktronics Video Board and Audio System at Gesa Field

Washington State University has unveiled a new end zone video display and audio ...

22/09/2026

SVG Sit-Down: Disney's Dave Johnson on ESPN's New 4K HDR Distribution Pipeline and What It Means for Super Bowl LXI and Beyond

Disney's SVP of Live Operations and Engineering details the technology behin...

22/09/2026

Cosm Promotes Mazen Alawar to SVP of Marketing, Alexis Scalice to VP of Cosm Studios

Cosm has announced two senior promotions. Mazen Alawar has been promoted to SVP,...

22/09/2026

Mississippi State University Extends Camera Relationship with KOKUSAI DENKI

Mississippi State University's University Television Center has purchased four KOKUSAI DENKI SK-UHD7000-S2 cameras since 2024, with plans to add two more, a...

22/09/2026

Net Insight Appoints Christine Kjellvard as Interim CFO

Net Insight has announced that Christine Kjellvard will assume the role of interim Chief Financial Officer on November 1, 2026. Kjellvard has previously held in...

22/09/2026

Net Insight Launches Zyntai TimeNode Access PTP Grandmaster for Edge Sites

Net Insight has announced Zyntai TimeNode Access, a compact PTP Grandmaster designed for distributed edge sites. The product carries secure, precise time across...

22/09/2026

The Weight Explores the High Cost of Freedom in the Depression Era

Sam Hazeldine, Austin Amelio, Padraic McKinley, Julia Jones, and Ethan Hawke attend the premiere of The Weight at The Ray Theatre on January 26, 2026, in Park...

22/09/2026

Avalanche Tones introduce Noise Suite

Second high-gain tone plug-in released Following on from their debut release, Chainsaw Suite, Avalanche Tones have announced the launch of their second plug...

22/09/2026

LW6 wireless headphones from Lewitt Audio

Uncompressed audio with below 6ms of latency Lewitt's have just introduced their first pair of headphones which, despite being aimed primarily at studio...

22/09/2026

Neumann launch the KK 104 A & KK 105 A

Two new capsule heads for Sennheiser wireless systems Neumann have announced the upcoming launch of the KK 104 A and KK 105 A, a pair of new premium condens...

22/09/2026

Apogee Plugins Are Moving to Plugin Alliance

Apogee Plugins Are Moving to Plugin Alliance We're excited to share an important update about the future of Apogee plugins. Apogee plugins are moving to Pl...

22/09/2026

SipRadius honored with a Technology And Engineering Emmy...

Parkland, Florida, US, September 22, 2026: SipRadius, widely recognized for making content processing and connectivity secure and seamless, has been honored wit...

22/09/2026

VanityFilter 3.1.5 adds project files and adjustable protection around lips, brows and ears

VanityFilter 3.1.5 adds project files and adjustable protection around lips, bro...

22/09/2026

Chile's TV+ Modernizes Broadcast Operations with Blackmagic Design

Chile's TV Modernizes Broadcast Operations with Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton September 22, 2026 0 Comments URSA Broadcast G2 brings versatility...

22/09/2026

OWC Shares Sneak Peek at Amazon Prime Big Deal Days Pricing

OWC Shares Sneak Peek at Amazon Prime Big Deal Days Pricing Brie Clayton September 22, 2026 0 Comments Image courtesy of Deposit Photos Business and ...

22/09/2026

Berklee's First Homecoming Block Party Brings Alumni Home for Global Music Festival

Berklee's First Homecoming Block Party Brings Alumni Home for Global Music F...

22/09/2026

New TVU Pocket Offers Broadcast Features In Phone-Sized Unit

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Operative Launches Unified Platform for Advertising and Broadcast Management

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Element Launches New TiVo-Powered Smart TVs in the U.S.

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

NOAA Taps Tomorrow.io for Improved U.S. Weather Forecasts

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Gray Media Promotes Tim Maloney to GM and Director of Sales at WBKO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Reports: Paramount Reaches Settlement with State AGs in Antitrust Suit

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

New Research Lays Out Streaming Services Best Defense Against Churn

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Sinclair Expands The National News Desk

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Paramount Settles Antitrust Lawsuit over WBD Merger

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

U.S. Broadband Industry Investment Hits $92.6 Billion

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Sky commissions Tupac murder trial documentary from Passion Pictures & Propagate Content

From Academy Award-winning Passion Pictures and BAFTA-winning director Marian Mo...

22/09/2026

Wi-Fi, phones and power lines: understanding EMF exposure

Whether it be from the sun or from our phones and other devices, we are all exposed to electromagnetic radiation in some shape or form. With the dramatic growth...

22/09/2026

Comscore's latest AI Intelligence Report Shows Competition Intensifying as Claude and Gemini Gain Ground on ChatGPT

Comscore's latest AI Intelligence Report Shows Competition Intensifying as C...

22/09/2026

The Factory-X Project Sets Standards for Data Sovereignty in Industry

The Factory-X Project Sets Standards for Data Sovereignty in Industry Arvato Systems Brings Digital Sovereignty to Industrial Practice Factory-X Successfully...

22/09/2026

Apple opens Apple Music Hall, a\u00A0state-of-the-art live music venue in London - PRESS RELEASE - Posted on 21 September 2026

LONDON Apple today announced the opening of Apple Music Hall, a brand-new state-...

22/09/2026

Young creativity across the island of Ireland takes centre stage as sixth RT This is Art! competition launches

RT , Creative Ireland and Shared Island Initiative ask young artists to respon...

22/09/2026

NVIDIA Isaac ROS 5.0 Advances Agentic, Open Source Robotics Development

To build and deploy sophisticated robotics applications that can perceive, reason and act in dynamic environments, developers need new physical AI models and to...

21/09/2026

Manifold Taps Ryhaan Williams for North America COO Post

Manifold Technologies, developer of software-defined, FPGA-accelerated infrastructure for live production, has named Ryhaan Williams as Chief Commercial Officer...

21/09/2026

SNS Wins IAMT Best Journal Article Award

Studio Network Solutions (SNS) has won Best Journal Article at the 2026 IAMT Impact Awards for What Video Editors Need When Everything Is Changing Around Them,...

21/09/2026

MLW Announces Streaming Deal with Tubi for Weekly FUSION Series

Major League Wrestling (MLW) has announced a streaming distribution agreement with Tubi for its weekly series MLW FUSION. Beginning September 17, new episodes w...

21/09/2026

Adam Smith Named Chairman of Direct-to-Consumer at Disney Entertainment

Disney Entertainment has announced that Adam Smith has been named Chairman, Direct-to-Consumer, with responsibility for Disney and Hulu including product, engi...

21/09/2026

United Airlines and DISH to Offer Live Football on Starlink-Enabled Seatback Screens

United Airlines and DISH have announced an agreement to bring live professional ...

21/09/2026

SES to Provide Satellite Distribution for JioStar Channels Across India

SES and JioStar have announced a multi-year agreement under which SES will provide satellite distribution services for JioStar's television channel portfoli...

21/09/2026

Detroit Red Wings Announce Detroit SportsNet Broadcast Details for 2026-27 Season

The Detroit Red Wings have announced details for their inaugural season on Detro...

21/09/2026

Manifold Technologies Appoints Ryhaan Williams as CCO for North America

Manifold Technologies has appointed Ryhaan Williams as Chief Commercial Officer for North America, effective October 1, 2026. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, Wi...

21/09/2026

DAZN Pick Up L.A. Kings DTC Streaming Rights; ABTV Will Continue as Local TV Home

Angels Broadcast Television (ABTV), the local television home of the Los Angeles...