All of you out there who think Fox should retire Joe Buck because he’s hopelessly biased against your team, your city, your family, and your person, well, you can just “grow up.” That, according to Buck himself, who went on Chicago radio to defend his broadcast exuberance for certain teams.
Buck hails from St. Louis. Due to the famous legacy of his father, Jack Buck, who called Cardinals games for years, Joe has become inextricably linked to the Cardinals franchise. Buck took a lot of criticism in October from Cardinals fans, and others, for his article saying that calling a World Series game for the archrival Cubs at Wrigley Field would be “the No. 1 highlight of my career.”
This fan reaction was compounded after Buck’s final out call of the World Series, where apparently he came off as too happy about the Cubs win.
On Friday, Buck broke his silence and went on Chicago’s 670 The Score to respond to some of those claims, and to talk about George Michael. There’s really a lot in here. Buck said:
Buck addressed the fans specifically here:
They’re going to have to grow up, if that somehow offends them and their sensibilities. I think anybody who understands the importance of what the Cubs mean and the Cubs winning to where baseball fits in 2016 and going into next year understands it was a big deal and understands the historical significance of it. I mean, that’s what was so incredible. I got to do the Red Sox winning in ’04, but they’d been there in ’86, and they’d been there in ’75 and ’67. As we all know by now, the Cubs hadn’t. And that’s what made it so awesome to be at Wrigley Field and sit in that seat and call those games.
And then on top of it, when you get a seven-game World Series, that’s unreal. When you get 10 innings in Game 7, it’s almost unheard of. It worked out perfectly for what turned out to be a huge audience on TV.
Buck nails it. First of all, Joe Buck has a job to do. That job involves making baseball interesting and compelling for a television audience. It’s not his job to make the Cardinals compelling. It’s the Cardinals job to make the Cardinals compelling. If fans can’t handle that, then they really should consider taking their frustrations out on their team instead of the guy who is just trying to do his job.
Second, there are some things and some moments in every sport that are bigger than the sport itself, moments so historic and significant that they command the surrendering of allegiances to grasp the true magic of the moment. David Tyree’s catch against the Patriots, which helped to deprive New England of a perfect season, commanded awe and respect. Unless, you’re a Patriots fan of course.
The Cowboys and Packers game in the divisional round of the playoffs this year commanded respect, even if you hated the Packers and the Cowboys. None of those examples compare even slightly to the magnitude of a team synonymous with failure coming back after 108 years of misery to win it all in a thrilling seven-game series.
It’s Joe Buck’s job to give voice and description to those moments. It’s not his job to be a fan. That’s your job.
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter: @themightygwinn
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.