Joe Buck: A Renewed, (Begrudging) Appreciation

Are you, dear TBL reader, in the mood for a “hot take” and or opinion that can easily be mocked, derided or whatever it is we do when anyone dares share an opinion in the year 2014? Here it is: I don’t think I totally hate Joe Buck calling sporting events anymore. There, I said it, do your worst.

I’ll even save a little time for your rebuttals, which invariably will include either a link to Randy Moss pantomime mooning the Lambeau Field crowd (in 2005) prompting disgust from Buck or Artie Lange destroying him on his short-lived HBO talk show in 2009.

Hey, those things certainly did happen and if you want to maintain a righteous anger about some perceived slight Buck made against your favorite team once upon a time during the 100s of hours you’ve probably listened to him on national broadcasts over parts of the last three decades, go right ahead. I’d wager a strong guess these types of things are the last thing on Buck’s mind before his head hits the pillow each night. Buck likely searches his name on Twitter, too, after a broadcast because when someone writes about a sportscaster on social media it’s usually 99.9999 percent positive, commonly telling them what a good job they’re doing not being biased against their favorite team.

Anyways, why anyone would want to get into sportscasting in the modern age is beyond me?

By its nature calling a game — or any live television event — is transient. It is designed to live in the moment and no longer than that. However, in the age of screencaps, YouTube and the like, any minor flub or mistake lives on forever. Even if that doesn’t happen, you’re probably going to get ripped apart on social media no matter how professionally you are doing your job of calling a sporting event. In short, live television is often a lot more difficult than it appears, but perhaps this is a topic for another day and doesn’t pertain all that closely to Buck.

Buck, say whatever you will about him, gets the “moment” on the big stage. His call of Travis Ishikawa’s walk-off, game-clinching home in the NLCS last week — a nod to Russ Hodges’ famed call in 1951 — worked for me. What worked even more than his homage to the “Giants win the pennant” line was the silence that followed from Buck, which allowed the crowd at AT&T Park to handle the rest. Often play-by-play broadcasters forget that television is a visual medium and doesn’t necessarily need some combination of treacle and/or overwrought expressions to heighten the moment. Step back from the mic and let the moment happen on its own to tell the story. Is there any pressing need to tell something immediately what they witnessed was “unbeliveable” or one of the “greatest moments” they’ll ever be privy to watching sports on TV? (There’s an exception for radio, where without the benefit of images it’s a little more permissible for a broadcaster to get caught up emotionally in the moment.)

And maybe that’s the reason Buck circa 2014 doesn’t annoy me as much as he once did. Buck’s been doing this so long — 16 World Series and three Super Bowls — I don’t even think actively think about him when he’s calling a game. Like it or not, Buck is part of the American sports culture. In older days gone by we might hail this as reassuring — think Keith Jackson with college football — but Buck is from a different generation. Although he’s now 45 years old, to many he’ll always be that smarmy 20-something calling the World Series because of the perceived help of his father, Jack. Again, if you don’t want to grow and get past this, it’s your choice. Buck has certainly grown from those early days and, in a rarity in the world of broadcasters with egos the size of an iPhone Plus, possesses enough good humor and self awareness to poke fun at himself.

No, Joe Buck will never be hailed the way his father was during his time behind the microphone calling Cardinals games and World Series. Even someone like Jack Buck certainly had critics, except they didn’t live in a world where all one had to do was hit enter to instantly voice their displeasure about wanting to punch that smirk off his face.

Joe Buck is professional, he does his homework and most importantly senses the important moments — really all you can ask for a sports broadcaster, especially someone who had to spend all that time listening to Tim McCarver. Realistically you almost need to go out of your way to grouse about Buck nowadays, other than the standard kvetching about announcers that comes with the territory. Call this a backhanded compliment if you must, but with all there is to worry about or bitch about in the world — or specifically sports — Buck calling a World Series game is very low on the list.

I’ll give that last line a conservative 6.2 on the hot take scale.

Thanks for bearing with me.