Pat Foley’s last season in the Blackhawks’ TV booth didn’t quite live up to fans’ expectations.
Hall of Fame season-long celebrations were hushed up by the organization’s sexual assault scandal, the team’s poor play and Foley’s limited schedule while others auditioned for his job .
Not only did fans not hear much about Foley (this one in particular), but they were annoyed because they heard seven other voices calling the game.
Adding to their dismay, the season was also analyst Eddie Olczyk’s last. He and the Hawks couldn’t agree on a new deal, and he headed to the Kraken booth.Hawks fans heard Pat and Eddie talk about the fun of watching the game. I was about to start building.
The high-profile loss of one of the league’s best pairings tops the list of Chicago’s sports media’s 10 biggest news stories of 2022.
The Hawks went all out for Foley’s final broadcast, honoring him with a pregame ceremony and postgame beer. By calling a match, I helped arrange for him to fulfill his lifelong dream.
Foley will return to the rink on Monday to host the Penguins and Bruins Winter Classic at Fenway Park on Sports USA Radio. His partner is Olchik’s son Nick, who left the Hawks to join the Kraken.
The Hawks went ahead and hired Chris Vosters to call play-by-play, splitting the analyst job between Troy Murray and Patrick Sharp. Vosters is off to a good start overall and we think he will grow into the role.
But Foley’s resignation meant the end of an era for Chicago sports broadcasting. He joined the Hawks in his 1980, Wayne of the Bears, Jim of the Bulls, Jim of the Bulls, Harry of the Cubs, Carey of the He, and White of the Sox. was the link. It’s okay to be sad about it.
2. Olin Kreutz’s eventful year
Kreutz appeared on The Score in January, gutting Bears chairman George McCaskey, who essentially accused Kreutz of lying when the Bears offered to be a player consultant for $15 an hour in 2018. I started the year by doing He hit his colleague Adam Hoge at the company’s Westloop Studios. This caused Kreutz to lose his job at NBC Sports Chicago, where he appeared on “Football His After Show”. Kreutz is a great analyst, so he was a shame.
3. A tumultuous year in Habu Arkush
On August 15, Aaksh collapsed outside Harras Hall and nearly died of a heart attack. Miraculously, he was fit enough to appear on the TV show ‘Pro Football Weekly’ and his The Score two weeks before him. Arkush made national news in January when he said on The Score that he would not give Aaron Rodgers the vote for NFL MVP. He said he regretted it.
4. Bears moving to ESPN 1000
After 23 seasons on WBBM-AM, the Bears’ game will move to ESPN 1000 next season. Jeff Joniak and Tom Thayer will remain in the broadcast booth. The ESPN 1000 picked up the White Sox (2021) and the Bears after nearly four years without a right to a local pro team. Owner Good Karma Brands has been repowering the station since taking control in 2019.
5. Broadcasting Cubs and Sox on Streaming Services
Cubs and Sox fans are no strangers to games covered by ESPN and Fox. But MLB threw a knuckleball at them last season by adding him Apple TV and Peacock to its list of exclusive rights holders. Suddenly, fans needed more than cable and satellite to watch their teams, and many fans weren’t satisfied. Sure, Apple made their games free, but the announcers weren’t happy.
6. David Kaplan leaves NBC Sports Chicago
“Kap” signs off Saturday on NBCSCH, which has been everywhere since 2008. He received an acquisition opportunity from his parent company, NBCUniversal, and said he couldn’t turn it down. Kaplan will continue to co-host the ESPN 1000 Morning Show with Jonathan Hood and produce videos for his YouTube channel. However, many platform figures plan to add another platform at some point.
7. Pat Hughes inducted into the Hall of Fame
The Cubs’ longtime radio voice was pretty much done heading into 2022. After being inducted into the Cubs Hall of Fame in September, Hughes won the Ford C. Frick Award for Outstanding Broadcast and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in July. He won awards as an announcer for the Cubs in Jack Brickhouse (1983) and Harry Carey (1989).
8. Leila Rahimi becomes NBC 5’s first female lead sports anchor
What world is left for Rahimi to conquer? She has just recovered from being fired from NBCSCH in August 2020. In 2021, she will be a full-time co-host on The Score, and has since added a part-time job at NBC 5. -The time position of the lead sports anchor, and she later returned to NBCSCH Studios, making at least weekly appearances on Score.
9. Les Grobstein dies
Grobstein, who died in January at the age of 69, was much more than The Score’s longtime overnight host. He was an icon of Chicago sports broadcasting. “The Grobber” had an encyclopedic knowledge of local sports. His one of his claims to fame was at Wrigley Field on April 29, 1983, when his then-Cubs manager Lee Lee recorded his area’s infamous profane tirade. . Every time I hear it, I thank Les.
10. WGN lost another team as MLS moved the game to Apple
Fire and WGN were a perfect match. The Fire wanted to expand their local presence and WGN needed a team. However, it lasted only three seasons. Next season, every MLS game will be on his Apple TV. The league’s wisdom of putting the season behind a paywall (some games are free, others he airs on Fox or FS1) is questionable, to say the least. How does it grow the league locally?