Voice of Raptors leaving for Chicago

The voice of the Raptors is going silent in Toronto.

Chuck Swirsky, whose energetic broadcasting style won him legions of fans over a decade here, is leaving to become the radio play-by-play voice of the Chicago Bulls.

"It's in the best interests of my family at this point," Swirsky said this afternoon.

A tireless promoter of the sport and the team, the veteran broadcaster will continue as an afternoon host on the The FAN590 radio station "for the foreseeable future" but will be in Chicago at the start of the next NBA season.

What do you think about Swirsky's departure? Submit your comments below.

Click here to read the full story at thestar.com.

Comments

[Former Leaf Fan]

Chuck was just pure class. Always positive, one of the best ambassador's we could of asked for. Sorry to see him go, but happy for him.

[noah]

as long as paul jones is not the replacement, I look forward to a fresh start.

[jlsmoke]

A real shame, I hope it wasn't AntonioDavisitis...in all seriousness, I hope everything is well with the Swirskys...thanks Chuck, you will be missed.

[Colin]

I'm devastated. Chuck's unselfconscious enthusiasm is a huge plus to Raps broadcasts. I see a lot of people in these comments complaining about his homerism and his dorkiness. I'm willing to say that I love his homerism and dorkiness. Whenever I watch another team's home broadcast (on Raps TV), I'm shocked at how boring their commentators are. Chuck never bores me, often makes me laugh (sometimes with him, sometimes at him), and clearly has a great time doing his job. A true professional and a class act.

[cuzzy]

I appreciate what Chuck has done to help put the Raptors on the map but many of us have reached a point where a change is needed. The salami and cheese, the over blowing of simple plays and basically trying to become bigger than the broadcast was getting old.

I know there were many fans feeding the fire of the Chuck persona but it is time to get back to basics. Knock of schtick and get someone to call a game with little or no personal bias.

Good luck Chuck in Chicago, I am sure you already have several food buzz lines ready for when the Bulls clinch a win.

[Tree]

Wow - too bad, Swirsk has been one of the most consistently enjoyable things about the Raptors. But kudos to him for doing what's best for his family - you can never begrduge a person that looks out for the best interests of others. As an announcer, he was a homer to be sure - but not in the Tommy Heisohn "I can't bear to hear anything else" way; he always made watching Raps games enjoyable, and I worry about the quality of his replacement.

Doug - how are your vocal chops?

[Raj Blaze]

Now that we've gone through 10 years of the squeaky clean announcing of Chuck Swirsky, maybe we can get some former NBA player who will not only do play by play, but will also fill time-outs with colourful stories involving ex-teammates and their adventures with strippers, law enforcement officials, and crazy/angry wives. Tell me ratings wouldn't go through the roof!

[Andrew]

Oh man, this is awful... where did this come from? The Raptors will really miss his energy and enthusiasum! Who will replace him?

[Mingo-Jones]

Wow-wow-wow. My jaw just dropped when I read that... I'm feeling betrayed to the Nth degree. He may have been over the top sometimes but he was our over the top play by play guy. Yet you have to respect someone like Chuck who puts that much dedication, time and passion into his work. This is Chi-town's gain and our loss. I hope they find a comparable replacement and I hope they don't move that guy from 590 to TV - I'm not talking about Eric Smith!

[Serge Papineau]

Guess he didn't want his kids growing up learning the metric system. To pull a 180 after having made such a big deal about getting his canadian citizenship and going to great lenghts to say how much he loved this country... I hope they boo him when he returns next season. He's a total hypocrite.

Blogger's note: You could not possibly be more wrong. I seldom reply to these things when I first read them but I am on this one in case anyone who reads it thinks you have even a scintilla of accuracy to your statement. You're wrong, dead wrong, and quite irresponsible to suggest this.

[Adam Libertini]

This is a shame. Swirsky is one of the best announcers out there, the radio isn't the same since they've replaced him with that bloke they have now.

[Kian Shokouhi]

This is a big hit for the sport of basketball in this town, also considering Jack Armstrong diminishing roll next year! This sport needs personalities such as Chulk and Jack to help it thrive in this market.

[Troy B.]

Totally disappointed to hear about the Swirsk leaving the Raptors. Classy, funny, insightful, all around likable guy! Big loss for the fans and Raptors organization. I wish him all the best for the future. Gonna miss ya Chuck!

Troy.

[Chris Clarke]

Wow. I'm stunned. Chuck was the most identifiable non-player within the Raptors organization over the club's history. I can't imagine a game without the guy. Has anyone else ever called a Raptors game on television? I can't think of anyone outside of Rod Black...regardless, I don't think anyone in these comments will have a single negative thing to say about the guy. He was all class, every day, for a lot of years.

He will be missed.

[@**$#!!!!!!]

Thank God! Salami and cheese!!! the worst sports catch phrase EVER!!!!

[Ret Jackson]

Glad to see him go. Might be a good guy outside the game but he really was a little too soft with the dino's. We need someone who speaks the truth!! Not someone who gives the fans false hope.

I'm throwing in Doug Smith's name as the best candidate for the job.

[Jay Cairnes]

I am disappointed Chuck is leaving (even though he routinely annoys me), mostly because we could do a LOT worse - listen to FAN, for example. I hope the brain trust (whoever they are) don't look to hard for a Canadian replacement. All the best to Chuck... may he call play-by-play for the Cubs one day.

Jay

[Nevin]

I'm shocked and genuinely saddened to hear this. He's been such a big part of the franchise for so long that it's going to be completely different next year. In fact, I'm more saddened by this than I would be if any of the players left. It's not that he's more important, but he's just been here for so long that he's an integral part.

But either way, he's clearly doing this for family reasons and not selfish ones, so I wish him all the best. Let's just hope he changes his mind down the road and decides to come back.

[Aditya J]

i know how chuck swirsky has said he is leaving for family reasons. but, how does he automatically get the chicago bulls radio play-by-play announcers job. is that why he left because he is getting paid more by the bulls than the raptors?

who's going to be the raptors next announcer?

Blogger's note: Chuck's leaving money on the table here.

[MBS]

Thank goodness and good riddance chuck. Hopefully MLSE will hire someone with some basic basketball knowledge who isn't a complete homer who sounds like a ten-year-old reading from a book of terrible puns and meaningless one-liners. A bit of objectivity would be nice once in a while.

Who am I kidding, toeing the company line is right there in all MLSE job descriptions, right above "other duties as required."

Although it will be nice not to have to mute the games anymore. What are the chances that Jack and Leo work the games together next year?

[MBS]

Thank goodness and good riddance chuck. Hopefully MLSE will hire someone with some basic basketball knowledge who isn't a complete homer who sounds like a ten-year-old reading from a book of terrible puns and meaningless one-liners. A bit of objectivity would be nice once in a while.

Who am I kidding, toeing the company line is right there in all MLSE job descriptions, right above "other duties as required."

Although it will be nice not to have to mute the games anymore. What are the chances that Jack and Leo work the games together next year?

[Poppa Vlazo]

Re: Swirsk, I'm not all that upset about him leaving. In fact, I'm happy about. Yes he is very passionate and by all accounts is tireless in the community, but what I care about is what he says during the games. And his flat out homerism and silly catch phrases are really annoying to a basketball fan that wants to be entertained by the game and the game only. And I just didn't think he and Leo worked that well togehter, what with his consantly bringing up Leo's time at Syracuse and his cup of coffee with the Sixers. Honestly, no one cares about that.

[Kalson]

It's sad to see Chuck go. I thought one of the coolest things he did was become a Canadian citizen to show that he really loved the city and the country and considered Canada "home".

He brought a lot of energy and zaniness that most announcers can't do.

[Jacky T]

I am crushed...seriously. Good for Chuck, going home and all, but man he was great, a total pro, all of the catchphrases, his enthusiasm...Sure, he may have been a bit of a 'homer', but he knows hoops and he was the perfect guy to help build the base for a young franchise.
The games he would work with Jack provided entertainment beyond the actual court happenings and remind me of when I was a kid growing up in Montreal, lucky enough to have Dave Van Horne and Duke Snider as the Expos TV/radio talent throughout their (Expos') ascendancy from expansion team to playoff team...OK, I'm totally bummed now...

MLSE: please bring back Jack and please, please don't promote a local wunderkind/sports journalism grad on the cheap (see: Raps' radio guys, Jamie Campbell with the Jays, AKA Ted Baxter..."Kids, have you ever held a baseball?" ) we need someone who knows NBA ball

...sigh

[doug]

no more Chuck...he's made a mistake just like Curtis Joseph etc. who thinks the gras is greener...it isn't Chuck left his home for his old home....mistake