FerrisRox
"Wanna go, Prettyboy?"
If you're talking about bad hockey broadcasters, the conversation beings and ends with Joe Bowen.
Joe Bowen did "local" Maple Leaf games and radio broadcasts and his level of terrible has never even been approached by anyone else.
First, his voice... His voice is beyond terrible. If there was a Saturday Night Live sketch about a sportscaster who clearly didn't have a voice for the job because it was so annoying, you would go with Joe Bowen's voice.
But even if he had a booming baritone that commanded your attention, it really wouldn't matter because he was just absolutely clueless about hockey and so hopelessly biased that he couldn't even begin to discuss anything the opposition was doing.
Listening to a game that Joe Bowen called was like watching the game with the president of their fan club who had painted his face and was wearing a blue and white wig. But he wasn't the really president, because he couldn't take care of any of the administrative stuff because he suffered a serious head injury as a child. So on top of the blue and white wig is a helmet he had to wear 24 hours a day.
He loves hockey, but he doesn't really totally get it, and he gets really excited when they score a goal and he gets really upset when they call a penalty against them. He can't really moderate his emotions very well because of the accident.
This man has said things on air that were absolutely jaw dropping. Once, after the Boston Bruins walked away from an arbitrators ruling for Dmitri Kristich's new contract making him an unrestricted free agent. The Maple Leafs subsequently signed him. This was, fo course, well within the rules.
After a few games with the Maple Leafs, where Bowen had felt they were getting screwed by the referees, (you know, cause they were calling penalties for things like tripping, hooking and holding) he said, *on air* that he had "heard" that the other teams in the league were tired of the Maple Leafs flexing their financial mite and that there was an a "unspoken understanding" that no team would sign Kristich (you know, collusion) and when the Leafs did this anyway, the other owners were furious but there was no way on the books to punish the Leafs for this (for doing nothing wrong at all) so the plan was to instead have the referees hammer them with penalties so they would lose and that was how they were being punished. He said this. On air. The official broadcaster of the team, employed by the team, said this.
On another occasion, he said that the Maple Leafs had a deal in place to sign Wayne Gretzky, but that the other owners knew that if they got Gretzky they were being "handed" the Stanley Cup so they voided the deal and instead wanted him to go to the Rangers. He said this. On air.
The notion that the other teams and fanbases were "jealous" of the Leafs was a recurring theme with him.
The notion the Leafs were being "screwed" because of this was a recurring theme with him.
It's like when you go to the barbershop and there's that guy that thinks he really knows hockey and is always talking authoritatively about it but didn't have a clue. That's Joe, but worse, because he should, in theory, have access to speak to the players, coaches and GMs so when he says these things, you think it must be coming from somewhere. It's not.
I have never seen a broadcaster more baffled by penalty calls against the team he's covering. He doesn't understand it. He will say "So I guess that's a tripping penalty now" as if the standard for what they call has changed and the Leafs are being judged harshly. Conversely, he's baffled that the other team is allowed to check the Maple Leafs. Doesn't understand it. Can't get why that's allowed. I've even heard him get confused and upset about offside calls against the Leafs. I kid you not.
Then there's his level of excitability. If you listen to him call a game on radio, I have to give him credit for this: he really sells the excitement. You can hear it in his voice and its engaging because it sounds like an incredible game. But many years ago, I had a buddy, who was a huge Leaf fan who should be an experiment that was incredibly interesting. He turned the volume down on the TV and instead used Bowen's radio call for the play by play and it was hilarious to see what the things that were actually exciting him and what he was really losing his mind about and it started to become clear that he didn't fully get the game and he was so hopelessly biased that he couldn't begin to hide his outrage over things the other team did that were simply routine.
The catch 22 is he is an over-the-top homer for the Maple Leafs who can't credibly call a nationally broadcast game and the Maple Leafs have virtually all of their games broadcast nationally which means his bias pushed him out of a TV job.
Joe Bowen did "local" Maple Leaf games and radio broadcasts and his level of terrible has never even been approached by anyone else.
First, his voice... His voice is beyond terrible. If there was a Saturday Night Live sketch about a sportscaster who clearly didn't have a voice for the job because it was so annoying, you would go with Joe Bowen's voice.
But even if he had a booming baritone that commanded your attention, it really wouldn't matter because he was just absolutely clueless about hockey and so hopelessly biased that he couldn't even begin to discuss anything the opposition was doing.
Listening to a game that Joe Bowen called was like watching the game with the president of their fan club who had painted his face and was wearing a blue and white wig. But he wasn't the really president, because he couldn't take care of any of the administrative stuff because he suffered a serious head injury as a child. So on top of the blue and white wig is a helmet he had to wear 24 hours a day.
He loves hockey, but he doesn't really totally get it, and he gets really excited when they score a goal and he gets really upset when they call a penalty against them. He can't really moderate his emotions very well because of the accident.
This man has said things on air that were absolutely jaw dropping. Once, after the Boston Bruins walked away from an arbitrators ruling for Dmitri Kristich's new contract making him an unrestricted free agent. The Maple Leafs subsequently signed him. This was, fo course, well within the rules.
After a few games with the Maple Leafs, where Bowen had felt they were getting screwed by the referees, (you know, cause they were calling penalties for things like tripping, hooking and holding) he said, *on air* that he had "heard" that the other teams in the league were tired of the Maple Leafs flexing their financial mite and that there was an a "unspoken understanding" that no team would sign Kristich (you know, collusion) and when the Leafs did this anyway, the other owners were furious but there was no way on the books to punish the Leafs for this (for doing nothing wrong at all) so the plan was to instead have the referees hammer them with penalties so they would lose and that was how they were being punished. He said this. On air. The official broadcaster of the team, employed by the team, said this.
On another occasion, he said that the Maple Leafs had a deal in place to sign Wayne Gretzky, but that the other owners knew that if they got Gretzky they were being "handed" the Stanley Cup so they voided the deal and instead wanted him to go to the Rangers. He said this. On air.
The notion that the other teams and fanbases were "jealous" of the Leafs was a recurring theme with him.
The notion the Leafs were being "screwed" because of this was a recurring theme with him.
It's like when you go to the barbershop and there's that guy that thinks he really knows hockey and is always talking authoritatively about it but didn't have a clue. That's Joe, but worse, because he should, in theory, have access to speak to the players, coaches and GMs so when he says these things, you think it must be coming from somewhere. It's not.
I have never seen a broadcaster more baffled by penalty calls against the team he's covering. He doesn't understand it. He will say "So I guess that's a tripping penalty now" as if the standard for what they call has changed and the Leafs are being judged harshly. Conversely, he's baffled that the other team is allowed to check the Maple Leafs. Doesn't understand it. Can't get why that's allowed. I've even heard him get confused and upset about offside calls against the Leafs. I kid you not.
Then there's his level of excitability. If you listen to him call a game on radio, I have to give him credit for this: he really sells the excitement. You can hear it in his voice and its engaging because it sounds like an incredible game. But many years ago, I had a buddy, who was a huge Leaf fan who should be an experiment that was incredibly interesting. He turned the volume down on the TV and instead used Bowen's radio call for the play by play and it was hilarious to see what the things that were actually exciting him and what he was really losing his mind about and it started to become clear that he didn't fully get the game and he was so hopelessly biased that he couldn't begin to hide his outrage over things the other team did that were simply routine.
The catch 22 is he is an over-the-top homer for the Maple Leafs who can't credibly call a nationally broadcast game and the Maple Leafs have virtually all of their games broadcast nationally which means his bias pushed him out of a TV job.
Last edited:
