Joe Bowen emotional sign off, no contract

[Stephen]

Man, whomever engineered this offseason with the uncertainty of the front office, coaching, core players, 10 UFAs, Joe Bowen... you'd think the Toronto Maple Leafs were getting ready to relocate to Houston.

I do hope Joe Bowen and team come back. The players do come and go, but those broadcast voices really become part of the culture, tying the different eras together. He's not epic like a Bob Cole, but he added a lot of friendly, corny good fun to Leaf broadcasts over the years.

 

[go_leafs_go02]

I wouldn't be surprised they go with a simulcast of the tv broadcast. I could see the Jays doing the same soon. Bowen wasn't even traveling with the team on the road. It's the same for the Jays.

And what I found really disappointing is he wasn't even able to go to Tampa for the first round, meaning he didn't actually get to experience the first-round win in the building.

Second round though he did travel to Florida.

Imagine going to school for broadcasting in sports and then finding out you get to hang out in a studio watching/calling games remotely rather than at the stadium/arena/ballpark.

 

[sxvnert]

Nothing against women...didn't one of the media outlets tried a woman as the main play-by-play person this season? I don't remember which outlet. Her voice was so high pitched and shrilled that it was really hard to listen to...I didn't hear her again after that one game.

That will always be the case which is why it never work.

 

[AvroArrow]

Who owns the broadcasting? And who owns the Leafs?

We all know whoever is picked to replace them will be picked largely to irritate the Boomers who love Joe Bowen.

Who doesn't love Joe Bowen ? This guy bleeds passion, half the time I mute the TV and stream his commentary over the live game. I'm a millenial and I absolutely love this guy, pay the man, get him back on TV.

 

[1specter]

If Bowen doesn't get to call this team winning a Stanley Cup it will be a real tragedy.

 

[Dayjobdave]

I wouldn't be surprised they go with a simulcast of the tv broadcast. I could see the Jays doing the same soon. Bowen wasn't even traveling with the team on the road. It's the same for the Jays.

They might. That way they don’t have to find another analyst who refused to play for the Leafs

 

[Leafs98]

That will always be the case which is why it never work.

networks can experiment with any announcer demographic for the Caroline / Florida series. Cant make it any worse or any better, no one is watching it.

 

[Maple Leaf]

If Bowen doesn't get to call this team winning a Stanley Cup it will be a real tragedy.

What stanley cup

 

[theTTC]

Joe Bowen is employed by broadcasters, not the Leafs. It’s not up to the Leafs

Who owns both?

 

[Legion34]

Watch this be how they blow up the core

Keep dubas. Shanny keefe, the core. Kerfoot and holl

Then they get rid of bonesy and ralph

 

[theTTC]

Cue the new radio team consisting of demographics that we know don't play, watch, or care about hockey. Book it, Dano.

 

[3blizzard4]

Watch this be how they blow up the core

Keep dubas. Shanny keefe, the core. Kerfoot and holl

Then they get rid of bonesy and ralph

This is exactly what will happen.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Joe Bowen is employed by broadcasters, not the Leafs. It’s not up to the Leafs

I am almost positive that Bowen is an MLSE employee. It is the reason why he calls games on both TSN and Sportsnet radio.

 

[MSZ]

That's right pal it's all about respect, you dig? You're smart to capitalize "Boomers" and to do so in the future, let's just say you'll sleep safer at night.


Leah Hextall with TNT I believe

Leah Hextall was a full time PBP commentator on ESPN for last couple of seasons. I don't think she did any game this year though.

On the NBA side, Lisa Byington has been doing full time PBP for the Bucks on Bally Wisconsin since 2021.

 

[IBeL34f]

Nothing against women...didn't one of the media outlets tried a woman as the main play-by-play person this season? I don't remember which outlet. Her voice was so high pitched and shrilled that it was really hard to listen to...I didn't hear her again after that one game.

That will always be the case which is why it never work.

Coming out of retirement to say y'all are both gross. ThrowDemTongs, too. Happy Mother's Day...

 

[PROUD PAPA]

I'm not a boomer. Lol.

Me neither. That was kind of a stupid generalization.
I'd miss his exuberance even though I usually only listen to his highlights on Youtube.

 

[Ignatius Reilly]

Who doesn't love Joe Bowen ? This guy bleeds passion, half the time I mute the TV and stream his commentary over the live game. I'm a millenial and I absolutely love this guy, pay the man, get him back on TV.

Gotta admit I thought pretty much all Leafs fans loved Joe, not just the Boomers.

Also surprised to read that anyone thinks a business would make a decision just to piss off some of its customers. That's generally frowned upon.

Anyways, it would be a shame to lose him but that's coming sooner or later - he's just turned 72. That's "a pretty good run" IMO.

I'll miss him, just like I miss Danny Gallivan and Foster Hewitt.

 

[Sypher04]

I am almost positive that Bowen is an MLSE employee. It is the reason why he calls games on both TSN and Sportsnet radio.

Don’t think so, but who knows I guess. Could be wrong.

 

[GoonieFace]

I miss Bob Cole….

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Don’t think so, but who knows I guess. Could be wrong.

His Linkedin lists him as an MLSE employee. Also like I said if he was a Rogers employee he wouldn't be able to do games for TSN and vice versa. So everything leads to him being an MLSE employee.

 

[3blizzard4]

Without fail, after every playoff game I go to Twitter and search for Joe Bowen calls of all Leafs goals.

He is the fabric of this team. He loves this team and you can feel it in his voice how much he cares for this team and all its players.

But because he is the heart of soul of calling Leafs games, corporate these days goes by corsi numbers on everything hockey so most likely they dont want him around. Typical corporate bullshit.

Get rid of everything that has a soul and replace with soft vanilla trash. Just like they did with the team.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

What stanley cup

I think the Stanley cup is that thing they award to the best basketball team in the NASCAR series

 

[Warden of the North]

I hope he doesn't get a new radio contract.

I hope he gets a TV deal.

 

[Menzinger]

The absolute worst thing about hockey journalism and Toronto is this inane belief that national broadcasts have to be "neutral" just give the people what they want, and get someone covering the team/calling games who actually enjoys them.

 

[MSZ]

I hope he doesn't get a new radio contract.

I hope he gets a TV deal.

Both Bell and Rogers didn't want him and still don't.

I think he's going to retire.