Say it aint so Chuck

By now, everyone knows that the voice of the Raptors is heading south for Chicago. Chuck Swirsky has been apart of the Raptors organization ten years and just yesterday broke the news of his resignation. When I heard about it, my first reaction was "Are you kidding me?!"

I've only met one person in my life that doesn't like Chuck Swirsky. And that person is kind of a loner. But any normal person will tell you that Chuck Swirsky is one of the best sports broadcasters Canada has. It is a shame that he's leaving and he will be missed.

Swirsky is one of the most unique people you will ever see or hear in sports broadcasting. Every time he broadcasts a Raptor game, viewers love the fact that he is so passionate and in the game. But its not just his great work ethic that makes him unique. It is the fact that he always puts the fans first.

This guy has reached iconic status over the past couple of years and still cares about the fans. It would be so easy for him to just broadcast Raptor games and leave it at that. But no. He keeps a blog on the official Raptors website, he replies to emails from fans and he has a 3 hour radio call-in show where fans can talk to him about anything sports related. He may be making a little bit more money on the side for the radio show, but it's chump change to what he gets for being a play-by-play guy. He doesn't do it for the money, he genuinely loves the fans.

A couple of years ago, I had a school project that dealt with researching a famous author/writer. Right away I knew I wanted to do a sports writer and I ultimately came to the decision to research Chuck Swirsky. Now there isn't a lot of info on him, just a mini-bio on numerous websites. So I decided to try and email him some questions in hopes of some answers. A couple of days later, I checked my email and found one message from Chuck. As I opened it, I noticed just a one line response. Before even reading it, I thought, "great, hes going to give me one of those 'thanks for the email but I've been very busy and don't think I can answer your questions' responses."

Instead, he wrote "feel free to call (insert phone number here)."

I thought it was some sort of joke. The voice of the Raptors giving me his phone number to do an interview with him? At the bottom of the email read a disclaimer from Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment telling me that if I distributed the contents of the email, I would be sued.

That made it legitimate. A couple of days later I called the number and it was Chuck that answered the phone. I almost couldn't believe it. He was extremely kind and let me ask all of my questions while giving thorough answers. He wished me well and to this day I still regret not telling him to "Get out the salami and cheese cause this interview is over!"

Nonetheless, it was an experience I'll never forget. How many mainstream sports broadcasters would do that for a fan? I doubt anyone would give away their home phone number. I'm sure many fans have different Chuck stories they could share. Whether its emailing him or meeting him in person, I don't think there is one bad thing anyone could say about him.

I wish him well in Chicago and hope the fans there embrace him as much as we did. So long Chuck, Raptor broadcasts wont be the same without you.

-Desmond D