Chuck Swirsky discusses his departure from Toronto

[Illuminati_]

Poor Matty D gets to much flack for someone as talented as him with his resume and who also
pours his heart into the organization. Chuck got to call games during the VC & T-Mac era and
the Bosh playoff years. Matty D got a few months of Mitchell and the entire Triano era of
tanking.

I understand people having a connection with the Swirsk but treating Devlin like a piece of
trash? For those who have League Pass you know Devlin is better then at least 90% of the
play by play guys out there.

This.

Don't get the Matty D hate. We got lucky bringing him to Toronto, there are many commentators around the league that do a much worse job than he does.

That being said, still miss the Swirsk and wish him the best of luck.

Disagree. I feel like jus about every team has better commentators than us. Devlin imo doesnt really know much about basketball and it shows. He needs either Jack or Leo holding his hand everynight while he does the play by play. Absolutely no insight at all from the guy.

[TheDoctor]

Also the personal side of people's encounters with him is irrelevant to the job. The job is acting and it is very difficult on talent for people to expect them to be like their professional selves on their personal time. Chuck as money during his time on the air, and people should not expect him to be like that 24/7, and should not be disappointed in him when he isn't.

I don't fully agree with that. If you met him on the street, that's his time. But I'm talking about a number of company events, or when I came across him with other company people outside. And in those times, Matt Devlin is a FAR better Raptors ambassador. I'd suspect he would be on his own time too - so far he's the same wherever I saw him.

Ditto for Jack - when I ran into him in the stands at the NCAA tournament in Buffalo, he's exactly the same guy.

But it was always a pleasure talking Raptors ball on camera or over the radio to you, not in person with the Swirsk. He was fine for a handshake and a photo, but he was looking to whatever he needed to do next. And this is coming from someone who used to be SwirskyFan.

[quickymgee]

I think those that hate on Chuck and those who hate on Devlin really are hating on them covering our terrible Raptors teams. I've noticed that our broadcasters made a conscious effort when the on the court package is bad, to try to make up for it themselves. Whether it's a directive from up top or whatnot, there seems to be pressure to be "entertaining" in place of the product on the court and it's hardly fair to judge them on that regardless of whether you find it annoying or not. And yes I do find it a little annoying after a while but still perfectly understandable.

[Jay240]

Good to hear from Chuck. I had it in my mind from the start that he left because of something to do with his son. I can't recall but it must have been mentioned in the media somewhere. But he has always loved Toronto and Canada in general and I never thought of him leaving as a dis-respect to the city, country, organization. And when he left it was just a few months after he received his Canadian Citizenship, so I figured it had to do with family.

Loved Chuck's play-by-play. I've grown to like Devlin as well, even though he still screws up players names and other things now and then. Mike Bissy? But can't fault him for that.

[talksick]

I will always miss him from calling games. I remember the first year I started watching basketball and the Raps, I sent him a email telling him how much I enjoyed watching him call the games and how much I was liking watching Andrea play. Then one game against Charlotte MoPete gets a three and he rang it up from downtown Lr. Sackville Nova Scotia and called my name.... man I was the envy of my friends haha. I got called right away with them being jealous . I hope someday he does return and call our games. As a fan, you couldn't ask for a better PBP guy. I don't dislike Matt, but Chuck will always be my favorite.

[LarSiN]

I'll admit, I was one of the people who was initially upset that he had left. Largely because I assumed it was something to the effect that his kids missed Chicago and whined until he finally agreed to leave Canada.

Clearly I had nothing to base that on other than "family reasons" and a knee jerk reaction to the situation. Clearly that wasn't the case, but I suppose I felt jilted to a degree. Again, now we know the truth and it wasn't what we'd thought, but I wish him well.

[NeoDragonKnight]

Chuck really drew me in with his casts when he was on radio with jack. Those were great casts. Got me through the home commute from university and studying. This is just a good reminder that theres a human behind every public persona.

[DGW]

Devlin's a curse! Ever since we had him, the team's been going backwards. Look at the teams Devlin has commentated for...Charlotte..Memphis (just ignore that Hubie Brown 50 win season. Hubie > Devlin).

Notice the teams Devlin commentates for don't make the playoffs...it makes him available to help out TNT and get more exposure.

[doogie88]

Chuck is like Jamie Campbell for the Jays. They are both over the top, but they're like that because they have a lot of passion for the team. A lot of people hated that, but once they left, a lot of the people that disliked them, wanted them back.

[C_Money]

Poor Matty D gets to much flack for someone as talented as him with his resume and who also
pours his heart into the organization. Chuck got to call games during the VC & T-Mac era and
the Bosh playoff years. Matty D got a few months of Mitchell and the entire Triano era of
tanking.

I understand people having a connection with the Swirsk but treating Devlin like a piece of
trash? For those who have League Pass you know Devlin is better then at least 90% of the
play by play guys out there.

This.

Don't get the Matty D hate. We got lucky bringing him to Toronto, there are many commentators around the league that do a much worse job than he does.

That being said, still miss the Swirsk and wish him the best of luck.

Disagree. I feel like jus about every team has better commentators than us. Devlin imo doesnt really know much about basketball and it shows. He needs either Jack or Leo holding his hand everynight while he does the play by play. Absolutely no insight at all from the guy.

You don't understand how it works. Devlin is the play by play guy, Jack and Leo are the analysts. It was the same way when Chuck was here. Its not his job to give insight on whats happening.

[Aristotle]

Chuck sounded like an OG in that interview. Deep voice and calm rather than excitable and spastic. He gave me the impression he just doesn't give a **** anymore which was refreshing.

[Marvin!]

Disagree. I feel like jus about every team has better commentators than us. Devlin imo doesnt really know much about basketball and it shows. He needs either Jack or Leo holding his hand everynight while he does the play by play. Absolutely no insight at all from the guy.

you obviously don't watch any locally broadcast games other than toronto's

[postup]

Disagree. I feel like jus about every team has better commentators than us. Devlin imo doesnt really know much about basketball and it shows. He needs either Jack or Leo holding his hand everynight while he does the play by play. Absolutely no insight at all from the guy.

you obviously don't watch any locally broadcast games other than toronto's

So true. Just got back from Miami again and that's just painful.

I was never a huge Swirsky fan, TBH, but I really appreciate his candour here. Class act.

The most interesting part was the fact that he had no relationship with BC. His homerism was too over the top for my liking and I always felt he went above and beyond in defending BC and his decisions.

[redbak]

I miss Chuck and always wondered why he left Toronto. Sometimes I can't stand Devlin, Amir....WITH A TWO POINTER!!....

[Lakonomy]

I liked Chuck as a person, but man his schick got old after a while. Noone remembers how annoying the following were?


"Onions baby Onions!
"Get out the Salami and Cheese!"

[OvertimeNO]

I liked Chuck as a person, but man his schick got old after a while. Noone remembers how annoying the following were?


"Onions baby Onions!
"Get out the Salami and Cheese!"

His catchphrases were annoying when forced. When uttered in the heat of a highlight moment, one could not help but say them along with him.

I'll take Swirsky's style of homerism over Heinsohn's any day of the week.

[ILikeToitles]

i have a feeling chuck will be back and calling the raptors once again in the near future

[HoffaRulez]

I always liked Chuck but he did get a little played out over the last couple of years. They even made the salami t-shirt lol

That aside I think he was great for Toronto and sort of wish he was still around (change some catch-phrases). I think Jones or Smitty needs to get on tv broadcast.

Glad all is well for him personally too!

[Basketball_Jones]

So true. Just got back from Miami again and that's just painful.

I actually don't mind Miami's local guys. Boston is just funny with Heinsohn Homerism. San Antonio is terrible, I just laugh at Sean Elliot. Memphis is pretty stale but I can't complain too much. The LA teams don't need good commentary since they are pretty fun to watch either way. Overall I'd say Devlin and Leo/Jack are pretty much on par with the rest of the local feeds. But I will say production wise I think MLSE does a really good job compared to the other networks.

[Courtside]

The most interesting part was the fact that he had no relationship with BC. His homerism was too over the top for my liking and I always felt he went above and beyond in defending BC and his decisions.

That stuck out to me as well. Chuck has been here through multiple GMs, though, and really only overlapped BC's time here by a year. From what I have seen in Colangelo's time here, he seems to keep things pretty arm's length and professional with the media and not very buddy-buddy. On one hand it's possible that he was simply trying to keep a professional distance so that it wouldn't be perceived that he was telling the guys what to do or say, but there was also some talk that he didn't entirely like some of Chuck's over-the-top personality and wouldn't have wanted to get too close to someone that he might had had thoughts of replacing at some point.

Chuck has made it abundantly clear that it was he who approached MLSE for help to get out of his contract and the Tanenbaum went to personal lengths to assist him - maybe with the use of his jet - who knows. But I think this can put to rest the rumors that BC wanted him gone.