Monday, January 23, 2012

R.I.P Jim Irwin

For those in wisconsin, the sound of Jim Irwin voice meant mostly only 1 thing: Green Bay Packer football was on the radio.  Irwin also was the voice of the Wisconsin Badgers and the Milwaukee Bucks and Brewers.
From jsonline:  Jim Irwin wore many hats during his long and distinguished career as a sports broadcaster, and they all fit him well.
He'll be remembered primarily, however, as the play-by-play announcer for the Green Bay Packers, a job he performed with distinction for 30 years for WTMJ Radio.
He called 612 consecutive Packers games, including the preseason and playoffs, before retiring after the 1998 season. The last 20 years of that time, he teamed with analyst Max McGee and their voices became synonymous with Packers football.
"Jim and Max got to where all of us in this business want to get - they became a part of the fabric of the game," said Larry McCarren, who joined Irwin and McGee in the WTMJ broadcast booth in 1995 and remains the color analyst. "It wasn't a Packers game without Jim and Max."
Irwin died Sunday from metastatic cancer, which was first diagnosed in 2010. He was 77.
"We're so thankful that he was never in pain," said Gloria Irwin, Jim's wife. "He was just as positive as he could be the whole way through. It's a very mean disease."
Known for his folksy style and distinctive voice, Irwin was one of the most prolific and popular sports broadcasters in Wisconsin history.
In addition to his Packers duties, he called Milwaukee Bucks games for 16 years, University of Wisconsin football games for 22 years, Wisconsin basketball games for five years and UW-Milwaukee basketball games - with Bob Uecker - for two years. He occasionally filled in for Uecker on Milwaukee Brewers broadcasts.
"He was a great radio play-by-play person," said John Steinmiller, the Bucks' vice president of business operations. "He had a great vocabulary, a good observational skill and he really painted the picture for the radio listener without overdoing it.
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/irwin-voice-of-the-packers-dies-at-77-i53tipj-137902023.html
At times, I think he hogged too much of the sporting events in Wisconsin, but he was easy to listen to and was missed when he retired.  One could only wish to have the career he had in sports and all the events and games he got to see.  Thanks for the memories, Jim.

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