Well, technically it deals with how the on-court product will be conveyed to the audience watching on Bally Sports Midwest, the Bucks’ regional television broadcast network.
Lisa Byington was named the first female lead play-by-play announcer for a Big Four franchise on Wednesday evening. Byington, 45, has worked for every major network that broadcasts sports at some point in her career.
She takes over for Jim Paschke, who called the previous 35 years of Bucks’ telecasts. Paschke decided to hang up his microphone after the Bucks won the NBA Championship in July, their first in a half century.
This will not be Byington’s first go at being the lead announcer for a professional franchise, as she has been calling Chicago Sky games for the WNBA. Byington also called the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France and both men’s and women’s soccer during this summer’s Tokyo Olympics.
The fact that we are having the discussion of this being newsworthy in 2021 shows just how far we still have to go. Beth Mowins has done a fine job calling college football games on ESPN and ABC since 2005. Doris Burke has either been a lead analyst or chief sideline reporter for the NBA on ESPN since 1991. Burke called a New York Knicks game in 2000, while Mowins called a Monday Night Football game in 2017.
Mowins followed up with calling a regular season game for CBS the following year, then did the same with the Chicago Cubs earlier this year.
Everett Fitzhugh was named the first African-American to be the lead play-by-play announcer for an NHL team in August 2020, when hired by the Seattle Kraken. Imagine the pressure “Fitz” is under this season, as the Kraken are in their expansion season on ice.
Byington said in an interview with WOOD-TV in Western Michigan that “Sometimes history finds you.”
I would like to think this is more history taking a well-deserved backseat to talent, but it still does not diminish the former in any way.
Women have slowly begun integrating as officials in the NFL the past few years, while a few are among active coaching staffs. San Antonio Spurs’ assistant coach Becky Hammon is a name that was interviewed as recently as last season for an NBA head-coaching position. It’s not like Hammon also does not have head coaching experience, having taken over when Gregg Popovich was ejected during a December 2020 game.
I could not and do not pretend to have a grasp on just how special this story truly is. Even though the weight she carries going into the new season must be immense, Byington is a professional, and a damn good one at that.
There are certain members of the population that will quickly grow tired of hearing about Byington making history this season. Trust me, Byington herself may more than likely be tired of that conversation pretty early on this season. This is just another day at the office for her, only this one has more comfortable chairs and better equipment.
I cannot be the only one out there wondering what her signature call will be when Giannis Antetokounmpo throws down that first monster dunk after the Bucks’ get their rings and raise their banner in a few weeks.
Let’s just hope her voice holds up, as we will certainly be hearing that call a lot with the Bucks poised to make a run at being the first repeat champions to come out of the Eastern Conference since Miami in 2013.
-JC24