Joe Buck is one of the most legendary voices in sports broadcasting today. His voice has been the tapestry behind many iconic baseball and football moments. Normally, Buck is joined by play-by-play partners such as Hall of Famer Troy Aikman. But on Monday night, Buck will find himself in unfamiliar territory as the host of Monday Night Countdown.
In a surreal moment, Buck will host Monday Night Countdown until he passes those duties off to his wife, Michelle Beisner-Buck. Expect some witty banter between the couple as they handle the hosting duties for ESPN.
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Why Isn’t Scott Van Pelt Hosting Monday Night Countdown?
Scott Van Pelt was named the new host of ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown this spring. And from all accounts, SVP has done a phenomenal job so far.
Van Pelt is one of the foundation pieces at ESPN, handling several duties over the years, from anchoring SportsCenter to golf coverage at the Majors to several podcasts.
🚨NEWS: Scott Van Pelt will miss ESPN Monday Night Countdown tonight after losing his voice.
Joe Buck and Michelle Beisner-Buck are set to hold it down in his absence.
Details: https://t.co/J5y4aUBRUI pic.twitter.com/749whgYRFS
— Pro Talk (@On3ProSports)
Unfortunately, Van Pelt has lost his voice and can’t man his station tonight. As a result, ESPN called their broadcasting bullpen to bring Buck onto the show.
Who Is Joe Buck?
The broadcasting gig is in the family. Buck’s father, Jack Buck, was a legendary broadcaster for the St. Louis Cardinals. The Buck family grew up as St. Louis royalty, given how iconic his father’s voice was to the Cardinals’ broadcast.
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The younger Buck has taken his father’s gifts and tutelage, pairing them together to form a broadcasting career spanning a quarter century. Buck called the Major League Baseball World Series for 25 years, from 1996-2021, and has worked as a play-by-play announcer on FOX Sports during NFL games for over a quarter of a century.
Joe Buck will host the pregame until the final 30 minutes when his wife Michelle Beisner-Buck will takeover. https://t.co/TMsN5SiMaQ
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand)
Given his lineage, Buck was viewed as a bit of a broadcasting prodigy. FOX hired him as a regular play-by-play man at the young age of 25, the youngest regular ever hired by the network.
Buck worked with legendary color commentator Tim McCarver on baseball games. The pairing was natural since McCarver was Buck’s father’s partner for years. The two knew each other on and off set, and their chemistry leaped off the screen.
Buck has called many legendary moments, but one near and dear to his heart is when Mark McGwire, of the team he grew up around as a boy, the Cardinals, broke Roger Maris’ all-time regular-season home run record.
