WILLIAM HOUSTON October 9, 2008 at 12:39 AM EDT Well, he's not Chuck Swirsky, which, depending on how you believe a basketball game should be called, is either good or not so good. Matt Devlin made his debut as the Toronto Raptors' television voice last night and, in a smooth, easy style, made a strong first impression. When Swirsky resigned as the Raptors' TV announcer to take a job calling Chicago Bulls radio games, the club chose a new direction. Instead of opting for the gimmicky, in-house style that made Swirsky popular, it pursued a more formal, national (as opposed to local) type of play-by-play voice. Hence Devlin, who called NBA games for TNT last season and also has announced baseball and football for Fox Sports. Based on his play-by-play for the New York Knicks-Raptors exhibition season game on Raptors NBA TV last night, Devlin will never overwhelm us with fancy terminology or dazzle us with signature sayings. There will be no “onions, baby, onions,” and that's a good thing. The closest we heard to standard exclamation was “How about that?” Still, he knows the game, projects an affability, can make a big call when it is required and provides plenty of information. He clearly likes to talk basketball and didn't shy away from an opinion. He noted at one point that drafting forward David Lee “was the one good thing that Isiah Thomas did” as Knicks president. Time will tell if he is similarly critical of front office decisions made by the Raptors. The knock on Devlin is that he's a bit dull. We didn't notice that last night. His rapport with Sherman Hamilton, who's usually in the studio, but provided game analysis, was fine. And he showed plenty of enthusiasm. Devlin was born in Syracuse, N.Y., attended Boston College and later worked with Jack Armstrong on college basketball broadcasts. This season, Armstrong will be Devlin's game analyst on the Raptors' telecasts carried on TSN. Leo Rautins will be in the booth for the games on the CBC and The Score. Throwing a party Def Leppard and Alanis Morissette will perform during tonight's NHL TV doubleheader as part of an entertainment package to celebrate the league's official season opener. The Globe and Mail
Glad Jack Armstrong is gonna be doing some games this year. I thought that after sportsnet dropped Raps games from their lineup that he was gonna be out of the business of calling raptors games.
I've loved what's happened to our coverage this summer. Swirsky is replaced by a smart guy who knows his place in the broadcast. I know some people found him boring, but I tune into watch basketball games not a raving dumbass spouting catchphrases. And now we've got more Jack Armstrong, both on the FAN590 radio show and for our games. Should be a more enjoyable season.
My first impression was kinda meh - but I think it was because, like Chut mentioned, we're accustomed to something a lot more "side show" then what Devlin delivers but it was a solid first broadcast all the same.
