After a long day of working-from-home, I plop down on my couch to write a new blog post. The TV is on in the background and suddenly, I hear a familiar voice. Without looking up, I know right away that it’s Joe Buck. But it’s Monday and football season hasn’t started yet. Why is this man on my screen? A second later I hear a familiar buzzing noise. That’s right, Joe Buck is hosting Jeopardy this week.
“Is that the same Joe Buck that everyone despises?”
– My Wife
With Joe Buck hosting Jeopardy, one of America’s most beloved game shows, it made me wonder… why does Philly hate this man so much? Even my wife, who doesn’t watch an ounce of sports, asked me, “Is that the same Joe Buck that everyone despises?” The infamy this man has garnered over the years in the City of Brotherly Love is far reaching and some would even say everlasting. While there are many, listed below are the top 5 reasons why Philly still hates Joe Buck.
1. He’s not relatable, especially to Philadelphians
Joe followed in the footsteps of his father, Jack Buck, a well-respected play-caller. Jack covered a number of baseball and football games over the course of his 30+ year career. To really put things into perspective, this man has called 18 Super Bowls and 11 World Series. Truly incredible!
So, what’s the big deal? We’ll if you’ve ever lived in Philly, you know that we’re a blue-collar town, where everything is earned, and nothing is given. Yes, Joe Buck is a very successful commentator, but it was his father who set the stage. Would Joe have made it big if his father never went into broadcasting? We’ll never know, but to most Philadelphians the answer is “probably not”, and there lies in the problem.
Buck comes across as a guy who wears khakis and J. Crew on the weekends while sailing on his boat… the opposite of most Philadelphians. So, to us, he’s not relatable. To us (whether actually true or not), he will always be that guy who was handed a bag of cash and a sweet gig.
2. He may be a robot in disguise
Most people will agree, Joe lacks charisma… not just a little, but a lot. Despite wearing expensive suites in the broadcast booth, growing a scruffy beard, and having a smooth somewhat baritone voice, he just seems fabricated. Almost like everything has been scripted for him by a team of executives.
He’s so busy learning to become human with his witty one-liners and unprovoked observations, that his core objective, play-by-play commentary, falls short. Let’s face it, if you were to turn your head for a second or walk into another room while the Birds are on, you would likely have no idea of why the fans are cheering (or booing). It’s by definition the commentator’s job to describe what’s happening on the field, a feature that hopefully will be available in this robot’s next upgrade.
3. Too much Joe… Buck overload
Joe Buck is seemly everywhere, more proof that he may actually be a robot. I don’t even see my friends as often as I see Joe. Just to give you an idea of how often this man is on TV, last year, he pretty much worked the entire month of October. Here’s a snippet of his 2020 schedule:
Sunday, Oct 18 – Packers vs. Bucs
Monday, Oct 19 – Bills vs. Chiefs
Tuesday, Oct 20 – World Series Game 1
Wednesday, Oct 21 – World Series Game 2
Thursday, Oct 22 – Giants vs Eagles
Friday, Oct 23 – World Series Game 3
Saturday, Oct 24 – World Series Game 4
Sunday, Oct 25 – World Series Game 5
Tuesday, Oct 27 – World Series Game 6
Thursday, Oct 29 – Panther vs. Saints
Quick math, 10 out of 12 days Joe was on TV. Even if you like his broadcasting style, he’s in our ear so often, that you begin to resent the guy. His success has become our distress. It’s kind of like eating the same tuna fish sandwich every day for a month.
4. Does he even like sports?
Joe Buck is a commentator. To my knowledge he has never played sports professionally and it shows in his play-calling. It often feels like he’s passing the buck (see what I did there?) when it comes to describing what’s happening on the field. Compared to a competent play caller like Tony Romo, who points out audibles and pre-snap formations, Buck falls way short.
Now, as an Eagles fan, I’m not advocating for Romo. I’m just offering a fair comparison. Sometimes it seems like Joe is simply going through the motions. Showing up for work and collecting a paycheck. It’s almost like he could care less about sports, something that doesn’t jive well on screen, especially for a city that bleeds green.
5. He legit hates Philly
Ok, so Joe may not actually hate Philly, but it sure comes across that way on TV. Whether he’s announcing the MLB playoffs or standing next to Troy Aikman on NFL Sunday afternoons, Joe always seems to take jabs at our beloved Philly sports teams.
Now some people will tell you that it’s just him providing an unbiased point-of-view and that we’re just used to listening to our local broadcasters. While that may be true, for some reason, he always seems to be propping up the winning team while putting down the losing team; and as overly excited Eagles fans, it just collectively rubs us the wrong way.
But we’re not the only ones, just a month ago, both LA Dodgers and Chicago Cubs fans took to Twitter to mutually bash Joe’s questionable commentary. Some labeled him as cringeworthy while others questioned whether he was drunk on air. Hey, listen, if you’re drunk and still not entertaining, there’s a problem (pssst… he’s a robot).
Oh, and there’s more… a few years ago, Packers fans felt so slighted, that they started a petition to get Joe banned from announcing Green Bay games. In just a few days, more than 25,000 cheese heads signed the petition. That was in 2017. It’s now 2021, and guess what, not only is he still announcing games, Joe Buck is also hosting Jeopardy! Here’s the link to the now closed petition on change.org if you’re interested.
Welp, there you have it. The top 5 reasons why Philly still hates Joe Buck. As the Phillies lead the division and with the new NFL season quickly approaching, Philly’s hatred for Joe will likely roll with COVID into the new year. What are some other reasons why you hate Joe?
