In a candid revelation, seasoned sportscaster Joe Buck has opened up about the impact of social media vitriol on his career and his psyche.
Speaking on the Michael Kay Show, Buck disclosed that the relentless barrage of negative feedback from fans on social media was a factor in helping speed up his decision to step away from calling MLB games.
Kay steered the conversation to recent criticism aimed at Bob Costas who went on meandering tales of years past during key moments of the ALDS.
It turns out, Buck can relate to the hate. While he suggests others in his field ignore the comments on social media, Joe admits he didn’t always heed his own advice. Mainly because he was the main man in the era of the rise of internet trolls.
“Forever, I was the only guy doing national baseball during the social media era and I’ve taken my lumps. And it wore me out,” Buck said. “I could sit here and go, ‘Oh, that stuff didn’t bother me.’ It bothered me.”
“And I don’t know how, if you’re a human being who cares about what other people think and do, and you try to be a good person and you try to do a good job, and then you read how much you suck or ‘You’re lucky you had a famous dad’ and ‘You hate my team’ and all that other stuff.”
Joe is the son of legendary sportscaster Jack Buck.
Joe Buck Finds The Criticism ‘Annoying’
For years, Joe Buck has been the voice behind some of the most memorable moments in sports, from World Series games to Super Bowls.
However, this high-profile position also made him a target for criticism, which intensified with the advent of social media. Countless memes each year popped up about fans buying expensive playoff tickets just so they could avoid hearing Buck’s voice.
And he found the whole shtick rather annoying.
“As silly as some of that stuff is, it gets annoying. And it just takes some of the fun out of it. So when people go, ‘Hey, do you miss doing national baseball?’ Yeah, on one hand, sure,” Buck explained.
“But there’s that other side of the coin too so, it’s just ridiculous.”
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Offers A Defense Of Costas
Joe Buck went on to explain that he gets the whole rabid criticism thing “because fans care” and “that’s the good side of it.”
“For Bob to go through that, or anybody…you have to just tune that stuff out and go do your job and you either do that or don’t do it,” he said. “These days, I’m not doing it.”
Costas was the subject of numerous social media memes that portrayed him alongside broadcast partner, Ron Darling. They showed Costas delivering lengthy diatribes while Darling would simply call the action in the game.
Joe Buck, alongside Troy Aikman, has transitioned to ESPN, where they now serve as the lead broadcast team for Monday Night Football.
Since this past September, Buck’s also been busy supporting his wife, Michelle Beisner-Buck, through her recovery from a unique golfing accident.
He accidentally hit her with a golf ball while she was doing a headstand in the tee box. Yes, you read that right.
The ball shattered her ankle, leading to surgery.
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