Giannis helps announce Jim Paschke’s retirement after 35 years on Bucks broadcasts.

This blog is going to be about Jim Paschke, but how cool is Giannis in this video. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, like Helen Seinfeld: How could anyone not like him?? Giannis is literally the perfect superstar. He’s an MVP, he works his ass off, and he seems to genuinely care about anyone and everyone that works for the organization. Like you can tell he’s actually sad that Jim is retiring. He had a similar situation early in the year during a postgame press conference where he asked the pool reporters what happened to former Journal Sentinel reporter, Matt Velasquez. Velasquez moved on to a different job at the end of last year, but for a star the caliber of Giannis to not only notice that he’s no longer there, but to ask what happened to him, is probably pretty rare.

Anyway, Paschke’s retirement was big news yesterday if you’re even a casual Bucks fan. Jim Paschke has been calling games on TV for the Bucks since 1986. And he was calling Brewer games before that. But for fans in my age range (35-45), we grew up with Jim Paschke. Jim Paschke and Jon McGlocklin. Jim and Jonny Mac! They were such a great tandem, it was like listening to two buddies call a game at a bar. They were sharp, they had fun, they made some miserable years way more enjoyable.

Well it’s been a few years since Jonny Mac retired*, and now Paschke is hanging up the mic as well. It’s the end of an era. And I, for one, hope the Bucks can give him a proper sendoff. I hope the Bucks make the Finals and win a championship for a variety of reasons, but how cool would it be for Paschke to get a championship sendoff. Where the last thing he does for the Bucks organization is being the MC at a championship parade on 4th Street. #winitforpaschke

*It took me a little bit to warm up to him, but I think Marques Johnson is one of the best analysts on TV. He’s got a great dynamic with Jim and the two are now perfectly in sync. That said, and I don’t know if this is in the works or not, but I think it would be entirely appropriate to bring Jonny Mac back for ONE more broadcast with Jim. They’ve got a couple of home games left on the schedule, I would absolutely love to tune in next week and see Jim and Jon back together for one last ride.

PS: Fans under the age of 25 won’t understand this, but when I was a kid it was a literal treat to see Jim and Jon on TV. Now just about every single game is on TV. But when I was a kid watching games in the early 90’s, it was MAYBE half of the games that made it to channel 24 out of Milwaukee. On the little pocket schedules they handed out during that time period there was a *TV* designation on games that were actually going to be broadcast. Crazy to think about now.