Joe Tucker-Pittsburgh

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LeonardRachiele
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Joined: Tue May 22, 2018 4:15 pm

Joe Tucker-Pittsburgh

Post by LeonardRachiele »

For over thirty years the Joe Tucker was the Sports Director of Pittsburgh radio station WWSW and did the Steelers' games on both radio and television. I did not mind CBS firing Tucker following 1967 season when the network abandon the specific announcer format for each team. Though Tucker was always fair, he openly rooted for the Steelers on these regional telecasts. With the increased mobility in our society, CBS wanted to avoid any home flavor. What bothered me was CBS' treatment of Tucker and his uncomfortable situation in Pittsburgh in an era when one radio station never mentioned another.

From Monday through Saturday, he had three reviews each night of the latest news from all sports. On Sundays at 9am at 6pm he broadcasted News Behind the News, a half hour summary of both national and world affairs.

WWSW was originally the flagship station for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Joe Tucker called the play of all home games in a very enthusiastic manner. When the Steelers hit on the road, WWSW used an alternate crew while Joe Tucker televised the game on KDKA Channel 2, the CBS affiliate. The main problem, as you might expect, was that KDKA has a companion radio station. Joe Tucker could never mention television during his nightly news shows, even though he was doing the game. He had to very careful because one slip or plug for a competitor, in those days, was really off limits.

The Steelers in Tucker's time were not contenders and had almost no national following. Tucker never got the recognition given to announcers such as Ray Scott, Chris Schenkel, Ken Coleman, or Chuck Thompson. Finally twice in 1963 Pittsburgh hit national television but CBS used other announcers. After a 9-5 record in 1962, the Steelers played Detroit in the NFL Runner-up Bowl in Miami in January of 1963. Eight months later the Steelers and the Cleveland Browns played in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, which was the final game of the pre-season. Tucker did the radio broadcasts back to Pittsburgh when he should have been on national television .

Thing got more complicated in 1964 when KDKA, which also had the Pirates, bought the rights to the Steelers’ games, removing Tucker from game broadcasts. KDKA's broadcasters were Tom Bender and Jack Flemming. These two were good, alternating each quarter between play by play and analysis. Once again, the Steelers played in the Hall of Game this time against the Baltimore Colts and CBS snubbed Tucker. As I recall, he did not even make the trip to Canton. WWSW carried Bender-Fleming broadcasts only when they overlapped with the Pirates. This involved a few exhibition games and generally the first three games of the regular season. Joe Tucker did advertise these games on his nightly shows, using the term "sports special," It was one of those everyone knows but nobody says situations. During the season, Joe Tucker continued telecasting Steelers’ away games on KDKA and was sideline reporter at home games. Once again, he could never mention this on his nightly news show.

I met Joe Tucker while walking on Penn Avenue in 1967, just before the start of his last season with CBS. He was huge solidly built man with a confident gate and friendly manner. Four years later, I saw him at the Three Rivers Arts Festival as Eugene McCarthy mixed politics and poetry. A heart attack had forced him to retire. He walked slower, his wife held his forearm, and he was much thinner. I listened to his Sunday half hour newscasts to detect any political bias either in the articles he read or his comments. I was never able to decide.

Joe Tucker was a fine broadcaster who did not get the national attention he deserved. Many of his telecasts were very special.
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