Finally Meeting Chuck Swirsky

I have an interesting hostroy with Chuck Swirsky, dating back to 1988. Earlier this year, I finally got to meet him and get a picture with him.

Back in my early days with Lerner Newspapers, we promoted at a lot of neighborhood fests. For one fest, we had a big cardboard of our front page with a big cutout for fun pictures. Then a WGN broadcaster, Swirsky was appearing there, too. I handed him the cardboard and he graciously posed for the photo below. It was the coolest pic we ever got with that thing, but of course, I received no credit.

Fast forward many years, Swirsky published his autobiography. I emailed him about a Zoom interview and within days, we had it done. What a thrill for me. He is such a class act. That interview is at On the Beat with Chuck Swirsky.

I missed a few promotion appearances from Swirsky, but kept hoping to meet him. Finally when I saw he was appearing at Bulls Fest, I had my chance.

At a booth hosted by Autograph1 and Mitch Dubinsky, Swirsky was selling his bobbleheads, which benefitted Chicago Bulls Charities. I bought one for my lifelong pal and fellow Swirsky fan Tom and finally got my picture with Swirsky.

A broadcast veteran of more than 45 years, Swirsky is a true sports talk radio pioneer. Even better, he is a class act. A man of faith and love for his family, Swirsky is such a positive guy.

Thank you, Chuck! Thanks for years of listening pleasure and finally a picture.

Chuck Swirsky and me in Chicago, IL-August 2025.

On the Beat With Chuck Swirsky

Chuck Swirsky is one of the true pioneers of sports talk radio. Before there were sports talk stations, Swirsky was THE source for Chicago sports talk.

In his four decades on the air, Swirsky has experienced thousands of awesome moments. Now, thanks to "Always A Pleasure," his newly-released autobiography, Swirsky shres many of those tales with readers. I had the pleasure of interviewing Swirsky about his career and the book at On the Beat With Chuck Swirsky.

Back in 1979, Chuck hosted a nightly sports talk radio show in Chicago. Each night, my friend Tom and I would listen to Swirsky's show, then discuss it the next day. Swirsky was positive and upbeat, but never sugar-coated things. It was real sports talk. His goal was purely to entertain fans with sports talk and entertain us he did. Through the mid-90s, on a couple different stations, in different roles, Swirsky delivered sports news and talked sports like no other.

After leaving Chicago, he eventually went to Toronto to become the play-by-play voice of the Toronto Raptors. He also hosted a radio show among other roles.

Fortunately for Chicagoans, he returned to the Windy City in 2008 to do radio for the Chicago Bulls. It's no exaggeration when I say just hearing his voice emanating from the radio was like having a long-lost friend return.

I have just given a very brief summary of Swirsky's career. Of course, his forty plus years in broadcasting encompass more than a resume would reveal. Swirsky has thousands of stories.

Now he has a book to share many of those stories. "Always My Pleasure" is more than just his career recap though. It is an inside look at the man behind the mic. This morning I had the pleasure of interviewing Swirsky to talk about his life and book.

Swirsky discussed a few bits about his career, including his parents, his faith, underrated career highlights, his bobbleheads and more, all of which is in "Always A Pleasure." Of course, for strict sports junkies, there is plenty of sports talk.

I asked him his selection process in selecting among his thousands of stories. He made a funny Beatles White Album reference, before beating me to the punch by answering my next question before I asked it. Yes, there will be a second book.

His genuine positive outlook hasn't changed in the many years since I first heard him on my transister radio. Swirsky delivers the game, sports talk and this interview, right from his heart. He truly is a Chicago treasure.

Go to ChuckSwirskyTheBook.com for more info on his book. Check here and TheEveryDayFan.com for more sports coverage.

 

Johngy Meets The Swirsk (Chuck Swirsky)

Chuck Swirsky was doing sports talk radio before there was sports talk radio. Swirsky hosted a late night sports talk show on WLUP in 1980 and '81. My friend Tom Skalski and I would stay up listening on our old clock radios and then discuss and debate things we heard the next day.
In 1990, while I was at Lerner Newspapers, we had a promotional booth at Schaumburg Fest. As I wrote in a previous post, we had a silly cardboard replica of a front page of our Schaumburg Voice. People could come to our booth and get a picture while holding it, thus looking like they were on the front page. It was very cheesy, but it wasn't my idea.
My odd brain kicked in when I saw Swirsky at WGN's stage. I approached him during a commercial break and asked him to pose with the sign. He quickly agreed, I flipped him the sign and took the picture.
Of course, the Powers That Be at Lerner at the time didn't think enough of it to run it in our paper in the fest recap. While I realize Swirsky wasn't a major celeb, he was big enough to grab a little attention if we had run the photo.
Lerner's loss is a Johngy's Beat gain. Hey, I knew a star when I saw one! For the first time ever, I now present The Swirsk on the front page of the Schaumburg Voice!

Chuck Swirsky in Schaumburg, IL-Summer 1990.