Chuck Swirsky Celebrates 50 Years in Broadcasting
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Chuck Swirsky Celebrates 50 Years in Broadcasting
- Chicago Bulls radio play-by-play announcer Chuck Swirsky is celebrating 50 years in broadcasting, a career that began in Cleveland radio in the mid-1970s.
- Swirsky's extensive career includes stints with the Toronto Raptors and the University of Michigan, before returning to Chicago to voice the Bulls games in 2008.
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Veteran sports announcer Chuck Swirsky, known as the radio play-by-play voice for the Chicago Bulls, is marking his 50th anniversary in radio. Swirsky’s broadcasting journey started in the mid-1970s in Cleveland, Ohio, before he moved to Chicago in 1979. He hosted a nightly sports radio show on WCFL (AM 1000), discussing Chicago sports with callers.
His career in Chicago also included being the public address announcer for the Bulls from 1980 to 1983 and working at WGN radio through the mid-1990s, where he hosted sports talk shows and provided updates. Swirsky also did play-by-play for DePaul games and covered pre- and post-game for the Chicago Bears.
Swirsky’s career took him outside Chicago when he moved to Detroit to call University of Michigan basketball and football games in the mid-1990s. He then became the play-by-play voice for the Toronto Raptors, initially on radio in the 1998-99 NBA season and later on television starting in 2001. During his time with the Raptors, he became known for catchphrases like “Onions, Baby, Onions” for three-point shots and even became a Canadian citizen in 2008. He returned to Chicago in 2008 to become the radio play-by-play announcer for the Bulls.
In other Chicago sports media news, NBC 5 Chicago announced on August 27, 2026, that Emmy Award-winning journalist Natalie Spala would join their team as weekend sports anchor/reporter, starting August 31. Spala will also contribute to “Sports Sunday,” the station’s weekly highlights program, which is hosted by Lou Canellis. Canellis himself joined NBC 5 Chicago as the main sports anchor on January 26, 2026, moving from WFLD. He anchors sports segments Monday through Thursday at 5, 6, and 10 p.m., and on Sundays at 5 and 10 p.m.