“Fifty percent of the plan is working,” he joked with his bellowing laugh. He strayed that way, he said, for two reasons: One was there is no better way to learn how to speak in public than at that level. He said he believes that advice was meant to lead him to a college speech class but instead Honda wandered into the student radio station, where he eventually worked as a play-by-play announcer for the hockey team. “My father’s advice had always been, ‘No matter what field you decide to go into, if you can expand on your ability to speak in public, you will be a better professional in that field than the person next to you,’” Honda said. Honda’s broadcast career began at Illinois as a 20-something engineering student whose path got a little twisted when guidance from his father went haywire. “He knows when to emphasize the positives of the home team and he knows how to get the crowd up and excited on exciting plays.” “Gene is a great PA announcer,” he continued. Many public address announcers, Edwards said, are “a bit over the top,” describing them as cheerleaders for the home team, despite the expected neutral duties of the job. Thirty years later, Szynal said, “ is the same guy. “And then you meet the guy in person and you see that he’s a true individual, a great man and a kind man.” ![]() ![]() “When you were growing up and you heard someone’s voice on the radio or TV or car commercials, you were like ‘Wow, I want to do that,’” Szynal said. “ knows when to emphasize a particular thing on behalf of the home team, and he knows that he has to be neutral in announcing facts and figures of the opposing team.” The first time he met Honda, Szynal recalled how Honda endeared himself to those he met despite his already recognizable voice and fame across Chicago. Szynal, who worked Honda’s first game at Comiskey and every year since, is also camera operator at the United Center and the two have formed an infallible friendship over the years. “As much as everyone wants a job, I am a firm believer that the nicest compliment you can get is being asked back.” That’s the thing,” said Honda, who is also the announcer for the Maui Classic and Chicago Marathon. For the last 13 years, fans have been treated to his warm tones at the NCAA Men’s Final Four. Since 1998, the Chicago native has worked DePaul men’s basketball games and since 2012, he has been the stadium voice of Fighting Illini football. “ knows when to emphasize a particular thing on behalf of the home team, and he knows that he has to be neutral in announcing facts and figures of the opposing team,” Edwards said.įifteen seasons ago, Honda took his talents to the West Side and began to announce for the Blackhawks as well. Seasoned Bulls PA announcer Tommy Edwards said a successful person in the profession must understand the rules of every game he calls and have a clear authoritative voice, two things Honda has been doing a long time. “He established himself as the voice of Chicago sports for a couple of generations,” Jeff Szynal, longtime friend and head of scoreboard operations at U.S. This season, he celebrates 30 years since his first game with many milestones along the way. That was 1985 and the Sox had already made their decision to offer Honda the job off his tape alone. Chicago sports PA announcer Eugene “Gene” Honda ( Chitown03/ Creative Commons) ![]() Honda smiled and then proceeded to make his way through the White Sox front office, where every person lifted their head above their cubicles to get a glance at the new Japanese-American PA announcer, he recalled. At the stadium’s second-level offices, Honda watched as a security official glanced at him, then turned to a colleague and whispered, “You’re not going to believe what the new announcer looks like.” Thirty years ago, Eugene “Gene” Honda walked through the gates at Comiskey Park in hopes of a job with the South Side baseball team.
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