The place: Milwaukee.

The year: 1986.

I was working in television sports news after having worked in a couple other markets, most notably Madison, where I had been involved with Big Ten basketball and football. I was sitting at my desk and got a phone call from someone at the station that aired both the Bucks and the Brewers telecasts asking me if I would consider handling those play-by-play duties. It took me less than 10 seconds to say yes and I am very proud to say that I’ve been announcing Bucks basketball for 21 continuous seasons announcing (with seven seasons of Brewers baseball thrown in).

People perhaps don’t realize that Milwaukee had the Hawks prior the Bucks coming to town in 1968. They became the first team to go from an expansion team to a championship team in three seasons. That is still a record in all of sports. So it started there. They got Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, and had Jon McGlocklin from the beginning, who were all part of the nucleus of the ’71 championship team. So, the community and the state got a great taste of NBA basketball and they have supported this team and franchise ever since.

It’s really a remarkable situation how loyal the fans have been here. They’ve had good teams, of course, in the ’80s under Don Nelson and they had some thrills in the ‘90s and 2001, but there have also been down times. The fans, however, have remained steadfast throughout. It’s really a wonderful market to work in. The fans have been great. They’re accepting of people, they’re accepting of their announcers, and once they allow you to be with them for some time, then they’re extremely supportive and loyal. Since I was given the opportunity, I never considered leaving and I don’t believe I would ever leave Milwaukee on my own volition.

The Bucks have had to battle through tough times and multiple injuries this season, which, of course, led to the replacement of Terry Stotts with a former Buck, Larry Krystowiak, who played with the team from 1988-92. I was here when Larry arrived the first time. There is some irony included in his hiring, as Larry played his first NBA season with San Antonio, then opened his coaching career Thursday night against the Spurs.

Larry has been a guy who has rebuilt himself and portions of his life since a very early age. I don’t know all the details, but he had a difficult family situation when he was in high school and he worked his way through that. He went to Montana and became the only three-time MVP of the Big Sky Conference and the only Grizzlies player to have his number retired. He came to Milwaukee after being acquired from San Antonio and it was very apparent that this was one tough guy. Had the right perspective, but he was a tough cookie and he played the game in that manner.

Then he had a devastating knee injury. After a remarkable rehab, he came back and played several seasons. Upon retirement, he went back to Montana and had two successful seasons there as head coach. He was also in the CBA with Idaho and took that team to the finals.

So, Larry knows how to get around obstacles and persevere through just about anything. I think that will serve him very well here. On top of that, he is the embodiment of blue collar and is a great fit for Milwaukee in that way. He has always been very popular here. A lot of people forget that when he was wheeled off after having his knee torn up in Game 3 of the 1990 NBA Playoffs, he pumped his fist. Those who were there probably still remember that. That is just the kind of spirit that he brought to the team as a player and I’m sure he’ll bring the same spirit as coach.

One of the things that I suppose is different about me from other broadcasters in the business is that here in Milwaukee I am involved in day-to-day broadcast operations I don’t know if anyone else has had the opportunity, or been dumb enough, to accept it, but my duties stretch far beyond the microphone.

In addition to announcing the games, I am also responsible for the 35 telecasts we do. I order the production trucks in the various cities, the satellites and hire the crew. As a one man band here, I have gone back to my news roots of using a camera to shoot interviews and press conferences. I edit a lot of what airs on our telecasts. It has certainly been an interesting situation for me. I have learned a lot. Rather than just handling play-by-play, I’ve gotten involved in the business aspects of the franchise, and to a degree, the business aspects of the NBA.

When I first started out in broadcasting, people in the industry would kill to hear an out-of-town perspective on the NBA whenever they could. The only problem was that the Internet and the ability to gather information from so many sources was not nearly what it is today. Truthfully, you can never feel as if you are fully prepared because there is always somewhere else you can go to get information. I think that has changed over the 21 seasons just incredibly.

One of the things that strikes me is that even with the proliferation of information, I’ve gone back to the basics of when I started. I talk to people again. Instead of relying on everybody else’s sources and opinions, I find myself going full circle and going back to making sure that you are touching base with the coaches and players. It is kind of fascinating to me that the information explosion has really brought us back to the beginning.

To announce a game, you need an open, clear head while this other work involves a tedious, microscopic approach to detail. The sheer workload has been interesting and challenging, with the production side being very heavy. Sometimes the last thing I get to is the actual game preparation. That is where 20 years of experience helps you a little bit. In the beginning it would have been more difficult because I wasn’t sure of what I knew and what I didn’t know. You can rely on your experience and instincts a little bit. Sometimes those are the best broadcasts, when you are working from within rather than from preparation.

But I still prepare a lot. I’m in the office every day. My office is a door away from the head coach, so I’m around it. That has really allowed me to absorb and get through it. It is a lot of balls to juggle at one time and prioritize. It’s turned into pretty much 24/ 7 preparation. You’re always working in some fashion. At my age, the workload is challenging, but it’s kept me young, kept me involved, kept me technologically in tune I think. Next year we’re going all FOX next year for our broadcasts, so this is the end of that particular exercise for me, in terms of all the in-house work. There will be other challenges and other duties and other exciting things to work on. Computer editing and all of that is something I didn’t expect to be doing at my age, but it’s been wonderful and I feel like I could go for a while.

I have had some great games. Those of us who have been doing this for a while have been blessed to broadcast during the Golden Age of the NBA which I think was in the ‘80s and ‘90s with Magic and Larry and Michael. I don’t think the league has had a better period of time than that so I am very privileged to have done that. I joke once in a while with the players that some of the best games I’ve done have been losses. In my time, we haven’t had a lot of success. Since 1986 when I started, there was a bit in the late ’80s, the ’90s were pretty dry and then we picked it up a little bit in the early 2000s. It is funny, because I just thinking this morning about a game involving Larry Krystowiak.

1990 Eastern Conference Semifinals
It was the playoffs, first season in the Bradley Center, second round. The Bucks had beaten Atlanta in the first round. They were playing Detroit and Bill Laimbeer bumped into Larry Krystowiak and injured his knee in Game 3. In Game 4, the Bucks had eight available players. They were decimated by injury. That team came out and played as hard and as valiantly in that game as any team that I have seen in my 21 seasons. They were swept by the Pistons, but when they left the court, they were given a standing ovation by the fans. I have always kept that in the back of my mind as a prototypical Milwaukee Bucks effort and response by the fans. That is pretty much the essence of the relationship between the Bucks and the community.

Michael Jordan’s 20,000th career point
I happened to be in Chicago and called the game when Michael Jordan scored his 20,000th point. That was a memorable night. Jordan had gone to the bench needing six points. The fans realized he was six points away and they also realized that he had hit 5,000, 10,000 and 15,000 points in Philadelphia. I believe the Bulls were headed for Philadelphia in their next game and the fans called for Michael to come back out. He came in, calmly hit two threes to get his 20,000th point and sat down.

2005-06 Season
Through the ’90s, it was a little dry, but last year was a year that was remarkable.

I’ll never forget, it started out Opening Night when Michael Redd hit a shot with less than two seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime and the Bucks beat the Sixers 117-108. That just started a string of game-winning shots. Mo Williams had a remarkable game winner against Indiana in the Bradley Center last year at the buzzer, a deep three-pointer. The Bucks had been down by so many points.

They had been counted out five or six times in the game, but they ended up winning on that shot. Mo Williams hit another three-pointer in Washington to cap a 35-point performance and give the Bucks the win 105-102. We had a wonderful game-winning play here in Milwaukee against San Antonio last year in which Toni Kukoc inbounded to Andrew Bogut and he put it in, a short shot off the glass to beat the Spurs. Bogut also blocked Jason Terry to end a game against Dallas here. And I am sure I am leaving some out. Last year was just an incredible year for game-winning thrills. That year will stand out until there is a better one.

MY TOP 5 BUCKS

Sidney Moncrief – He played both ends of the floor superbly and was very professional in the way he carried himself on and off the court. A great competitor.
Ray Allen – He is an effortless athlete who is as smooth as they come shooting the basketball.
Michael Redd – The best second round pick I’ve ever watched.
Glenn Robinson – Simply a great scorer
Paul Pressey – A versatile player with unique skills; the first point forward in the NBA

Jim Paschke is in his 34th year in the broadcasting industry with the 2006-07 season. Paschke is currently in his 21st season as the television "Voice of the Bucks" and 11th as the team’s Television Development Coordinator. He has paired with current broadcast partner Jon McGlocklin, the "Original Buck", for the past 20 seasons. Paschke works year-round on the telecasts, television projects and other team broadcast ventures, and writes a column on the Bucks website, www.bucks.com, titled "Dot-Dot-Dot Com", which gives fans an insight into the Bucks and the NBA. Jim is also a featured speaker in the community, addressing various civic groups and school assemblies throughout the year.

A native of Bloomington, Minnesota, he attended the University of Minnesota and Brown Institute in Minneapolis. He began his broadcasting career in radio in Knoxville, Iowa, and moved to television in Sioux City, Iowa. Paschke served as sports director at WMTV-TV15 in Madison, WI, for three years and doubled as an analyst for University of Wisconsin football and basketball games.

He originally came to Milwaukee in 1980 and later served as sports director at WITI-TV6. From 1987-91 and 1995-96, baseball fans enjoyed hearing Jim as the television voice of the Milwaukee Brewers. He has also handled play-by-play duties for Marquette University basketball, Milwaukee Admirals (IHL) hockey and auto races at Wisconsin State Fair Park. Paschke returned to WITI-TV in 1992 to serve as moderator of the station’s popular "Talking Sports" program, which earned an Emmy Award in 1993.

Jim also serves on the board of the MACC Fund.

His son, Michael, is a freshman at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.