Pat Foley was checking out Fenway Park on Sunday, getting his mind and body ready for the radio broadcast of the Winter Classic between the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins.
“And it’s going to be frosty, damn it. I’ve got to layer up,” Foley told the Tribune.
The Classic took place in the Bruins’ backyard Monday, but the Sports USA radio team had strong Chicago ties.
The team: Foley, who retired in April as the Chicago Blackhawks play-by-play man; Nick Olczyk, who did TV and radio spot duty for the Hawks before taking on a full-time role with the Seattle Kraken; and Billy Jaffe, who started his broadcasting career in 1998 calling Hawks games for WMAQ-AM 670.
“Nick Olcyzk has worked with these guys before, this radio network,” Foley said, “so he mentioned me to them and they called me and there we go. I guess probably the best way to say it is Nicky Olcyzk got me the job.
“I’m glad that somebody out there thought, ‘Hey, why don’t we give this kid a shot?'”
That “kid” put in 39 years as the voice of the Hawks, most of them with Eddie Olcyzk as his booth partner. This gig with the younger Olcyzk checks another box for what would be an enviable bucket list for any broadcaster.
Foley called the 2009 Winter Classic between the Hawks and Detroit Red Wings at Wrigley Field. And he called a Cubs game at Wrigley for the first time in August.
Now he has added another hallowed baseball venue to the list.
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“It’s cool, I’ve never been to Fenway for a baseball game,” Foley said. “I’ll be there for two hockey games, which makes zero sense.”
But he’ll savor the experience.
“These kinds of things, I hope they’ll never get old hat,” he said.
Foley doesn’t have any other tricks up his sleeve — for now: “I’m not planning on anything. I’m (bleeping) retired for crying out loud.”
He said he has been traveling so much in retirement that he hasn’t had a chance to catch many Hawks games — and he doesn’t figure to slow down.
“After this game, I’ve got to go over to Lake Tahoe and be a ski bum,” he said.