Mike Gorman, the television voice of the Boston Celtics, recently announced that the 2023-24 regular season will be his last on the air, resulting in speculation about who will be named the future play-by-play announcer for the team. Local broadcasts are televised on NBC Sports Boston, and they have featured the familiar, affable duo of Gorman and Brian Scalabrine for the last several seasons. Gorman has been on television as the voice of the team for the last 42 years, and as expected, his regional broadcasting job is highly coveted.
Jon Wallach, update anchor on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s hit morning show, Toucher & Rich, has filled in for Sean Grande on the radio, specifically for road games in cities where Gorman does not travel. As a result, Fred Toucher and Rich Shertenlieb have discussed the feasibility of him landing the position several times since on the air. The two have contrasting points of view as to whether or not Wallach has a serious chance to land the gig.
“I have been jockeying for you to go to the television side of things for more reasons than just it would cause complete and total chaos amongst some people we know,” Shertenlieb said Tuesday.
“When chaos is going to happen is when they give the TV job to the guy they’re giving the TV job to, and then a bunch of people got to have a ‘Come to Jesus’ with themselves, is what my opinion is,” Toucher replied. “That’s when the chaos is – you give Jon the TV job, you’ve already gotten rid of the layer of the chaos.”
Toucher and Shertenlieb reflected back on when their show moved to 98.5 The Sports Hub from the now-defunct WBCN, and had to face other competition to be named as the station’s morning show. Since then, the program has achieved stellar ratings, most recently leading the marketplace, and Wallach has been an integral part of that over the years.
“Give me a percentage,” Shertenlieb asked. “Percentage Celtics’ choice; percentage NBC Sports Boston’s choice… for the future TV face; for Mike Gorman’s position. Who gets to make that choice?”
“It’s the Celtics, I think,” Toucher replied.
“There you go,” Shertenlieb affirmed. “You’ve got a shot, baby. You’ve got a shot.”
Shertenlieb seems to be rooting for Wallach to land the television position, while Toucher does not believe he has a legitimate shot to land behind the microphone. It led Shertenlieb to ponder over what would happen if Gorman openly advocated for Wallach to land the role.
“Mike Gorman would come on the air right now and put his hand on a bible, a torah and everything else under the sun and tell you that there is a 0% chance that Jon gets it,” Toucher said, “and then he would also tell you that he has no say, nor does he care.”
