The Blue Jackets Call Up New Radio Voice
July 8th, 2009 | by sweetbob |
The Blue Jackets promoted someone from their minor-league affiliate in Syracuse, NY. It isn’t a young foward or a pesky defenseman, it’s a guy from their radio booth. Bob McElligott, 40, was just promoted to take over the radio broadcast for Columbus. he will replace Bill Davidge, who was promoted to the television broadcasts.
McElligott is a versatile broadcaster and is excited about this new role. He is a play-by-play guy and it’s unsual that Columbus will opt to go with 2 broadcasters that do the same role. George Matthews is currently in that role, but McElligott could be getting groomed to take over for him in the future. He is used to playing both roles in the broadcast booth, since he also did the broadcasts for the Triple-A baseball team in Syracuse as well.
McElligott has knowledge of a lot of the young talent on Columbus, since many passed through Syracuse. Derick Brassard, Derek Dorsett, and Marc Methot are all Syracuse alumni and he knows them very well.
I’m excited about the change and this is something the franchise needed. The broadcasts teams on both the radio and television are great, but they were getting long in the tooth. The Blue Jackets are becoming a young and entertaining franchise and they need excitement and youth in the booth. I will certainly be watching Fox Sports Net Ohio and listening to McElligott on 97.1 The Fan next season.
