O'Donnell: Jeff Joniak has Jack Brickhouse's record run as voice of the Bears in sight
A FEW WEEKS BEFORE the Michael Jordan Bulls began their sixth and final successful playoffs pursuit, Jeff Joniak looked across a table in the media room backstage at the United Center.
In the pregame din, he said to a chum: "I'm starting to wonder if I'm in the right business."
Less prophetic words could not have been spoken.
Joniak stayed chipping away at the fringes of Chicago sportscasting.
Less than three years later, the Hersey High alum (Class of '80) was play-by-play voice of the Bears.
NOW, ALL THOSE "RIDICULOUS" INTONATIONS later, Joniak is closing in on a rather remarkable mark.
When the Bears kickoff their preseason vs. the Chiefs Aug. 13, Joniak will be beginning his 22nd season in the role.
That puts him at No. 2 on the all-time list. He trails only the mythic Jack Brickhouse (24, 1953-76).
At age 59, with good health and solid pipeline backing, Joniak is a very good bet to pass ol' Brick in 2025.
YES, THE IOWA STATE GRAD is a house man to the max.
But concurrent "yes," the role demands it.
Probably now more so than ever as George McCaskey and associates attempt to navigate the delicate strait from Soldier Field to Arlington Park.
As boothmate Tom Thayer so concisely said, "We are public conduits to the world for a very private organization."
Joniak's story is that of a professional digger who fought to keep himself positioned and prepared if by chance Dame Fortune should deign to beckon.
And she did.
STREET-BEATIN': As any Cubs or White Sox TV viewer long ago learned, Steve Stone won a longshot Cy Young Award with the Orioles in 1980. The Sox are in the midst of a four-game weekend series vs. Baltimore. Over/under on subtle-to-overt references to that honor by Stone: 27½. ...
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka (Lake Forest High, 1988), on the prospects of Max Christie in La-La Land: "We wanted to take the player that we thought could help our team in the present time but really develop into something special. And we think Max has that DNA." ...
The decision of young Arch Manning to attend Texas is not going to tip the scales away from SEC/ACC dominance of the CFP. But it gives a pulse to a program that has won one national title since 1970. (Although a "ManCast" from Austin could get ugly.) . ...
Northern Illinois notable Mike "Ajax" Korcek is a lone voice from the cornfields insisting that former Huskies A.D. Cary Groth be included on any regional list of "most impacting" women's sports functionaries since the advent of Title IX. But he's right - among other things, she hired Joe Novak. ...
Mixed news about tennis legend Chris Evert: Her health is on the uptick but she will likely be late starting ESPN work at Wimbledon. (Hopeful treatment of Stage I ovarian cancer followed by COVID.) Coverage begins Monday. ...
Jenniffer Weigel - owner of one of the best broadcast voices in Chicago - is wrapping up collaboration with chef Andy Murray on a new cookbook. Murray is the brother of Bill Murray and a close pal of Joe Kelly, the legendary Arlington Park bugler. Kelly's retirement villa in Florida is a short C-note away from the original Caddyshack restaurant. ...
Recent interviews of deflective Cubs/baseball oopser Jed Hoyer on WSCR-AM (670) and WMVP-AM (1000) add new dimension to the word "patty-cake." He gets more fawning treatment than Liza Minnelli at a Gay Pride parade. ...
And golf classicist Artie Hagg, on the oily growth of that Saudi LIV Tour: "Isn't the idea of buying harems nowadays socially out of bounds?"
• Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com.