![\"Chicago](\"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/05\/Eugene_-Gene-_Honda.jpg\")
<\/a>That was 1985 and the Sox had already made their decision to offer Honda the job off his tape alone. This season, he celebrates 30 years since his first game with many milestones along the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe established himself as the voice of Chicago sports for a couple of generations,\u201d Jeff Szynal, longtime friend and head of scoreboard operations at U.S. Cellular Field, said last week.<\/p>\n
Seasoned Bulls PA announcer Tommy Edwards said a successful person in the profession must understand the rules of every game he calls and have a clear authoritative voice, two things Honda has been doing a long time.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Honda] knows when to emphasize a particular thing on behalf of the home team, and he knows that he has to be neutral in announcing facts and figures of the opposing team,\u201d Edwards said.<\/p>\n
Fifteen seasons ago, Honda took his talents to the West Side and began to announce for the Blackhawks as well. Since 1998, the Chicago native has worked DePaul men\u2019s basketball games and \u00a0since 2012, he has been the stadium voice of Fighting Illini football. For the last 13 years, fans have been treated to his warm tones at the NCAA Men\u2019s Final Four.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just keep running. That\u2019s the thing,\u201d said Honda, who is also the announcer for the Maui Classic and Chicago Marathon. \u201cAs much as everyone wants a job, I am a firm believer that the nicest compliment you can get is being asked back.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s been asked back. Again and again and again. Co-workers agreed this was no surprise. Szynal, who worked Honda\u2019s first game at Comiskey and every year since, is also camera operator at the United Center and the two have formed an infallible friendship over the years. The first time he met Honda, Szynal recalled how Honda endeared himself to those he met despite his already recognizable voice and fame across Chicago.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Honda] knows when to emphasize a particular thing on behalf of the home team, and he knows that he has to be neutral in announcing facts and figures of the opposing team.\u201d<\/p>\n
-Tommy Edwards, Chicago Bulls<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cWhen you were growing up and you heard someone\u2019s voice on the radio or TV or car commercials, you were like \u2018Wow, I want to do that,\u2019\u201d Szynal said. \u201cAnd then you meet the guy in person and you see that he\u2019s a true individual, a great man and a kind man.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thirty years later, Szynal said, \u201c[Honda] is the same guy. He doesn\u2019t take anything for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many public address announcers, Edwards said, are \u201ca bit over the top,\u201d describing them as cheerleaders for the home team, despite the expected neutral duties of the job.<\/p>\n
\u201cGene is a great PA announcer,\u201d he continued. \u201cHe knows when to emphasize the positives of the home team and he knows how to get the crowd up and excited on exciting plays.\u201d<\/p>\n
Honda\u2019s broadcast career began at Illinois as a 20-something engineering student whose path got a little twisted when guidance from his father went haywire.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father\u2019s advice had always been, \u2018No matter what field you decide to go into, if you can expand on your ability to speak in public, you will be a better professional in that field than the person next to you,\u2019\u201d Honda said.<\/p>\n
He said he believes that advice was meant to lead him to a college speech class but instead Honda wandered into the student radio station, where he eventually worked as a play-by-play announcer for the hockey team. He strayed that way, he said, for two reasons: One was there is no better way to learn how to speak in public than at that level. The second was to meet girls.<\/p>\n
\u201cFifty percent of the plan is working,\u201d he joked with his bellowing laugh. \u201cThe other fifty percent isn\u2019t doing so well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re asked to try something new in the profession that you may not have done before, how else do you find out how to do it and how else do you find out if you like it? If you say no, you\u2019ll never know.\u201d<\/p>\n
– Gene Honda, White Sox<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
On and off the job, longtime Sox employee Dave Marran has grown close to Honda for three decades. Marran was 20 years old when he met Honda and the two have worked together ever since.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been kind of a part of me growing up in a sense,\u201d said Marran, who is now sports editor for Wisconsin\u2019s Kenosha Times, and in scoreboard operations for the Sox. \u201cIt\u2019s just been great and he\u2019s just a wonderful guy. I\u2019m lucky to have a guy like that in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Honda attributed many of the achievements on his lengthy resume to luck. He explained that one day years ago, he sat with a producer at lunch when she asked very bluntly how he got to where he was. When he said he had \u201cgotten lucky,\u201d she replied almost with apprehension and from then on her words stuck with the seasoned PA.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe told me, \u2018You know what luck is? When opportunity and ability meet,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that is a nice way to phrase it. You\u2019ve got to have done all your prep work, serve your time and gone through the ranks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean there has to be a little bit of both,\u201d Honda continued. \u201cIt\u2019s not pure luck. You have to have a little bit of luck and you also have to have a little bit of ability.”<\/p>\n
Where do opportunity and ability meet? For Honda it was at the Illiniois student radio station, Comiskey Park, Cellular Field, United Center, Chicago Marathon and NCAA Final Four. Anywhere there was a microphone and they would have him, Honda was heard.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re asked to try something new in the profession that you may not have done before, how else do you find out how to do it and how else do you find out if you like it?\u201d he asked. \u201cIf you say no, you\u2019ll never know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Honda joked about last September\u2019s milestone, his 2000th<\/sup> game for the Sox.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe math always comes back to tell you, \u2018You\u2019ve been here a while, dummy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019ll always make whoever he\u2019s with feel at home and feel comfortable. He just has a great knack for doing that. He won\u2019t let you fail.\u201d<\/p>\n
– Jeff Szynal, White Sox<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Marran, who met Honda in 1985 during the first Sox season for both, said he was immediately drawn to Honda for his professional demeanor and sought advice constantly from his mentor.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis professional presence was so important,\u201d Marran said. \u201cI\u2019ve been around him for 30 years and I can\u2019t stress that enough, just what a pro he is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Szynal and Honda both worked the 2003 MLB All-Star game and Home Run Derby, as well as the 2005 World Series. For many years, the pair played on the same team in a local adult hockey league.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019ll always make whoever he\u2019s with feel at home and feel comfortable. He just has a great knack for doing that. He won\u2019t let you fail,\u201d Szynal said.<\/p>\n
Honda\u2019s warm voice matches his generous demeanor, said those who have known him the longest.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe helps other people that are newer in the business, all different age groups, people that are younger that come in and he\u2019s a good teacher of how to present yourself in this profession,\u201d said Szynal. \u201cHe\u2019s a great guy and leads by example.\u201d<\/p>\n
From hockey player to baseball guru, Honda, who proclaims no favorite sports team or sport itself, said the thrill of his day-to-day life has yet to wear off.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know what my favorite sporting event to do is?\u201d he asked. \u201cThe next one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nPhoto at top: US Cellular field on an overcast day in May. (Hannah Beery\/Medill)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Hannah Beery Thirty years ago, Eugene \u201cGene\u201d Honda walked through the gates at Comiskey Park in hopes of a job with the South Side baseball team. At the stadium\u2019s second-level offices, Honda watched as a security official glanced at him, then turned to a colleague and whispered, \u201cYou\u2019re not going to believe what the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":15678,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,436],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-spring-2015"],"yoast_head":"\n
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