This edition of “Conversations: Play-by-Play with so and so..” has been modified because the subject is no longer a play-by-play guy… although in his heart, I suppose he still is. Hence, I call this “Up, down, and all around with Paul Steigerwald.” Due to my recent illness, (I’m better, thank you) this piece has gotten delayed quite a bit so it crosses over to the before and after.
If you haven’t heard, Paul Steigerwald, the veteran of 11 years and 900+ hockey games on television, will not be back for the next Penguin season on Root Sports calling play-by-play…but he will be back. Somehow, he has landed another cozy job in Pittsburgh hockey. The resilient Steigerwald will adjust, again, to a new hockey life. This time, back where whence he came… Penguin’s marketing, where he worked almost 40 years ago. He’ll consult, he’ll contribute, he’ll host Pen’s TV, and he”ll be a fan.
Like Steeler broadcaster Bill Hillgrove, this guy known as “Steigy” is one of those all-Pittsburgh types…sports anchor, hockey color man, sports reporter, play-by-play man,…and he has an acting credit too.
“I do like to perform” Steigerwald tells me. He’s talking hockey broadcasts I think, but there was that bit part in “Sudden Death.”
As a kid, Steigerwald fortunately lived next to Penguin’s first general manager Jack Riley (free tickets), and grew up on Bob Prince’s Pirates broadcasts. Before internet radio, you could listen to 50,000 watt radio station broadcasts at night over those airwaves that skip through the ionosphere. Paul heard calls from Al Shaver in Minnesota, Lloyd Pettit in Chicago and Dan Kelly (my personal favorite) calling hockey from St. Louis. At 15, those calls gave him his calling.
In the 70s and 80s, like hay on a farm, the brothers Steigerwald were everywhere…multiple TV stations and newscasts (brother John and Paul), exhibition play-by-play (John), newspapers (brothers Bill and John), radio (John and Paul), and so on. In the mid-80s while at KDKA, Paul worked with legends Bill and Patty Burns. ”Patty was hilarious.” says Steigy, ” but it was my producers…they were the ones that made me look good. I probably wasn’t qualified to do what I was doing.”
Steigerwald was in the last row of the stands at the Civic Arena in 1979, doing real time play-by-play into a tape recorder while watching a Pen’s game. Then he sent the demo to a Christian broadcasting network, who covered the Hampton Virginia Aces, a minor- league team in the Northeastern and Eastern Hockey Leagues. If he sold radio time, they would give him 28 games to do Aces’ play-by-play.
So, he took his clothes and TV, loaded the car and went to Virginia. When he got there, the Johnstown Red Wingss came calling. He had gotten the much-coveted Johnston job, having played that tape over the phone to Bill Confer at the Red Wings radio station. The Steigerwald name was known to Confer via Paul’s brother John. Steigerwald turned his car around and drove to Johnstown, never having called an Aces’ game. He spent one year with the Wings before getting in with the Penguins. It happened like this…
When Penguin color commentator Terry Shiffour retired in 1984, the year Mario Lemieux was drafted, Steigerwald was given the same role, paired with Mike Lange, who handled the play-by-play. ”Terry was doing color and the Pens were horrible,” says Steigerwald. ”He wanted to stay home with his son so he handed the baton to me. When I first jumped into the booth to do color, I was way over my head. Mike took me under his wing, or put up with me, really. He figured out a way to work despite my shortcomings. I was really out of my element.”
Despite his recurring self-doubt (Woody Allen syndrome perhaps), Steigerwald seemed to have a feel for the game, despite being a non-player. ”When I got that job,” he continues, “there was a history of color guys who were not players, unlike today. You had Myron (Cope) on Steelers radio and Howard Cosell on ABC.”
Steigerwald got the radio play-by-play gig when the team was emerging from bankruptcy in 1999, a team condition thanks in part and largely due to Howard Baldwin, who had bought the team from Edward DeBartolo.in 1991, after the Pens won their first Stanley Cup.
Baldwin was a film producer, not a sports team owner. He made many suspect moves…like giving his idol Mario Lemieux a new $42 million contract to keep Mario a Penguin for life. In that he succeeded. And not that Lemieux didn’t deserve it…it’s just that Baldwin couldn’t afford it. As bankruptcy loomed, in order to raise cash, Baldwin sold the advertising on the dasher boards, and the Pen’s broadcast rights to the KBL Cable Network, which became Fox Sports, which became Root Sports. What was once a simulcast with Lange and Steigerwald on both TV and radio, was now Mike Lange on television with former Penguin Peter Taglianetti doing the color.
Steigerwald was doing color on Pen’s radio broadcasts and tried to crack the play-by-play job but it went to Matt McConnell. ”They kept hiring guys that really didn’t want to do radio, ” says Steigy. “They wanted to graduate to TV. I was perfectly happy doing radio for the rest of my life. It’s the theatre of the mind. The description is what people are relying on. You have total control of the broadcast.”
When bankruptcy finally arrived, it came time to settle with the team debtors. Lemieux was the largest secured creditor and had little choice to take the team in lieu of the money. Look how that worked out. Mario just turned into one of the best owners in sports, and that’s coming from players, coaches, media and fans. Since Fox (now Root) worked hand-in-hand with the Pens on broadcasting and other entities, Steigerwald was given the opportunity to do play-by-play on the radio with blessings from Lemieux. He was teamed with Lemieux’s ex-line mate, Bob Errey.
However, in 2006, then Fox Sports declined to renew the contract of hockey icon Mike Lange, This was akin to blasphemy. Shock waves were felt. The backlash was palpable. At that moment, it made sense to hire Paul Steigerwald. He was already doing Penguin radio play-by-play, and he knew the team, coaches and fans. Plus, he paid his dues, so why bring in an out-of-towner’s pro hockey voice? It was the dream realized for Steigerwald. Again, blessings from Lemieux.
“I was a guy they could pick to do it, to soften the blow of taking Mike off of television,” says Steigerwald.. ”They thought I had some cache’ in the market. It was easier to bring me in than some total stranger. But that also made it more difficult for me. I felt like I was betraying Mike on some level, even though I wasn’t. I knew Mike was going to be let go I had a decision to make.”
Steigerwald paid the price. He had a hard time being accepted by the fans as “the man.” Mike Lange was a hard act to follow. Maybe that’s why Steigerwald’s Wikipedia page declared “Steigerwald is regarded as the worst NHL broadcaster by many.” That bit of tarnish has since been removed from his Wikipedia’s page as they updated it to reflect Steigerwald’s departure. Think what you will about his style, demeanor, delivery, or game knowledge…Paul Steigerwald is a professional all down the line.
His biggest fear was losing the job he loved, which has now come to fruition. He slept in luxury hotels, ate the best food, traveled by charter, and saw the world. That lifestyle certainly didn’t help the dissolution of his marriage which he readily admits he did not handle well. After 33 years of travel, he can now hang at home with his dog and water the lawn.
Steigerwald has been replaced by yet another Pittsburgh guy, Steve Mears of NHL Network, as the Penguin play-by-play man on Root Sports.
Steigy didn’t want to reflect on what went down around his departure except to say his contract was expiring and he saw it coming. It was a matter of when, not if, which he says is the nature of the business. ”Once it’s over, like today, I feel more peaceful about,” he reflects. ”The fear of losing it is what eats away at you, but once you’ve lost it, like I have, you’re more at peace with the whole thing.”
When told he would not return to the broadcast booth, he was also told he had a job with the Pens, so it was a soft landing. ”It’s a good feeling to be part of a family which is the way they (Pens) make you feel,” he says. ”My overall reaction was a feeling of gratitude.” He has no plans to seek another broadcast job.
He loved doing play-by-play but acknowledged that the scrutiny on TV was hard. ”It takes a certain amount of courage to do it. I’ve overcome some fears and there is a sense of accomplishment for me. I felt like I was part of the game. I looked at it as a privilege to have done that job.”
There is little doubt about Steigy’s love of the Penguin organization. He feels deeply indebted for all the opportunities he has had. “You don’t get where you’re going unless someone is taking care of you, giving you a chance, someone has faith in you,” he continues. ”Mario was that guy for me in the final analysis. If he doesn’t put his blessing on it for me to do play-by-play on the radio when the team was coming out of bankruptcy, I never get to where I am.”
And where he is, is back in the Pen’s front office.
Steigerwald was Mario’s first contact when Lemieux came to Pittsburgh. Steigy picked him up at the airport. Lemieux knew no English. And being in the Pens marketing department, he worked with Lemieux around the team. ”He learned to trust my judgement and that I would not compromise him in any way,” says Paul. ”I earned his trust over the years.” Apparently, he still has it.
Steigy (as Bob Errey refers to him constantly) had been partnered with Bob “Eagle Eye” Errey for 11 years, who does color commentary from ice level. ”I really appreciated Bob’s knowledge of the game,” confesses Steigy. ”I think he has an amazing eye for the game. He sees everything. He is seeing things that I didn’t.” That’s no surprise given that the PPG Paints Arena press box sits just under the roof. When I look straight out from my press box seat, I see steel girders and massive duct work.
The respect he has for Lange is obvious. After Steigy went to TV and Lange went back to radio, there was great tension between the two, but in public, Steigerwald never failed to put Lange on the pedestal. At the ’09 cup celebration stage downtown, Steigy introduced Lange as “the hall of fame voice of the Penguins.” And he meant it.
“Mike Lange is the best. He’s unbelievable. He’s still incredible,” continues Steigerwald. ”I was always blown away by his ability to keep track of everything. He’s a master at his craft. He’s the best broadcaster I’ve ever worked with.”
But that’s all over now baby blue…as Bob Dylan might say. Well, not all of it. Paul Steigerwald is still around…up, down and all around.
Lee Kann is a media producer and a writer. Contact: shooting16bl@gmail.com
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