Jack Armstrong (basketball)

John Joseph "Jack" Armstrong (born January 3, 1963)[1] is an American sportscaster, working primarily for the Toronto Raptors on TSN and NBA TV Canada. Armstrong is also the college basketball analyst for TSN and a former college basketball coach.

Jack Armstrong
Armstrong at Game 2 of the 2019 NBA Finals
Born
John Joseph Armstrong

(1963-01-03) January 3, 1963
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Alma materFordham University
OccupationSportscaster
EmployerBell Media, MLSE
Spouse(s)Dena Armstrong
ChildrenBrian Armstrong, Kevin Armstrong, Tim Armstrong

Personal

Armstrong is the son of Irish immigrants and was raised Catholic. His father died when Jack was age seven and his mother Mary raised him alone.[2] Armstrong graduated from Fordham University in 1985 with a Masters in Communication.[3] He has three brothers: William, James and Brendan.

Jack is married to Dena Armstrong, who was the women's soccer coach at Niagara University. They met at Niagara University, when they were both coaches. They are the parents of three adopted sons.[2] They live in Lewiston, New York just across the Niagara River from Ontario.[4]

Armstrong is a fan of the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres and the Toronto Raptors.[5]

Coaching career

From 1989 to 1998, Armstrong was the lead basketball coach of Niagara University. In the 1992–93 season, he led the Niagara Purple Eagles to a 23–7 record and was named the New York State Division I Coach of the Year. His overall record with the team was 100-154.[6]

Broadcast career

Armstrong is currently an NBA analyst for TSN and the on-air in-game broadcaster for the Toronto Raptors NBA team.[2] He has been a part of the broadcast team since 2000.[6] Armstrong has two catch-phrases that he uses during game broadcasts: "Helloooo" and "Get that garbage outta here".[2] The "get that garbage outta here" phrase was also used by Armstrong in commercials for the City of Toronto government to encourage keeping garbage out of recycling materials.[7] Most recently, following the Raptors’ signings of Montreal natives Chris Boucher and Khem Birch, he would use “Bonjour” instead of "Helloooo" whenever a big play such as a block or dunk would be made by those players.[8]

Armstrong re-uses many on-air phrases that were originally created by fellow former coach and broadcaster Bill Raftery.

Armstrong is a 3 time winner of the Canadian Screen Award for Best Sports Analyst in a Sports Program or Series.

On Thursday, July 31, 2008, it was announced that Jack Armstrong would take over The Chuck Swirsky Show effective August 18, 2008, alongside Doug MacLean on the Toronto, Ontario AM sports talk radio station The Fan 590. The show's name was later changed to The Game Plan. In 2009, Doug MacLean left the show and was replaced by Eric Smith.

In April 2022, while on a broadcast of Game 6 of the 2022 NBA Playoffs first round against the Philadelphia 76ers, Armstrong seemed happy that Joel Embiid appeared to be injured, stating "You get what you deserve." and "You know what it is…karma is a you know what, right?". Embiid had suffered a right orbital fracture and concussion in that moment.[9]

References
  1. "Jack Armstrong Coaching Record - College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  2. Ewing, Lori (October 15, 2018). "Raptors broadcaster Jack Armstrong, father to three adopted sons, calls parenting 'an amazing gift'". The Globe and Mail. The Canadian Press. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  3. "Alumni RAMblings - Jack Armstrong". Fordham Alumni. December 21, 2014. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  4. "20 Questions: Toronto Raptors broadcaster Jack Armstrong on being happy, the 'all-consuming' stress of coaching and the Vince Carter era". The National Post. January 8, 2015. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  5. O'Shei, Tim. "With trophy in Lewiston, Jack Armstrong brings NBA championship home". Buffalo News. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  6. "Jack Armstrong is going strong as broadcast analyst for the Toronto Raptors". July 17, 2015.
  7. "What Goes in the Blue Bin?". City of Toronto. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  8. Jack Armstrong Bonjour!!!!, archived from the original on May 24, 2021, retrieved May 24, 2021
  9. Chichester, Ryan (April 29, 2022). "Raptors broadcast on play where Joel Embiid was injured: 'Karma is a you know what'". Audacy. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
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