DETROIT – A longtime Detroit sports broadcaster announced that he’s going to retire after decades on television.
John Keating has been a staple of Detroit sports since the 1990s, from Fox Sports Detroit to Bally to the new FanDuel Sports Network.
Keating has been on thousands of pre- and post-game shows for the Tigers and Red Wings through the years, but he announced early Friday morning that this hockey season will be his last.
“Hey, gang,” Keating wrote in the tweet. “A bit of personal news here. I’ve decided to retire from TV at the end of this Red Wings season.”
He also included a longer statement:
It’s a decision I reached in the middle of the Tigers season this past July.
A couple of years ago, I was out for a ginger ale with my boss, Jeff Byle, who is a longtime pal, and he graciously told me at the time, “You tell us when you want to be done. You’ve earned that.”
Trust me: In this biz? That’s as good as it gets.
It was wistful getting through the end of the Tigers season, and now that the Red Wings season is ongoing, it just feels like it’s time to share the decision.
It came down to this: There haven’t been enough sunsets with the family in Grand Haven on the Lake Michigan coast.
So, I shared with Jeff that I’d like to get through the Tigers and then the Wings season and then be done. Thus, that’s the deal. So? Let’s have a blast in this lap, eh?
And pray to the Baby Jesus that I can survive Chris Osgood this season.
Detroit sports broadcaster John Keating
Tigers and Wings fans could always look forward to some of Keating’s self-deprecating humor before and after games, and his even-keeled style was often a breath of fresh air in an otherwise polarized world of sports fan hood.
The Tigers sent Keating off with one of the most magical late-season runs in MLB history, making the playoffs after facing a late double-digit deficit. Now we’ll see if the Red Wings can follow suit.
