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Tens of millions of people devoted their Monday night to watching Notre Dame and Ohio State face off for a national championship. That included Maple Leafs broadcaster Joe Bowen, who requested a day off for the first time in more than 40 years in the hopes of seeing his beloved Fighting Irish secure a title.
As is the case with most people who were born in Canada, Ontario native Joe Bowen has always had hockey pumping through his veins. However, the man who’s been covering Maple Leafs games on the television and radio since the 1980s is a former football player who’s spent most of his life rooting for two teams: the Green Bay Packers and Notre Dame.
Bowen’s interest in sports broadcasting partially stems from watching games featuring longtime Notre Dame play-by-play personality Lindsey Nelson when he was growing up, and while the 73-year-old has devoted the majority of his life to calling hockey games, he’s frequently made the pilgrimage to South Bend to root for the Fighting Irish in person.
The man known as “The Voice of the Toronto Maple Leafs” got his first gig covering the team’s games in 1982 and spent more than three decades in the booth for television broadcasts before pivoting to radio in 2014. He recently called his 3,700th game between those two mediums, and while he’s never asked for a day off, that changed after Notre Dame earned the right to play Ohio State in the College Football Playoff National Championship.
The Maple Leafs had an off-day when the Fighting Irish won their last national championship on January 2, 1989, and the most recent NHL lockout was still underway when they lost to Alabama in the BCS title game at the start of 2013.
However, Bowen found himself facing a conflict on Monday night, as the Maple Leafs were hosting the Lightning at Scotiabank Arena for a game where the puck was scheduled to drop at the exact same time the Notre Dame-Ohio State game was set to get underway.
That led to Bowen opting to take the day off for the first time in 43 years, as Todd Crocker donned the headset so he could join his family to root for Notre Dame.
Many thanks to Jeff MacDonald and @TSN1050Radio to allow me to spend a very special day with my family! In 43 years of doing this job, this is the first day off I have asked for. Go Irish!!!
— Joe Bowen (@Bonsie1951) January 20, 2025
The Fighting Irish ultimately came up short, but Bowen seems optimistic about their future under Marcus Freeman based on the message he posted in the wake of the loss.