Jim Paschke is one of the "living legends" in Milwaukee sports media. With nearly 40 years in the industry, he's now in his 25th season with the Bucks. 

Paschke works year-round with the Bucks and FS Wisconsin on many team projects, BucksTV.com, telecasts, television projects and other team broadcast ventures.

He's also a frequent speaker in the community, all-around good guy and a member of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame as "a Friend of Basketball." 

I caught up with Paschke this week to talk basketball, broadcasting, Milwaukee and more in this Milwaukee Talks interview.

OnMilwaukee.com: Give us the brief Jim Paschke story -- you were born in Minnesota, right?

Jim Paschke: I was born in Rochester, Minn., and when I was a year old we moved to the Twin Cities. I grew up in Bloomington, Minn. I still have family there. Started working at the ballpark for Twins and Vikings games and next door for hockey games when I was 14 years old, so I've been around this my whole life. First day I ever worked for a living was the sixth game of the 1965 World Series between the Twins and the Dodgers. I've kind of been around sports for a while.

OMC: The WITI Channel 6 job -- is that what brought you to Milwaukee?

JP: Yes, I'd been in Madison for three years. I went there in 1977, worked there for three years; came here in 1980 to work with Earl Gillespie.

OMC: When did you start doing play by play?

JP: I had done some over the years -- I did Wisconsin football and basketball. I was a panelist on the radio networks and a sideline reporter on football. These two jobs -- the Bucks and the Brewers -- started in '86-87. I started my career in '87 and the prior fall I had started with the Bucks.

OMC: You've done play by play for almost everyone in the market. You did a little Marquette, some Admirals ...

JP: A couple of Marquette games, a couple of Admirals games, did some races at State Fair Park, Bucks, Badgers, football and basketball over at Madison, and then the Brewers for seven seasons.

OMC: Do you have a favorite sport to do play by play for? Is there a sport easier than others?

JP: That's a good question. Growing up in Minnesota, it was probably baseball and hockey and then some football and not a lot of basketball. Now basketball, obviously, is my favorite sport. I started out in baseball, but basketball is now, for obvious reasons. I really enjoy it. All of them were interesting to me.

Baseball was a great challenge. It's a difficult sport to do because of the length and the concentration. That sport will get you. This one, the action is a little more ongoing, so your attention span is little different. The game focuses you (and) how it focuses you, and baseball, you have to stay focused. Baseball is a little different animal.

OMC: You started with the Bucks in '86. What's the key to longevity?

JP: You know, that's funny Jeff. I really don't know. I guess the easy answer ... my approach has always been to do the job I have today and not worry about my next job. I've always tried to do that. That's basically it for me. I just do the best job I can every day and try to be valuable to an organization. Other than that, I really don't know.

I think it's just those things and maybe the broader your skill set is the better. I've been able to do a lot of things here, which I think helped me to stay in the market. Video-wise; writing. All of the things play by play guys may or may not do, we do here, so I think that's helped.  Plus, obviously, I've had a great partner in Jon McGlocklin. 

OMC: Starting out, did you have a mentor or someone you looked up to in terms of play by play? Someone you patterned yourself after?

JP: Yeah. Because I was at the ballpark in Minneapolis as a young man, I knew Ray Scott's kids. Ray lived in Minneapolis at that time, and his boys worked at the stadium. So over the years, I was friends with one of his boys and knew the other kids. When I was in the service in the late '60s, Ray called me and asked if I would spot for him for NFL games. He was working with a new analyst who had just gotten into the business named Pat Somerall at that point.

When Ray was in San Francisco, which was where I was stationed, I would work games (in) San Francisco, Oakland for him. It was more of a favor to me. My parents -- it's a long story, but it's kind of interesting. When Ray moved from Minneapolis to Phoenix, he had never met my parents. He knew me, but he hadn't met my parents. One of his sons had two years left of high school. Because he knew me, he had asked my parents if they would be guardians for his son. So, that's how that all took place, and he appreciated that, and he then took care of me when I was in San Francisco and Oakland.

That's kind of where I got the bug. I was very shy as a kid -- I couldn't talk in front of two people. I never looked to speak publically or anything. But, when I sat in that booth -- I'd been around sports and loved sports -- when I sat in that booth, I decided that I wanted to go to school and learn how to do it. Start in a small town and see what I can do.

I think Ray passed away upset with me that I never asked him for help, but I never did. I think he gave me enough help exposing me to the business, and of course he was one of the greatest football and baseball announcers of all time.

OMC: Let's talk a little bit about this year's Milwaukee Bucks team. What are your early season thoughts about where the team's going?

JP: I've been very excited about this team after last season. I love teams that are picked to win 19 games and win 46. That tells me a lot about a group of guys, and I was very encouraged by that. Then John Hammond and Scott Skiles improved the team; made it much deeper. It's very exciting. I believe in this team. I believe in the people on this team. The character last year was very good -- it meshed and clicked and that's why they won 46.

We'll have to see how the new group of people meshes and clicks, but with Scott Skiles running things on a day-to-day basis, there's a pretty good chance that that will happen. He has a knack for that. He handles people very well. He expects it. He demands it. There's accountability for it, and it's a deep enough team that he could play with that and make it happen. I'm very encouraged by what we have this year, and I think things will turn out well. I didn't like the first two games -- no one did -- but I think it's understandable with what's taken place. I think they'll be fine.

OMC: The big championship question: do you see an NBA championship in the next 10 to 20 years in this market?

JP: Ten to 20 years – that's a long time frame. Look back 20 years ... look back 40 years and there's been one. I think ... I would never say, "Yes it's going to happen," but I do see the framework, as I saw Detroit build a framework for 2004. John Hammond was there for that; he knows how to do that. I see that possibly taking place. I think the next 4 or 5 years could be a very significant run for the Bucks.

Championship? Hard to predict. You can't ever predict that, especially when you're not conditioned to win those. The Lakers are conditioned to win championships. Boston is conditioned to win championships, etc., etc. Chicago was when they had Michael Jordan.

To come out of the pack like Detroit did is a different deal entirely, but I wouldn't rule it out. I think they're moving toward that. With some good fortune and all the other things falling into place, it's not out of the question.

OMC: You get to travel with the team during the year. Do you have a couple of favorite cities? Favorite arenas? Why, or after a while, do they all become the same?

JP: The answer to that question is yes, yes, yes, yes and yes. My joke these days is that my favorite cities are Vancouver and Seattle. Well, obviously, they're no longer in the league. You know, it's been a great gift to travel around the country for this long. You get to see the country in a different way; you get a different feel for what this nation is; it's been really a blessing to do it that way.

New York for a couple of days has energy like no other city. I'm always happy to go there for a couple of days and come back to Milwaukee. Everything I say here is predicated to coming back to Milwaukee, because this is a great place to come back to when you travel around the country. I really mean that. It's just a great balance to all the things we go through.

San Antonio's nice. There are a lot of great places. Every city has its pluses and some of them have minuses. I kind of like them all, really. I enjoy going to Portland for a day or two. It's a different vibe, a different sense of what's going on. I really enjoy the job. Although, it is tedious; it's difficult.

You have to manage yourself. You have to manage your sleep as best you can; you have to manage your diet as best you can, which obviously, I don't do very well at. It's a grind -- it's rigorous, and I wish everybody could see what we go through and then understand how the players perform.  Listen to the rest of Jim Paschke's answer to this question at the podcast at this link. 

OMC: The back to back games in the NBA amaze me. Everyone's traveling, but then the players have to play. One night, get on a plane, and play somewhere else. It's hard for me to work out two days in a row.

JP: And play at a high level. It's one thing to show up, and it's another thing to win a game, particularly against a team who's at home, or has been at home for a couple of days, or whatever. There are always different scenarios, and it's really a mental game in many ways that way. You have to be mentally disciplined, and you have to compartmentalize all of these things. One area can't affect the other, if you're going to perform, and it's the same for us, too. We have to put aside everything.

I always found it very fascinating. I don't know how many people actually perform in the absolute presence very often. We do. For two and a half to three hours, I could be having the worst problem of my life, but for two and a half hours, it's gone, because I have to concentrate on what I'm doing. I am truly in the present, and the players are the same way. There's nothing going on other than what you're doing at the time. It's a neat thing to experience over and over and over.

It changes you because you realize how valuable and how impactful the present really is. It can eradicate everything in your life if you're truly in the present, and very few of us ever are. We're eating breakfast and watching television, or reading the paper, or we're online. There's all of this stuff going on, but when we do what we do, we really truly have to be as close to the present as we can be, whether we want to be or not.

OMC: Let's talk about the league for a minute. What are the biggest changes that you've seen in the league since you've been covering?

JP: Our league is interesting because it's always evolving. My sense is that there aren't always great changes because the league has been very good, in my opinion, at monitoring itself, monitoring its rules, adapting all of that to making the game better. It seems like it's this living organism to me rather than boom, we have a change. There have been some, obviously, but in my world the biggest changes are the information availability.

When I started I would've died to get an out of town newspaper for a different opinion. Today, of course, we can read any newspaper in the world. I never thought I was prepared in the old days, and now I'm never done preparing. So, it's changed in that way. That's been very significant. Now you have to monitor different things. You have to tell yourself, "this is as far as you can go", and be satisfied and go do the job. With all of the info available to us on the internet, etc., etc., I've gone back to really putting a premium on talking to people. It's easier to read and learn now, and 30 years ago it was impossible to read and learn, or much more difficult.

I've gone full circle. While everyone else is reading and hearing what everyone else has to say, I'm trying to go to the principals. I try to talk to the coaches; I try to talk to the players; I try to talk to the assistant coaches. I try to look at a different way to get it done at the time as opposed to generally. It's what we do.

It's competitive that way. I enjoy finding things out. If everyone is reading whatever the New York Times says or whatever, and I get something from the horse's mouth, I'll go with that. It's funny how I've ended up back to basics as that electronic age has come upon us.

OMC: Is there anything you'd change about the game or the league?

JP: This is an idea that Skiles has had that I really like. We have 15 players on our roster -- 12 can be active, and those have to be delineated each game. I'd like to see an experiment where all 15 players are active. The coach only uses 12, but he has full usage of his roster, if he goes over 12 by accident, then they get the tee. Now you get penalized if you make the mistake on the front end. If you worked out some system where the coach would have all 15 available that would give him greater match-up possibilities and capabilities. That's one small thing I would change.

Other than that I think we have a very good game. I like the fact that the league is attentive to it and makes little changes here and there to accommodate the game. I really don't have too many issues with the game.

OMC: Who are the most exciting players to see live for you?

JP: That's a great question. I like the guys that are underrated. I like spotting those and watching them work. I like people who do it the right way; the guys that work hard. I'm not a big fan of "look at me" players. I never was -- I almost said that maybe it's a product of my age -- but that's who I am. I think you should always act like you've been somewhere if it's possible to do it.

I understand marketing, and I understand all of that stuff. I understand how our league drives fashion and drives all kinds of things -- drives music. That's the beauty of our league is that we really are a league that is cultural. I appreciate that. I really do. I'm circling here, but it takes me to our respect for our game rules that have been reiterated, and I'm finding and I've said this on the air already, that I enjoy the game more with less of the complaining.

I understand -- heat of the moment -- and I like the passion, and I don't think you should ever want to get rid of that, but I do appreciate the game flow from one play to the other as opposed play-complaint. Play-whining. Play-demonstrative action. I really like that seamless gentlemanly flow of the game. Our society is not long on civility anymore, and if our league can bring a little civility back, I don't think it's a bad thing.

OMC: As a long-time Milwaukee resident, when you're out and about and have people in town, what do you like to do? Favorite restaurant? Favorite things about Milwaukee?

JP: I really do love Milwaukee. It's home, now. I've been here longer than I was in Minnesota. I've always enjoyed it. I like it very much. It's interesting you asked that question, because when I travel and come home, home is very comfortable. I don't make a lot of plans to go out. I don't necessarily have to get out in Milwaukee in the winter time, because it's nice to be in the house and just relaxing and that kind of thing. In the summer, I get out a lot more and I get around town.

We get to go to a lot of nice restaurants around the country, and I hate to single out one restaurant because Milwaukee has so many, but one of my favorite restaurants is Eddie Martini's, not because it's close to where I live, but I've always really enjoyed that restaurant and all the restaurants in that group. There are new ones, and the Surg group has some great restaurants, too. I don't know how you could ever ask for more in terms of restaurants that Milwaukee has to offer. I enjoy them all, and I've been to a lot of them through The Bucks, and through my own endeavors, but very good.

OMC: Do you have time to watch TV other than sports? Any shows on the DVR?

JP: Yeah, more DVR than live anymore, and it's kind of ironic. I've been in TV for 40 years and I probably watch less TV than people think I would. I watch sports, NBA.

What do I have on my DVR? I'm kind of a "Modern Family" guy. I enjoy that show. I watched "Outlaw" until they bumped that out this year. I enjoyed that. "Law & Order" is a pretty good staple. I can always find it, and it's always good for an hour. I watch HBO. I like some of the things they do.

OMC: Do you watch "Boardwalk Empire"?

JP: I'm behind a couple of episodes on "Boardwalk Empire", but I enjoy that very much. I like the quality of what they do. "Real Sports" is good.

I guess the older I get, the deeper ... I miss the take-out stories in the paper, and I like the long form sports stories more than I like the highlight shows anymore, but I guess that's about it. I try to watch a lot of different things. That series on America that came out over the summer, I really enjoyed that. "The Story of Us" was good. I'm kind of wide-ranging. Nothing permanent; nothing sequential. Whatever's there. I watch Dennis Krause all the time. I appreciate what he'd doing for sports in our community. The features and the profile pieces that he does. I like that kind of work. Not enough of that anymore.

OMC: How about hobbies outside of sports?

JP: I haven't had a lot of hobbies. This is sort of my hobby, I guess. I like what I do. I own a kayak and I didn't get out much this summer, but I enjoy that. I bike a little bit, not enough, but here and there. I walk, not enough, but a little bit here and there. So, it depends on what season it is. In the summer I get out more. I like to travel, as odd as that may seem to people. I travel more than people would think after I travel half the year, but I want to start seeing the world outside the country. Those are things I enjoy. I like to go to different countries. I haven't done a lot of that, but when I do, I enjoy that very much.

OMC: We talked a little bit earlier about your media consumption, but, are there any sports columnists or sites that you enjoy checking out on a regular basis?

JP: Wow, well I really try to keep up with Milwaukee. I follow people in Milwaukee. I read OnMilwaukee.com. What I do is, you can have this pull technology. I have all of these alerts, and that's how I consume it. Twitter has been a great source of information for me. I can be on a bus or a plane and jump on Twitter. It's a great, quick, easy read that leads me to things that I'm interested in that I can go to. The links are great. They'll lead me to stories about the NBA. It's an incredible resource.

I'm not a big Facebook/Twitter guy in a sense that I need to tell people what I'm doing. I don't use it for that. I use it for business. I really enjoy Twitter, communicating with the fans and getting their feedback and then again following people around the league and in sports that can peak my interest. It's changed so much. You don't have to really think about what you're reading or go to certain places. They come to you now.

I have a few basketball sites that I check. Hoopsite I'll check. Some of the other ones. There are a couple of people that do good work covering The Bucks that I keep an eye on. Just pretty general stuff.

OMC: Have you've read Bill Simmons' "The Book of Basketball?"

JP: No. Is it long?

OMC: Very long. It's like 736 pages. It's one of those books that you think you'll get through in the course of two years, it's always by the bed, and I'll pick it up and read 10 pages a night.

JP: That's something I wish I did more of: read books. In the summer, I do. I try to read in the summer, but you'd think I'd have time on the plane and in hotels, but I spend all of my plane time and my hotel time getting ready to do the game. I really concentrate on that. I read papers when I'm in a city, but you're pretty consumed by this for six months. At least that's not the way I do it. I'm probably not as well rounded in the winter as I am in the summer, but that's the way it goes. I try to balance it out. I do a little of everything and probably not enough of anything.

OMC: What are your thoughts on the way the NBA is going and the need for a new arena in this market?

JP: Having gone through Miller Park when I was with the Brewers and sort of lived through those things, I'm very careful with my opinion on that. I see both sides. I see as many sides as possible. See, my approach to life is, if my problem is in the middle of a circle, how many different points in that circle can you look at that problem.

It becomes interesting the more dots you see on the circle that you peer in on the problem from, and there are a lot of dots on this issue. It's very difficult for me. I think it will happen as it's supposed to happen when it's supposed to happen. It's a unique circumstance for a lot of reasons with us, and I think that the people of Milwaukee value The Bucks enough that when it's appropriate, it will probably turn out well.

OMC: What's one thing you could tell a non NBA fan that they really need to know about the game? If someone said, "Hey, I'm not an NBA guy, I'm not an NBA gal, I don't want to go to a Bucks game." How would you say, "you need to see this sport and this is why?"

JP: That's a wonderful question. There's probably more than one thing. Proximity to the athletes. Our athletes aren't wearing batting helmets or football helmets, or pads, and the ladies have always kind of liked that aspect of watching athletes in that way close up. I think that's attractive.

Just the energy of the game is the main thing. Our league has evolved into an extravaganza a lot of nights, so there's something for everyone. Curb to curb, you're going to enjoy what's going on at an NBA game. I think that's true in most cities, and it's certainly true here. The people that work with the Bucks work very hard to make sure it's an experience, and there's so much that goes into it.

It's entertainment, to a great degree, and then you have the intensity of sport. It's pretty hard to beat that. It's pretty good. You want to go out on a Saturday night and get involved in something visual and have a great time. I think basketball at this level is just incredible.

OMC: Final question. One I like to ask about everyone. If you have a drink -- cup of coffee, beer, whatever -- with anyone, living or deceased, who would it be and why?

JP: Oh wow. Interesting. I've had the opportunity to meet an awful lot of people I'm going to get to it while I'm getting here. When I speak to kids, I tell them that my right hand has served meals to homeless people, and it has also shaken the hands of presidents. That's what this job has done for you. It takes you all over, so you meet a lot of people. A lot of very interesting people.

My father passed away at 51. I might want to get another chance -- he missed all of this. He missed all of his boys. I'm the oldest and he missed all of it. That would be a great conversation for me.

If it had to be somebody famous or known, wow ... that's very good. I'd go back -- the easy one would be, it would be great to speak to Christ, but I would enjoy ... one of my things is, I wonder how profound people are anymore, so I would go back all the way back to the most profound people I could find or history has recorded, so you're talking about Aristotle and Socrates.

It would be interesting for me to find out ... or Newton ... did the apple really hit you on the head or how did you figure that out. How did these things that you came up with stand the test of eternity? That's fascinating to me.

The framers of our constitution: Ben Franklin, Jefferson ... any of those people would be interesting to talk to, so I could understand how they got to something that withstands the test of time. Especially in this day and age where we live in a world where things are milliseconds long in terms of attention.

People don't think beyond seconds very much anymore. Our attention span is nil. These people were able to do things that supersede and lived through all of that. I'm fascinated by that, and I wonder what the next profound thing will be. The next profound, whatever it is.

I am truly fascinated by that. How somebody that long ago comes up with something fundamental that is still fundamental. The laws of the universe I guess. I don't know. How does that work? Math. The solar system. How did they do that? If you really think about it, do you ever think people would come up with that stuff? It's been done, and there's more out there I'm sure, but wow. I've always had that question. How profound were they? That's incredible, because they start from zero, and we still follow their findings; we still use their findings. That's incredible, because most of us don't do anything close to doing that important.

I just do basketball on television. It's nothing close to those things.