Official

Cory Provus has been finally been announced as Jim Powell's replacement in the Milwaukee Brewer radio booth.

Bob Wolfley of the Journal-Sentinel SportsDay column charts some fan reaction.

If blog posts are representative, some Milwaukee Brewers fans are not willing to forgive new team broadcaster Cory Provus for at least two sins they think he has committed, which he really has not.

First, he grew up in Highland Park, Ill., and followed the Cubs. Horrors. Then he went on to work for the Cubs the last two seasons on WGN Radio broadcasts. Double horrors.

The fact is, had he not worked for the Cubs, Provus would not have been the broadcaster WTMJ Radio announced Monday as the replacement for Jim Powell, who left to join the Atlanta Braves.

Provus, 30, will work Brewers games on radio with Bob Uecker.

Fans being fans, they think Provus' heart and soul is owned by the rival Cubs. They ignore the notion that WTMJ and the Brewers hired a broadcast professional, not a fan.

The same complaint was heard when the voice of the Chicago Bears, Wayne Larrivee, was hired to become the voice of the Green Bay Packers. After a time, what really was a non-issue became a forgotten non-issue.

I haven't seen any blog posts, but Matt at Chuckie Hacks has been charting some of the comments at the JS Online blog.

Back to SportsDay and the process...

Steve Wexler, the Journal Broadcast Group executive vice president of television and radio operations, said in a release that the station "considered hundreds of candidates" for the job.

"Cory came out on top," Wexler said. "His enthusiasm for baseball, his strong work ethic and his play-by-play skills will make him an excellent addition to our staff."

Provus said he would have a presence on WTMJ Radio during the Brewers' offseason. He said he might be used on WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) on occasion as well. His exact role in both those areas has not been worked out.

Provus said on Feb. 2 that he had dinner with Uecker in Scottsdale, Ariz., and it went on for three hours.

"We maybe talked shop for 5 minutes, and the rest was me laughing at his stories," Provus said.

"It was as pleasant and as nice as I could have hoped for," Provus said. "I got to know Bob a little the last two years, but this was the first time I really had a chance to talk to him."

Provus said he did not view his dinner with Uecker as a kind of interview, at which he had to pass Uecker's inspection.

"I really didn't look at it that way," Provus said. "Maybe others did.

First game on WTMJ is on Wednesday, February 25.