By FRED KRONER
Tim Sinclair’s next announcing job will require him to bear down.
The Mahomet-Seymour High School graduate was introduced on Monday as the next public address announcer for the Chicago Bears.
He replaces Jim Riebandt, who resigned after spending 37 years on the job with the Bears for their home games at Soldier Field.
“If I can hang on for 37 years, like Jim did, I’ll be about 80 and it will be time to hang it up,” the 42-year-old Sinclair said on Monday night, after returning to his Champaign home for the first time in almost seven weeks.
Sinclair knows what he is getting into.
“I feel the weight of what it is,” Sinclair said. “The Bears are one of the greatest franchises in all of sports, not just football.
“This is a coveted job and I need to make sure to hold it in high esteem.”
Sinclair had an in-person interview at Halas Hall in early March and expected to learn his fate without much of a wait.
“The original plan was to have the decision fairly quickly,” Sinclair said.
He drove from the Chicago interview to Indianapolis to announce a Pacers game that night, and it turned out to be the team’s final NBA game for more than four months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The shutdown meant the Bears had to delay their interviewing and hiring process. It wasn’t until the last day of June that Sinclair was called back for his in-person tryout.
Throughout the various stages, which also included an online interview, Sinclair remained optimistic about his chances.
“I want to walk out (of interviews) feeling I did my best,” Sinclair said, “and if I did everything I could and someone else gets it, so be it.
“Throughout the process, I felt that way, that I was as prepared as I could be.”
He was prepared once he reached the interview room. Getting to that destination was a challenge the day of his late-June audition.
After arriving in Chicago early, Sinclair made his way to the entrance where he was told to report. To get through the door, however, he needed his ID.
“I’d left it in my car,” Sinclair said. “I jogged back to my car. It was blazing hot and I was sweating in my suit coat.”
He returned in time for his scheduled audition and was thankful to be judged more on his voice than his appearance.
For someone who has been a Bears’ fan for more than three decades, Sinclair said his selection is somewhat overwhelming.
“I don’t think it has set in yet because I haven’t done it yet,” he said. “From the little-kid-sport-loving part, it’s a dream come true.
“I felt that way with the Pacers. This is the pinnacle of what we do.”
Sinclair, who learned of his hiring in July, couldn’t discuss his new gig until the Bears made a formal announcement on Monday. He will work with one spotter when announcing the Bears’ games.
In addition to his day job as a co-host for WCIA’s ciLiving, Sinclair serves as the PA voice for the University of Illinois men’s and women’s basketball (11th year upcoming), the Chicago Fire (seventh year upcoming) and the Indiana Pacers (just finished his second year).
“I’ve jokingly said football was the only sport where I’d have room to add to my schedule,” Sinclair said.
The Bears are scheduled to play eight regular-season home games this year – starting with a noon kickoff on Sept. 20 against the New York Giants – with the possibility most years of some preseason games (but none in 2020) and postseason home games.
One aspect of what Sinclair will face in another month is an area where he has already gained experience.
The Bears are preparing to play the 2020 season without fans in the 61,500-seat Soldier Field.
During his time in Florida at the NBA bubble (where he announced 24 games in 31 days), Sinclair got accustomed to working games with only the teams and essential personnel in attendance.
“It took a little time to get used to, but it came faster than I expected,” Sinclair said. “The NBA had crowd noise pumped in and it was adjustable, depending what was happening, so it felt more like a regular-season game.
“With the WNBA, there was no crowd (noise). It was just the squeak of the shoes.”
Sinclair had to remind himself that the essential element was unchanged.
“The game is the same, and my job is to be a fan with a microphone, so I get just as excited,” he said. “My job is to reflect what the crowd is or should be feeling, so it was a different job for sure.”
Given a choice, Sinclair doesn’t have to think about his preference.
“I definitely want the crowds back as soon as humanly possible,” he said.
When the NBA restarted in July with 22 teams in Florida, Sinclair was one of four public address announcers asked to work the games,
“I did 21 of the teams,” he said, “but I didn’t do a single Pacers’ game.”
The NBA setup was such that it tried to avoid PA announcers working games for teams that employ them during the regular season.
After arriving at the Disney resort, everyone was asked to quarantine.
“We couldn’t leave the room for seven solid days,” Sinclair said. “It went faster than I thought it might, but not fast enough.”
He tried to do some work for ciLiving most days and otherwise, he said, “watched a lot of TV.”
Once the quarantine period was over, there was more freedom, though restrictions remained.
“We could come and go from the room, but we could not come and go from the resort,” Sinclair said.
Working football and soccer games from a press box atop the field provides a different dynamic for Sinclair from being courtside in basketball.
“In basketball, when big things happen, it surrounds you,” Sinclair said. “You’re on the court next to the players.
“In football, you observe it as it is happening and there is so much going on.”
He returned to the state this week to fulfill some obligations with the Bears. Next week, he will return to Florida for two more weeks at the WNBA bubble in Bradenton.
“It has been a whirlwind,” Sinclair said. “I feel fortunate, especially with the sports culture as it is, to still get to do the things I love.”
