Jul 8, 2023; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Charlotte FC attacker Karol Swiderski (11) heads the ball in the second half against FC Cincinnati at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Zetterberg-USA TODAY Sportsfc
By Sam Neumann on

Generally speaking, when an announcer’s voice goes up an octave, it’s done purposefully because of the nature of the moment. Big moments deserve big calls and so and so forth. Sometimes that can lead to voice cracks and the pitch of the announcer’s voice becomes just a little high, but rarely is that purposeful.

We did say rarely, right? 

Because Charlotte FC’s radio play-by-play voice Will Palaszczuk sounded like he was possessed by Mickey Mouse as “The Crown” scored to take a 2-0 advantage over FC Cincinnati during Saturday night’s match.

You can listen to Palaszczuk’s goal call below. And we promise, this is not edited for effect. What you’re hearing after the ball finds the back of the net is actually his voice.

And yet, unless you are an avid Major League Soccer fan, you would have no idea that this is just what Palaszczuk does. For a mere couple of moments, he transcended into Mickey Mouse, which left many of those wondering on social media if Palaszczuk was either playing a bit or that was his actual voice.

It’s a fair question considering he delivered what was seemingly a perfectly normal play-by-play sequence of the goal, and then once the ball found the back of the net, his voice went up not one, but two octaves.

In case you were wondering, yes, everyone on Twitter also thought they were hearing Mickey Mouse:

https://twitter.com/FootyAccums/status/1677957723386785793?s=20

This joke was already made countless times, but how could we not utilize it ourselves? Clearly, this isn’t what they were referring to when they called the MLS a “Mickey Mouse League.”

There has to be something going on in the Queen City. Palaszczuk isn’t the only announcer on the Charlotte sports scene that has a unique way of doing things. Hornets broadcaster Eric Collins is also one of a kind. It’s apparently up to Carolina Panthers play-by-play voice Anish Shroff to bring balance to the force.

[Charlotte FC on Twitter]

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann