Uh-oh...Harrelson wants to hold on until 2020

[Bananarchy]

Hawk Harrelson is the greatest thing since sliced bread and anyone who disagrees with that statement is wrong. End of discussion.

Statement says a lot more about you than it does about Hawk.

[bmags]

Oh god, impartiality with sports announcers, who cares.

 

"Hey man, I'm impressionable, you can't tell me your opinion about a game let me form my own opinion so I can make crucial decisions off of it"

[ChiSoxFanMike]

Statement says a lot more about you than it does about Hawk.

Cool.

[chitownsportsfan]

Cool.

 

I have a hard time understanding how anybody that isn't 25-35ish can enjoy Hawk. I'm right in the middle of that demographic and while I have countless fond memories of Hawk called games they do nothing, absolutely nothing for me, when it's 8-1 Indians in the bottom of the 7th and Hawk is babbling on about whatever it is that he thinks is important other then calling the game. When his partner (who can blame him) then gets pouty, as Stone does, it's even worse.

 

Does Benetti have areas to improve? Hell yea. Is it obvious he wouldn't know a banana turn from a banana boat? Yes. Is he at times overly defferintial to Stone? Sure.

 

But those are all fixable flaws that will improve with experience. Hawk's flaws are not fixable, they are like a wart, on a pretty girl, sure, no big deal, but Hawk is no longer a pretty girl, he's aged. His calls are often inaccurate, he loses his voice or misses an inning because he's old and has to spend 20 minutes taking a piss or a point Stone makes goes completely over his head because mentally he's not nearly as sharp as he was even 5 year ago.

 

Time waits for no man. Hawk's time is long ago gone. Vince Scully, who has had a few "senior moments" in the booth as well, knew it was time to retire because he has a self awareness completely foreign to the egotistical Hawk.

 

Unfortunately, much like KW, Hawk appears to have a lifetime pass in Chicago. Great.

[Big Hurtin]

I'd rather listen to the ambient sound of a public restroom in a village with a cholera outbreak, than listen to Hawk call another game.

[chitownsportsfan]

I'd rather listen to the ambient sound of a public restroom in a village with a cholera outbreak, than listen to Hawk call another game.

 

literal lol.

[caulfield12]

Here's the thing.

 

I occasionally learn something new about the game from Hawk, and I probably appreciate his historical references more than most...certainly those 40 and over are probably more in this "camp" as opposed to the modern school of thinking on announcers.

 

Living abroad for most of the past decade, I've listened to tons of broadcasts from major and minor league teams. Farmer and DJ, for example, are just as homerish as Harrelson, Farmer in particularly. DJ is always a bit more detached and critical. I've watched a former college dorm-mate (Brett Dolan) go on to get a top t.v. job with the Astros (then lose it, mostly through no fault of his own) and the thing is that Brett or Benetti or any of those guys, they're solid and professional and do their homework and know their stuff, but they just don't have the same amount of passion about the sport or their team because they're used to covering sports year-round in order to make a living (the first 10-15 years of most broadcasting careers). Maybe they're guys you hang out with and say..."Well, if only I'd chosen that path, was in the right place at the right time..."

 

With Harrelson's knowledge and experience, there's honestly no way you can train or replicate it. That's why I've enjoyed him so much since the 1980's.

 

As far the modern school of announcing, they're generalists, to a large extent. Maybe for young people, that's preferable...but not to my taste. As Thad Bosley noted, we're not going to come to a consensus about this, any more than if we were talking about artwork, music or movies. Everyone has their criteria in terms of what they want to get out of sitting down and watching a baseball game.

Edited January 5, 2017 by caulfield12

[Jerksticks]

Oh god, impartiality with sports announcers, who cares.

 

"Hey man, I'm impressionable, you can't tell me your opinion about a game let me form my own opinion so I can make crucial decisions off of it"

Yes. The whole snobby "a TRUE broadcaster does this..." attitude should get flushed down the toilet forever. Shame on anybody knocking what every local broadcaster does: call games for the team's fans. Absolutely self-righteous and annoying. Should they stop selling White Sox gear at the stadium too? Don't want to influence the visiting fans' kids. Don't want to ram such a life-altering bias down these kids' throats. #hawkling

[Bananarchy]

Yes. The whole snobby "a TRUE broadcaster does this..." attitude should get flushed down the toilet forever. Shame on anybody knocking what every local broadcaster does: call games for the team's fans. Absolutely self-righteous and annoying. Should they stop selling White Sox gear at the stadium too? Don't want to influence the visiting fans' kids. Don't want to ram such a life-altering bias down these kids' throats. #hawkling

"You and your opinion and what the rest of the world thinks should be flushed down the toilets forever and here are some analogies that don't make any sense on the subject!"

 

There are not enough padded walls in this world for people who are uncomfortable with the opinion of the majority

[caulfield12]

This Hawk/Benetti is at best 50/50...and might even favor Harrelson if we conducted a truly anonymous poll.

 

It's definitely not some kind of "veto-proof" majority where 2/3rd's or 75% prefer Benetti. If that was the case, and they actually could defensibly argue the case that Harrelson was costing them money/ratings/ad buys, then he wouldn't be allowed to stay for another four years.

 

Loyalty to the former broadcaster Hawk was...and not what he objectively IS today, would win out and JR would have a heart to heart with him about his chances of winning the Ford C. Frick broadcasting award actually decreasing the longer he holds on.

Edited January 5, 2017 by caulfield12

[Jerksticks]

Dude, there are big national broadcasts and then there are local broadcasts. The national broadcasts need the unbiased guys to reach a universal audience.

 

Sox games, for example, are broadcasted on CSNChi, WCIU & WGN for the most part. In other words, greater Chicagoland ONLY. The job of the announcers is to attract the viewers to tune in and watch their team. The only people who watch broadcasts like these are local fans, or local people who they hope become fans. The goal of the broadcasts isn't unbiased journalism, it's to keep fans and create fans so they spend money on the team & the sponsors advertising.

 

A person can dislike Hawk for any number of reasons, but he's a fan of baseball and a student of the game. He almost always compliments the other team more than the Sox because he is just a fan of good baseball. But he roots for the Sox as he should, just like all local announcers root for their local teams.

 

Disliking him is fine, but disliking him for promoting the Sox to the local viewrs (fans) is an incorrect reason. It's flat out wrong and sounds haughty (not at all saying that's you by the way, just people on the high horse about unbiased announcing). His #1 job is to be a fan of the Sox. Thinking otherwise is completely incorrect.

 

 

[Lip Man 1]

As someone who is in the business and does play by play (and is also a White Sox fan / historian) I can certainly appreciate Hawk's passion and love for the team. However its clear at 75 he is no longer sharp, certainly not what he was even 10 years ago. That's not his fault, its the human condition.

 

However Hawk's ego I think refuses to understand that time waits for no one. He needs to call it a well deserved day, appreciate what he's done for the franchise and step aside gracefully.

 

Over and above the diminished skills, there's the long periods of silence when things are going bad (even though the game is still going on), the uneasy relationships with a number (not just Stone) of his broadcast partners over the years (let's not forget why Paciorek left), the haranguing of umpires (certainly deserved at times but very unprofessional. You can get the point across about bad calls, bad umpires without being petty and vindictive)

 

Hawk can't or won't recognize these shortcoming. He won't even try to adjust and correct them. It comes down to ego and he's got a big one. And to be fair there are very few folks in the business who don't have some ego, that's one of the reasons they got into it in the first place.

 

Bottom line though is that for good or bad, like him or not, as long as JR owns the team and as long as he wants to work, he'll have a job.

 

I just hope that I've got the good sense to know when its my time, to face it honestly and admit I simply don't have it anymore on the level that I work.

 

Mark

[chitownsportsfan]

As someone who is in the business and does play by play (and is also a White Sox fan / historian) I can certainly appreciate Hawk's passion and love for the team. However its clear at 75 he is no longer sharp, certainly not what he was even 10 years ago. That's not his fault, its the human condition.

 

However Hawk's ego I think refuses to understand that time waits for no one. He needs to call it a well deserved day, appreciate what he's done for the franchise and step aside gracefully.

 

Over and above the diminished skills, there's the long periods of silence when things are going bad (even though the game is still going on), the uneasy relationships with a number (not just Stone) of his broadcast partners over the years (let's not forget why Paciorek left), the haranguing of umpires (certainly deserved at times but very unprofessional. You can get the point across about bad calls, bad umpires without being petty and vindictive)

 

Hawk can't or won't recognize these shortcoming. He won't even try to adjust and correct them. It comes down to ego and he's got a big one. And to be fair there are very few folks in the business who don't have some ego, that's one of the reasons they got into it in the first place.

 

Bottom line though is that for good or bad, like him or not, as long as JR owns the team and as long as he wants to work, he'll have a job.

 

I just hope that I've got the good sense to know when its my time, to face it honestly and admit I simply don't have it anymore on the level that I work.

 

Mark

 

I agree with this, most of it I just wrote earlier today

 

 

[Quin]

As someone who is in the business and does play by play (and is also a White Sox fan / historian) I can certainly appreciate Hawk's passion and love for the team. However its clear at 75 he is no longer sharp, certainly not what he was even 10 years ago. That's not his fault, its the human condition.

 

However Hawk's ego I think refuses to understand that time waits for no one. He needs to call it a well deserved day, appreciate what he's done for the franchise and step aside gracefully.

 

Over and above the diminished skills, there's the long periods of silence when things are going bad (even though the game is still going on), the uneasy relationships with a number (not just Stone) of his broadcast partners over the years (let's not forget why Paciorek left), the haranguing of umpires (certainly deserved at times but very unprofessional. You can get the point across about bad calls, bad umpires without being petty and vindictive)

 

Hawk can't or won't recognize these shortcoming. He won't even try to adjust and correct them. It comes down to ego and he's got a big one. And to be fair there are very few folks in the business who don't have some ego, that's one of the reasons they got into it in the first place.

 

Bottom line though is that for good or bad, like him or not, as long as JR owns the team and as long as he wants to work, he'll have a job.

 

I just hope that I've got the good sense to know when its my time, to face it honestly and admit I simply don't have it anymore on the level that I work.

 

Mark

 

Coming from a man in the industry, this is the best post in this thread so far.

[WBWSF]

Very few, if any broadcasters retire on their own. Most of them stick around as long as possible. What else are they going to do after they leave the broadcasting booth? Very few of them have any other type of career to go back to after broadcasting. And where else are they going to make the money that they're making broadcasting games? I always thought that both Bob Elson and Harry Caray stuck around too long.

[Kyyle23]

Very few, if any broadcasters retire on their own. Most of them stick around as long as possible. What else are they going to do after they leave the broadcasting booth? Very few of them have any other type of career to go back to after broadcasting. And where else are they going to make the money that they're making broadcasting games? I always thought that both Bob Elson and Harry Caray stuck around too long.

 

if you are retiring, you arent really looking to fall back on another career. You are looking for somewhere sunny with a lot of golf courses

[Hatchetman]

can't stand Hawk. crotchety miserable know-it-all buffoon.

[Dick Allen]

if you are retiring, you arent really looking to fall back on another career. You are looking for somewhere sunny with a lot of golf courses

Besides, baseball only announcers are semi retired anyway. They already get 6 months a year to golf. How much more do they need?

[Kyyle23]

Besides, baseball only announcers are semi retired anyway. They already get 6 months a year to golf. How much more do they need?

 

I think Hawk would golf all 12 months if he could(and he probably does). I dont even think that is in question

[Dick Allen]

I think Hawk would golf all 12 months if he could(and he probably does). I dont even think that is in question

 

They can do that if they want, as well. Except for day games, they could golf every day. Nice work if you can get it.

[balfanman]

I think Hawk would golf all 12 months if he could(and he probably does). I dont even think that is in question

 

I would guess that is why he chose to only do road games instead of home games. That way he can visit some of the better golf courses around the country.

 

[Bananarchy]

I would guess that is why he chose to only do road games instead of home games. That way he can visit some of the better golf courses around the country.

He lives in northwest Indiana and home games are quite a chore for him to get to. That's why he chose road games.

[southsider2k5]

He lives in northwest Indiana and home games are quite a chore for him to get to. That's why he chose road games.

 

He lives in north central Indiana. He has something like a two hour commute each way, maybe more.