Ed Farmer and Darrin Jackson

[Greg Hibbard]

I went through the announcing thread, and it's mostly about Hawk and Jason Benetti. I really need to vent about this.

These days, I find our radio broadcast absolutely EXCRUCIATING to listen to. Every time I tune in, I feel like I'm listening to a White Sox game through the awful filter of two men constantly trying to 1-up each other in some stupid game that is for no one's benefit. My read is that they just have bad chemistry between them, but it oozes out of the airwaves. I simply don't get this. It doesn't make for an enjoyable broadcast, it's not technically good, and I can never get a score or an idea of what's going on except their inane competition about whether something was a good play or not, whether it was a hit or an error, who was right last week about some stupid thing, etc.

Does anyone else feel this way?

I wish we could do better.

 

Edited June 19, 2018 by Greg Hibbard

[ChiSox59]

23 minutes ago, Greg Hibbard said:

I went through the announcing thread, and it's mostly about Hawk and Jason Benetti. I really need to vent about this.

These days, I find our radio broadcast absolutely EXCRUCIATING to listen to. Every time I tune in, I feel like I'm listening to a White Sox game through the awful filter of two men constantly trying to 1-up each other in some stupid game that is for no one's benefit. My read is that they just have bad chemistry between them, but it oozes out of the airwaves. I simply don't get this. It doesn't make for an enjoyable broadcast, it's not technically good, and I can never get a score or an idea of what's going on except their inane competition about whether something was a good play or not, whether it was a hit or an error, who was right last week about some stupid thing, etc.

Does anyone else feel this way?

I wish we could do better.

 

I've personally never been a fan of Farmer.  Way too monotone for my liking. 

[The Beast]

27 minutes ago, Greg Hibbard said:

I went through the announcing thread, and it's mostly about Hawk and Jason Benetti. I really need to vent about this.

These days, I find our radio broadcast absolutely EXCRUCIATING to listen to. Every time I tune in, I feel like I'm listening to a White Sox game through the awful filter of two men constantly trying to 1-up each other in some stupid game that is for no one's benefit. My read is that they just have bad chemistry between them, but it oozes out of the airwaves. I simply don't get this. It doesn't make for an enjoyable broadcast, it's not technically good, and I can never get a score or an idea of what's going on except their inane competition about whether something was a good play or not, whether it was a hit or an error, who was right last week about some stupid thing, etc.

Does anyone else feel this way?

I wish we could do better.

 

I miss John Rooney, I always thought he was good and made Farmer better.

[Eminor3rd]

33 minutes ago, Greg Hibbard said:

I went through the announcing thread, and it's mostly about Hawk and Jason Benetti. I really need to vent about this.

These days, I find our radio broadcast absolutely EXCRUCIATING to listen to. Every time I tune in, I feel like I'm listening to a White Sox game through the awful filter of two men constantly trying to 1-up each other in some stupid game that is for no one's benefit. My read is that they just have bad chemistry between them, but it oozes out of the airwaves. I simply don't get this. It doesn't make for an enjoyable broadcast, it's not technically good, and I can never get a score or an idea of what's going on except their inane competition about whether something was a good play or not, whether it was a hit or an error, who was right last week about some stupid thing, etc.

Does anyone else feel this way?

I wish we could do better.

 

I thought they hated each other for years. I don't think so anymore -- they're both just weird.

It's whatever -- I think we are conditioned to ascribe too much importance to play-by-play guys. At the end of they day, my enjoyment of the game comes primarily from the events being described, not the WAY they are being described. Good guys definitely add value, but true difference-makers are few and far between.

[GreenSox]

Rooney was a professional announcer; Wills was a professional.

Farmer is like the rest of the organization.

[maggsmaggs]

15 minutes ago, The Beast said:

I miss John Rooney, I always thought he was good and made Farmer better.

This is the problem. Farmer is not a play-by-play guy, just does not have the talent for it yet he does the PBP. He is a solid analyst, so is DJ, but both need a legit PBP guy to be successful. Rooney was that.

[chitownsportsfan]

Unfortunately the broadcast teams, radio and TV alike, are goofballs.  Some people enjoy corny humor.  Others don't.  Personally I thought Farmer was fine back in the Rooney days and I thought Stone was fine in the Hawk days: but, you insert a cornball antagonist like Jason or Darrin as the partner and the entire broadcast turns into, as noted, a performance into who can make the zaniest and "punniest" commentary.

I can't stand how Jason constantly cannot just describe the action but has to insert some turn of phrase (that sometimes doesn't even make any sense) into his commentary.  Partly it's probably because Jason has a really poor understanding of the action in front of him and cannot properly explain what's going on quite often.  My beef with Jason is multifold but my biggest complaint is that he's been on the job now for over 200 games and he still cannot 1) read fly balls off the bat, and 2) does not understand many basic rules, like catcher's interference or a dropped third strike with a runner on 1st.

If I were Jason I'd be quizzing more seasoned broadcasters on how they read fly balls off the bat, I'm guessing most of them look at the OFs reaction, and also the sound off the bat and then make the call.  

Jason can make all his corny jokes but at least try and accurately call the game for the viewers.  He's at the park, he should have a bird's eye view of everything that's happening and too often he makes a poor read on play or just completely misreads the situation and has to be bailed out by Stone.

[knightni]

[bmags]

Farmer and DJ are hilarious.

The criticism of the broadcast booths are boring. If you made a frankenstein of all the things soxtalk critics said they wanted it would be the most terrible announcer. All you want is someone that flatters your super baseball intellects.

"It's the top of the seventh, and ground ball to the right side BobBbled for a hit? That should be an error and yes he should definitely be cut and he is terrible they should just drag him off the field right now. Just garbage trash, no, NO color commentary man, you may not speak as I am not allowed to ask questions to clue you in on when to provide additional color."

[joejoedairy]

22 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

Unfortunately the broadcast teams, radio and TV alike, are goofballs.  Some people enjoy corny humor.  Others don't.  Personally I thought Farmer was fine back in the Rooney days and I thought Stone was fine in the Hawk days: but, you insert a cornball antagonist like Jason or Darrin as the partner and the entire broadcast turns into, as noted, a performance into who can make the zaniest and "punniest" commentary.

I can't stand how Jason constantly cannot just describe the action but has to insert some turn of phrase (that sometimes doesn't even make any sense) into his commentary.  Partly it's probably because Jason has a really poor understanding of the action in front of him and cannot properly explain what's going on quite often.  My beef with Jason is multifold but my biggest complaint is that he's been on the job now for over 200 games and he still cannot 1) read fly balls off the bat, and 2) does not understand many basic rules, like catcher's interference or a dropped third strike with a runner on 1st.

If I were Jason I'd be quizzing more seasoned broadcasters on how they read fly balls off the bat, I'm guessing most of them look at the OFs reaction, and also the sound off the bat and then make the call.  

Jason can make all his corny jokes but at least try and accurately call the game for the viewers.  He's at the park, he should have a bird's eye view of everything that's happening and too often he makes a poor read on play or just completely misreads the situation and has to be bailed out by Stone.

This has bothered me about Benetti as well, haven't been able to figure out how to describe it. 

I find DJ and Farmer pretty funny. 

I think when Farmer retires, Benetti goes to the radio with DJ and we can get a better guy to pair with stone in the TV booth. 

[bmags]

Farmer sounded pretty rough in spring training but better once the season started, but I really wondered if he'd get through the year when I saw him at Soxfest plus this first few games this season.

[southsider2k5]

Farmer and Jackson have the oddest dynamic I have ever heard in a booth.  I don't think they really liked each other at first, but they seem to be to the point where they have some fun with how different they both are now.

[fathom]

4 minutes ago, joejoedairy said:

This has bothered me about Benetti as well, haven't been able to figure out how to describe it. 

I find DJ and Farmer pretty funny. 

I think when Farmer retires, Benetti goes to the radio with DJ and we can get a better guy to pair with stone in the TV booth. 

Benetti has the tv job as long as he wants, IMO

[southsider2k5]

3 minutes ago, fathom said:

Benetti has the tv job as long as he wants, IMO

I will be honest, after the job Frank did on Sunday, I am now fully on board to can Steve Stone and hire Frank to work with Jason.

[chitownsportsfan]

7 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

I will be honest, after the job Frank did on Sunday, I am now fully on board to can Steve Stone and hire Frank to work with Jason.

Wait Frank was on the broadcast?!??????  I thought he did a good job on the Fox crew during the playoffs last year.  

[southsider2k5]

2 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

Wait Frank was on the broadcast?!??????  I thought he did a good job on the Fox crew during the playoffs last year.  

Yep, he did the Sunday broadcast with Hawk.  It was a great listen.

[Greg Hibbard]

32 minutes ago, bmags said:

Farmer and DJ are hilarious.

The criticism of the broadcast booths are boring. If you made a frankenstein of all the things soxtalk critics said they wanted it would be the most terrible announcer. All you want is someone that flatters your super baseball intellects.

"It's the top of the seventh, and ground ball to the right side BobBbled for a hit? That should be an error and yes he should definitely be cut and he is terrible they should just drag him off the field right now. Just garbage trash, no, NO color commentary man, you may not speak as I am not allowed to ask questions to clue you in on when to provide additional color."

Come on man, this is a strawman.

I'm not really interested in some milquetoast radio broadcast either

I tune into the radio broadcast to have the action described to me and to get the gist of what's going on in the game. Often times I'm sitting in my car for 5-10 minutes wondering when I'm going to even get a score while they jab at each other about some minor detail of a previous play. 

[fathom]

20 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

I will be honest, after the job Frank did on Sunday, I am now fully on board to can Steve Stone and hire Frank to work with Jason.

Something I've been thinking last two years is that for all the talk about Hawk speaking too often about Yaz and other guys from that era, I don't think the viewing audience really cares at all about who Stone did good or bad against during his career.  

[Steve9347]

I want to see Frank on screen as much as possible. Having said that, the announcers all suck because the team sucks - not including Benetti, who's awesome no matter what's happening.

If anything exciting were actually happening on the field (Moncada* running into one now and again, Eloy or Kopech being called up, etc) the broadcasts would be more bearable.

*Speaking of Moncada, the broadcast teams have gone into full-on excuse mode as to why this guy has hit the wall. It's constant and annoying.

[fathom]

1 minute ago, Steve9347 said:

I want to see Frank on screen as much as possible. Having said that, the announcers all suck because the team sucks - not including Benetti, who's awesome no matter what's happening.

If anything exciting were actually happening on the field (Moncada* running into one now and again, Eloy or Kopech being called up, etc) the broadcasts would be more bearable.

*Speaking of Moncada, the broadcast teams have gone into full-on excuse mode as to why this guy has hit the wall. It's constant and annoying.

Frank was awesome, as he had the balls to say how he (Yoan) has to make numerous adjustments 

[ptatc]

56 minutes ago, bmags said:

Farmer and DJ are hilarious.

The criticism of the broadcast booths are boring. If you made a frankenstein of all the things soxtalk critics said they wanted it would be the most terrible announcer. All you want is someone that flatters your super baseball intellects.

"It's the top of the seventh, and ground ball to the right side BobBbled for a hit? That should be an error and yes he should definitely be cut and he is terrible they should just drag him off the field right now. Just garbage trash, no, NO color commentary man, you may not speak as I am not allowed to ask questions to clue you in on when to provide additional color."

This is my view. I think the two of them are the opposite of hating each other. They get along well and enjoy jabbing each other. It's like two brothers going at it.

Personally, I enjoy it. It makes the broadcast fun and entertaining not dry boring and "professional."

Its a game to broadcast. Enjoy it a little, especially when the team is comically as bad as this one.

[Steve9347]

2 minutes ago, fathom said:

Frank was awesome, as he had the balls to say how he (Yoan) has to make numerous adjustments 

Those balls are going to keep him out of the booth, unfortunately. Broadcast has to be all sunshine and rainbows, and the only negativity needs to be toward the umpires.

[Greg Hibbard]

14 minutes ago, ptatc said:

This is my view. I think the two of them are the opposite of hating each other. They get along well and enjoy jabbing each other. It's like two brothers going at it.

Personally, I enjoy it. It makes the broadcast fun and entertaining not dry boring and "professional."

Its a game to broadcast. Enjoy it a little, especially when the team is comically as bad as this one.

Again, I really don't want some "dry/boring" broadcast.

IMO, Hawk and Wimpy were great together because they complimented one another. Hawk's over-the-top style didn't completely overshadow the broadcast at that time because Paciorek knew how and when to fill in the rest of the broadcast. It worked. It was not by the numbers. 

Similarly, I feel Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer aren't some dry/boring broadcast, they have a genuinely organic rapport and they play off of each other in ways that ameliorate the overall broadcast. I'm not a fan of the Cubs but because I listen to the score for their shows, often the Cubs will be on for a few minutes and I'll catch some of the broadcast. I always know exactly what's going on within 2 minutes of tuning in.

[pcq]

1 hour ago, bmags said:

Farmer and DJ are hilarious.

The criticism of the broadcast booths are boring. If you made a frankenstein of all the things soxtalk critics said they wanted it would be the most terrible announcer. All you want is someone that flatters your super baseball intellects.

"It's the top of the seventh, and ground ball to the right side BobBbled for a hit? That should be an error and yes he should definitely be cut and he is terrible they should just drag him off the field right now. Just garbage trash, no, NO color commentary man, you may not speak as I am not allowed to ask questions to clue you in on when to provide additional color."

Ed and DJ are so bad that I actually enjoy them. Ed routinely leaves out key info like who scored or what base the runner is on. A play scores two runs and he barely comments some times.  DJ might have a worse sense of humor than Jason. Like most Sox org members they hold lifetime appointments. DJ and Jason together would be a riot.  I could live with Stone and Paciorek. 

[pcq]

39 minutes ago, Steve9347 said:

I want to see Frank on screen as much as possible. Having said that, the announcers all suck because the team sucks - not including Benetti, who's awesome no matter what's happening.

If anything exciting were actually happening on the field (Moncada* running into one now and again, Eloy or Kopech being called up, etc) the broadcasts would be more bearable.

*Speaking of Moncada, the broadcast teams have gone into full-on excuse mode as to why this guy has hit the wall. It's constant and annoying.

You forget that Sox org is an integrated approach to helping each and every snowflake to achieve their least potential. Presently our DP combo is exhibiting signs of league worst achievement.