Revisiting Hawk Harrelson

[shoota]

I mostly listen to Farmer with Hawk and DJ on mute, but I'd rather keep Hawk to avoid getting a replacement like fake-voiced Len Kasper.

[soxfan3530]

I like Hawk but the only thing that bothers me about him is not him being a huge homer, but how he talks about the sox opponents. If someone is having a good game about the sox (i.e. a pitcher we have never seen before and cant hit) Hawk will make them out to be the next cy young, clemens, etc. It gets old really quick. But i do still love hawk and do miss whimpy!

[RME JICO]

Hawk is great, you know what you are going to get from him, and that is the fun of it. He adds a little flavor to the game.

[Al Lopez's Ghost]

I used to like Harrelson, and I have nothing against a little homerism. Drysdale and Harrelson were great together in the early to mid '80's, and Paciorek and Hawk were real good too. But you need a balance between the broadcasters, and what we have now is Hawk and Hawk's number one fan, and it gets a little too much - a lot too much. The only time DJ disagrees with Hawk is if he thinks Hawk hasn't been enough of a homer. Like this:

 

You know DJ, Bobby Jenks doing what he did in '05, that's one of the best jobs by a first year reliever I ever saw.

 

Hawk, I disagree. It was the BEST job ever by a first year reliever.

 

To hear these guys, no Sox player has ever made a bad play, or has ever failed to hustle. Just bad breaks, bad luck, tip your hat to the other guy, etc. etc., and Hawk is never wrong.

 

So I said get rid of the Hawk, and bring in some fresh, HONEST, voices.

[SoxFan562004]

Hawk's homerism gets annoying sometime, but listen to Len Casper (sp?) and you'll see how horrible a "generic" broadcaster can be. I enjoy The Hawk on the broadcasts, despite some flaws. I would rather listen to a broadcaster who has the same passion for the team that I do, rather than someone who is brought in not to stir things up.

 

I like Hawk but the only thing that bothers me about him is not him being a huge homer, but how he talks about the sox opponents. If someone is having a good game about the sox (i.e. a pitcher we have never seen before and cant hit) Hawk will make them out to be the next cy young, clemens, etc. It gets old really quick. But i do still love hawk and do miss whimpy!

100% agree. That is easily the thing that gets to me the most. It hit its peak with me during a couple of the KC games last year. I can't remember the pitcher, but he was trash, and was trash against everyone else except the Sox, and Hawk was saying how awesome the guy was.

[Chi Town Sox]

I understand with what you are saying but here is a good example, would you rather Hawk's homerism? or do you remember a certain play on national TV in the ALDS....

 

Grounder from Uribe to Tony G..........

 

Chris Berman "OHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

[StrangeSox]

I understand with what you are saying but here is a good example, would you rather Hawk's homerism? or do you remember a certain play on national TV in the ALDS....

 

Grounder from Uribe to Tony G..........

 

Chris Berman "OHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

 

Chris Berman out-homered Hawk in that series. What a disgrace. He sounded downright pissed every time the Sox took a Boston pitcher deep.

[LVSoxFan]

LOL I use that example all the time of how East Coast-bias on ESPN. Classic.

 

Hawk is a doof. I like that he's critical of the team when need be and he does have the best home run call, but I'm tired of his Kentucky-fried non-wisdom (this is CHICAGO, dude) and worn-out cliches like "chopper two hopper," all of which Roeper covered in a column last year.

 

I think people are too hard on DJ. IMO DJ gets big-footed by Hawk in the booth. Have you ever heard DJ in the booth for a FOX game, with Hawk gone? It's like night and day--he's much more talkative and interesting.

 

That said, Hawk's homer-ism can be endearing but can also lead to unfortunate statements like at Soxfest in 2005: "I think the 2004 team was one of the best squads we ever put on the field."

 

Pfft.

[Heads22]

I think people are liking DJ more and more by the day...

[Steve9347]

You know what really grinds my gears?

 

People who don't like the Hawk. That's what.

 

^^

 

Yes.

[CanOfCorn]

ONe thing that I'm surprised no one has brought up is the fact that he was the GM of the team for awhile. What other broadcaster has done THAT for their team? He has an inner knowledge of the White Sox from the owners on down to the players. And it goes deep and way back.

 

We Sox fans are a very insular bunch. When we're winning, we want to be noticed, but not tooooo much, because then we become the Cubs. We don't want bandwagoners. When we are losing, we are probably the most critical of our team other than maybe Phillie fans. We live and die with this team because this team is pure Chicago, not National like the Cubs, Yankees, Red Sox or Dodgers. The White Sox are our team and we like it that way. You can't have them, get your greedy mitts off of them.

 

Hawk is like watching the game with one of those guys. Sure, he's sounds like he's a hick from Georgia with some of his sayings, but you know what? He IS a hick from Georgia and those sayings, for the most part, are pure gold. I've picked up most of them when I watch games now...whether it's a Sox game or a Round Rock Express game. The man is getting older and it's probably getting more difficult for him whether he wants to admit it or not, but there is NO OTHER announcer that can make me laugh, spin a yarn or get as excited about a team as much as Hawk...and for that, I think he can stay until the last thing he says in the booth will be about himself...

 

I'm Gawn.

[Balta1701]

ONe thing that I'm surprised no one has brought up is the fact that he was the GM of the team for awhile. What other broadcaster has done THAT for their team? He has an inner knowledge of the White Sox from the owners on down to the players. And it goes deep and way back.

And he also fired Tony LaRussa. How many broadcasters can say that?!

[djcollie03]

The other choice is to listen to Farmer and Singleton who seem to have no passion what so ever. I think they are close to unlistenable as you can get - we were spoiled with John Rooney. I'd rather accept and enjoy the comedic quality of Hawk's homerism than the deadpan, emotionless voices of our radio team.

[Sonik22]

I love Hawk and i love DJ! I wouldn't want the booth any other way! I like the fact that they are homers because they have the same feelings for this team that i do.

[Chet Lemon]

replace him

[jackie hayes]

I used to like Harrelson, and I have nothing against a little homerism. Drysdale and Harrelson were great together in the early to mid '80's, and Paciorek and Hawk were real good too. But you need a balance between the broadcasters, and what we have now is Hawk and Hawk's number one fan, and it gets a little too much - a lot too much. The only time DJ disagrees with Hawk is if he thinks Hawk hasn't been enough of a homer. Like this:

 

You know DJ, Bobby Jenks doing what he did in '05, that's one of the best jobs by a first year reliever I ever saw.

 

Hawk, I disagree. It was the BEST job ever by a first year reliever.

Agree with this. Same reason I loved the Rooney-Farmer team, personally. The tv team offers no discussion, it's just Hawk's world, which I'm thoroughly tired of at this point.

[AWhiteSoxinNJ]

Hawk + Being paid by the White Sox = Homerism.

 

You've got to be kidding me with this thread. People who watch the game when the Hawk is doing play by play (beside WGN games) are, I don't know how to say this, WHITE SOX FANS! If you want non homerism, go watch ESPN or some other crap. I live in NJ and would love to hear Hawk game after game, but I am stuck to whatever feed MLB.TV give us.

[sircaffey]

If Hawk actually talked about the game most of the time I'd enjoy it, but his tangents are just utterly ridiculous, and he seems to disappear during the 5th and 6th innings. I prefer watching the game on mute.

[Hawkfan]

hawk is the man, the only guy i'd rather listen to is bob uecker, DJ is cool when he keeps it limited, remember dj less is more

[Kalapse]

hawk is the man, the only guy i'd rather listen to is bob uecker, DJ is cool when he keeps it limited, remember dj less is more

Vin Scully > Everyone else combined. It's not even close, I actually go back and watch random Dodger games from last season because of the greatness of Vin Scully. He knows everything about every damn player, it's creepy. The underwear size of Chris Young (padres), Ryan Freel once shaved off all his body hair on a bet and Uggla means Owl in whatever the hell country Dan is from. The day Vin Scully retires, baseball would take a pretty big hit in my book.

[witesoxfan]

70 posts, and not one mention of the word senile

 

Lover or hater, you must admit he is senile.

 

His senility is partly what drives his homerism. And senile or not, he's my senile White Sox PBP guy, and I love him for it.

[Heads22]

70 posts, and not one mention of the word senile

 

Lover or hater, you must admit he is senile.

 

His senility is partly what drives his homerism. And senile or not, he's my senile White Sox PBP guy, and I love him for it.

 

 

I went with crazy, and you stole the premise for this post from me.