Steve Stone on Fairness

[Slaky]

Hawk sucks. The entire country thinks he sucks. But Sox fans, who are a really strange group of people, like him, generally speaking. He'll be around until he dies.

It's also a small fan base.  A very brilliant way to appeal to people who are not fans of your product is to have the voice of that product drive you away in droves.

What they should and can fix is their radio team. Two analysts do not a good listen make. Neither are good at either job but the least they can do is bring in a professional play by play guy on that side. I'd argue the radio feed is exponentially more unlistenable than TV.

Only because Hawk shuts up half the time.  Were he to talk as much as Farmer and... who is it?  Henry Cotto? The TV would be just as bad if not worse.

Yeah, if they wanted to appeal to a broader fanbase they probably would. But somehow the insular attitudes start within the organization and trickle down through their entire fan base. It's like they don't want any fans beyond the ones they already have.

You and I both know if they actually did heave the Hawk that a significant portion of the fanbase would be absolutely irate. I'm not sure what they could do about it considering they can't get people to show up to the park even when they're fighting for the division and if you mention that they don't draw well anywhere on the Internet they will attack you from all angles claiming things like "attendance shaming" and "I can be just as good of a fan from my couch as I could from the stadium". That's entirely different topic but the way Sox fans defended themselves about their piss poor attendance all season made my head spin. I heard everything from blaming the economy to "da Cubs r gay herf derf" but none of it made any sense to me.

[Chuck to Chuck]

Hawk sucks. The entire country thinks he sucks. But Sox fans, who are a really strange group of people, like him, generally speaking. He'll be around until he dies.

It's also a small fan base.  A very brilliant way to appeal to people who are not fans of your product is to have the voice of that product drive you away in droves.

What they should and can fix is their radio team. Two analysts do not a good listen make. Neither are good at either job but the least they can do is bring in a professional play by play guy on that side. I'd argue the radio feed is exponentially more unlistenable than TV.

Only because Hawk shuts up half the time.  Were he to talk as much as Farmer and... who is it?  Henry Cotto? The TV would be just as bad if not worse.

Yeah, if they wanted to appeal to a broader fanbase they probably would. But somehow the insular attitudes start within the organization and trickle down through their entire fan base. It's like they don't want any fans beyond the ones they already have.

I dunno about that. Jerry Reinsdorf likes making money.  And he hates losing money. The Sox are not seeing an increase in their franchise valuation with a declining fan base.  Piss off 30,000 people, 2,000 of whom buy tickets to maybe get 50,000 new fans? 

I'd do it.

[Saul Goodman]

Hawk sucks. The entire country thinks he sucks. But Sox fans, who are a really strange group of people, like him, generally speaking. He'll be around until he dies.

It's also a small fan base.  A very brilliant way to appeal to people who are not fans of your product is to have the voice of that product drive you away in droves.

What they should and can fix is their radio team. Two analysts do not a good listen make. Neither are good at either job but the least they can do is bring in a professional play by play guy on that side. I'd argue the radio feed is exponentially more unlistenable than TV.

Only because Hawk shuts up half the time.  Were he to talk as much as Farmer and... who is it?  Henry Cotto? The TV would be just as bad if not worse.

Yeah, if they wanted to appeal to a broader fanbase they probably would. But somehow the insular attitudes start within the organization and trickle down through their entire fan base. It's like they don't want any fans beyond the ones they already have.

You and I both know if they actually did heave the Hawk that a significant portion of the fanbase would be absolutely irate. I'm not sure what they could do about it considering they can't get people to show up to the park even when they're fighting for the division and if you mention that they don't draw well anywhere on the Internet they will attack you from all angles claiming things like "attendance shaming" and "I can be just as good of a fan from my couch as I could from the stadium". That's entirely different topic but the way Sox fans defended themselves about their piss poor attendance all season made my head spin. I heard everything from blaming the economy to "da Cubs r gay herf derf" but none of it made any sense to me.

Seriously, they were in a pennant race almost all season (until that delightful choke), and they couldn't even fill their park.  Pathetic.  If I was in their front office I'd gladly lose the morons for a chance at getting new fans.

[flannj]

Hawk sucks. The entire country thinks he sucks. But Sox fans, who are a really strange group of people, like him, generally speaking. He'll be around until he dies.

It's also a small fan base.  A very brilliant way to appeal to people who are not fans of your product is to have the voice of that product drive you away in droves.

What they should and can fix is their radio team. Two analysts do not a good listen make. Neither are good at either job but the least they can do is bring in a professional play by play guy on that side. I'd argue the radio feed is exponentially more unlistenable than TV.

Only because Hawk shuts up half the time.  Were he to talk as much as Farmer and... who is it?  Henry Cotto? The TV would be just as bad if not worse.

Yeah, if they wanted to appeal to a broader fanbase they probably would. But somehow the insular attitudes start within the organization and trickle down through their entire fan base. It's like they don't want any fans beyond the ones they already have.

You and I both know if they actually did heave the Hawk that a significant portion of the fanbase would be absolutely irate. I'm not sure what they could do about it considering they can't get people to show up to the park even when they're fighting for the division and if you mention that they don't draw well anywhere on the Internet they will attack you from all angles claiming things like "attendance shaming" and "I can be just as good of a fan from my couch as I could from the stadium". That's entirely different topic but the way Sox fans defended themselves about their piss poor attendance all season made my head spin. I heard everything from blaming the economy to "da Cubs r gay herf derf" but none of it made any sense to me.

Seriously, they were in a pennant race almost all season (until that delightful choke), and they couldn't even fill their park.  Pathetic.  If I was in their front office I'd gladly lose the morons for a chance at getting new fans.

Who the fuck cares.

[CBStew]

Hawk sucks. The entire country thinks he sucks. But Sox fans, who are a really strange group of people, like him, generally speaking. He'll be around until he dies.

It's also a small fan base.  A very brilliant way to appeal to people who are not fans of your product is to have the voice of that product drive you away in droves.

What they should and can fix is their radio team. Two analysts do not a good listen make. Neither are good at either job but the least they can do is bring in a professional play by play guy on that side. I'd argue the radio feed is exponentially more unlistenable than TV.

Only because Hawk shuts up half the time.  Were he to talk as much as Farmer and... who is it?  Henry Cotto? The TV would be just as bad if not worse.

Yeah, if they wanted to appeal to a broader fanbase they probably would. But somehow the insular attitudes start within the organization and trickle down through their entire fan base. It's like they don't want any fans beyond the ones they already have.

You and I both know if they actually did heave the Hawk that a significant portion of the fanbase would be absolutely irate. I'm not sure what they could do about it considering they can't get people to show up to the park even when they're fighting for the division and if you mention that they don't draw well anywhere on the Internet they will attack you from all angles claiming things like "attendance shaming" and "I can be just as good of a fan from my couch as I could from the stadium". That's entirely different topic but the way Sox fans defended themselves about their piss poor attendance all season made my head spin. I heard everything from blaming the economy to "da Cubs r gay herf derf" but none of it made any sense to me.

Seriously, they were in a pennant race almost all season (until that delightful choke), and they couldn't even fill their park.  Pathetic.  If I was in their front office I'd gladly lose the morons for a chance at getting new fans.

Who the fuck cares.

Obviously not enough people to fill the Cell.

[Saul Goodman]

Hawk sucks. The entire country thinks he sucks. But Sox fans, who are a really strange group of people, like him, generally speaking. He'll be around until he dies.

It's also a small fan base.  A very brilliant way to appeal to people who are not fans of your product is to have the voice of that product drive you away in droves.

What they should and can fix is their radio team. Two analysts do not a good listen make. Neither are good at either job but the least they can do is bring in a professional play by play guy on that side. I'd argue the radio feed is exponentially more unlistenable than TV.

Only because Hawk shuts up half the time.  Were he to talk as much as Farmer and... who is it?  Henry Cotto? The TV would be just as bad if not worse.

Yeah, if they wanted to appeal to a broader fanbase they probably would. But somehow the insular attitudes start within the organization and trickle down through their entire fan base. It's like they don't want any fans beyond the ones they already have.

You and I both know if they actually did heave the Hawk that a significant portion of the fanbase would be absolutely irate. I'm not sure what they could do about it considering they can't get people to show up to the park even when they're fighting for the division and if you mention that they don't draw well anywhere on the Internet they will attack you from all angles claiming things like "attendance shaming" and "I can be just as good of a fan from my couch as I could from the stadium". That's entirely different topic but the way Sox fans defended themselves about their piss poor attendance all season made my head spin. I heard everything from blaming the economy to "da Cubs r gay herf derf" but none of it made any sense to me.

Seriously, they were in a pennant race almost all season (until that delightful choke), and they couldn't even fill their park.  Pathetic.  If I was in their front office I'd gladly lose the morons for a chance at getting new fans.

Who the fuck cares.

A fair point.

[Shooter]

The radio guys, wow do they suck. Boring, incomplete descriptions, pointless inside jokes, garden variety analysis. It doesn't even matter which does PxP. They're both lousy. They're also more easily avoided than Hawk though.

Ed Farmer cures insomnia faster than Les Grobstein.

[Armchair_QB]

The radio guys, wow do they suck. Boring, incomplete descriptions, pointless inside jokes, garden variety analysis. It doesn't even matter which does PxP. They're both lousy. They're also more easily avoided than Hawk though.

Ed Farmer cures insomnia faster than Les Grobstein.

In Les' defense, he is responsible for the single greatest interview in recorded history.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

The radio guys, wow do they suck. Boring, incomplete descriptions, pointless inside jokes, garden variety analysis. It doesn't even matter which does PxP. They're both lousy. They're also more easily avoided than Hawk though.

Ed Farmer cures insomnia faster than Les Grobstein.

In Les' defense, he is responsible for the single greatest interview in recorded history.

Elia's rant is epic and deservedly more famous, but I still enjoy Bruce Levine telling Ed Lynch of the Mets--hours after Keith Moreland took him down on the pitchers mound at Wrigley in 1984-- that "without (Levine), then (Lynch) wouldn't have a job". Lynch's incredulous response ("Wait..without you I don't have a job?!?") still makes me lol.