Sunday, July 03, 2005

Right Size, Wrong Shape

It's so hard to figure out why people can't stand Hawk Harrelson.

As the White Sox turn a double play against Oakland:

[grounder comes to Konerko]: "Okay, take your time."
[throw arrives at Ozuna covering 2nd]: "Now, turn it!"

Later, men on first and second, no outs, ball grounded right to Mark Buehrle:

[Buehrle begins to turn toward 2nd base]: "Take your time, Mark!"
[Buehrle fires ball into outfield]: various sounds of horror, dismay and aghastment*

Usually Hawk's obvious biases aren't something I think about during a game, but when he's at his worst, the thought "wow, that must have been eye-gouge-outingly annoying for fans of the other team" will often pop into my head.

Why is this conduct allowed? Oh, right--because the only people watching White Sox telecasts are White Sox fans, and we don't care.

[* -- It's times like these when I often wonder how close Hawk comes to just letting loose with a long string of profanity. We think we are seeing Harrelson at his most uninhibited, but we may in fact be seeing Hawk Harrelson exhibiting every ounce of his self-restraint.]

[I may or may not have made up a couple of words over the course of this post.]