With Spring Training quickly approaching, the White Sox have released their first commercial of the season. It features a clever allusion to Mark Buehrle’s silly-good defensive play on Opening Day 2010, and will definitely get Sox fans pumped for what should – should – be a good season on the South Side.

Watch the video:

Oh, wait, never mind. You can’t watch the video because Major League Baseball continues to adhere to a media policy that is stuck in the mid-90s. You are, however, more than welcome to click over to MLB.com to watch the White Sox “All In” commercial starring Mark Buehrle and Hawk Harrelson*.

* – Memo to Major League Baseball: In place of where the embedded video of the commercial should go,I would like to point out that only a fraction of this post’s readers will actually click on that link to watch the commercial on your website. As Ron Washington would say, that’s how the Internet go.

Every time you make people click a link to go to another page, you lose a portion of your audience. On the other hand, the percentage of people who would click “play” to watch an embedded version of the video here at MSF is much higher. And they’d even deal with pre-roll ads if you want to make revenue and/or use it for branding. But because of your myopic web strategy, you lose this opportunity.

As our friend Paul Banks explains, you are losing “legions of fans” with your “backwards Internet media policies.” Go read his post here if you want to be enlightened.

So please MLB, go waste money and resources scouring the web for bloggers like myself who might post game clips or commercials like this White Sox ad on YouTube and then have the audacity to post them on their websites. Seriously, why would you want us promoting your game and marketing materials for you for free?

What’s funny is that as the season approaches, MLB banner ads will pop up all over the web – ads that Major League Baseball has to pay for – yet they could get tons and tons of free advertising that is more effective if they would would simply dust the mothballs off of their “Advanced Media” strategy. It’s unbelievable and incredibly detrimental to the growth of the game, especially with younger audiences.

Anyway, as much as it pains me to make you click over to MLB.com to watch a video that should easily be embeddable here, I’m doing it because the commercial kicks ass. Even if you’re not a White Sox fan, you’ll appreciate the clever idea and solid execution. As Hawk Harrelson would say, “Mercy!” Yes, it’s mercy good.

Hawk Harrelson has his experience (inventing batting glove on his resume, for instance), his exciting play-by-play calls, and biased views during games that only a fan of the Good Guys would endure game after game.

Steve Stone has solid pitching knowledge (1980 Cy Young winner), a Chicago background, and a consistent tone that makes me happy the Cubs let him go to now join the South side, or the real side of baseball in Chicago, as I call it.

Together they have more knowledge than any team’s announcers in the MLB and are just as entertaining. (You’re what hurts, Hawk?)

All of that said? I am extremely excited to hear “Stone Pony” leave the booth for the weekend (a planned leave) and give the color analyst duties to retired White Sox great Frank Thomas.

It will be different but still interesting to hear the Big Hurt do the three game series this weekend in Kansas City with Hawk, the man who gave him his notorious nickname and announced every game he played in a White Sox uniform.

I also heard this announcement while I was watching Sunday’s game against Toronto live on CSN and am glad to confirm it here on MSF.

Will Frank Thomas solidify his spot as the future of color commentary on some team’s TV network after this weekend?

Maybe not.

CSN’s first web video of “Big Hurt TV” includes Frank cussing and making fun of Vernon Wells’ nose with a goofy image while he interviews former Blue Jay Alex Rios. But you know this weekend will include an inside look into Frank’s views while he was in Chicago and other things like what a good hitter is thinking inside the batter’s box.

If you are frustrated with the 2010 White Sox play so far this year, but would like to hear some sure-to-be-interesting exchanges between Hawk Harrelson and Frank Thomas here is the TV schedule that will include the Big Hurt in the booth:

• CSN Friday May 14th – Chicago White Sox @ Kansas City Royals 7:10pm Central
• WGN Saturday May 15th – Chicago White Sox @ Kansas City Royals 6:10pm Central
• CSN Sunday May 16th – Chicago White Sox @ Kansas City Royals 1:10pm Central

So sit back, relax and strap it down this weekend. I sure will be.

Oh and bear with Hawk Harrelson’s gushing over Frank on air as he probably thinks the Big Hurt was the greatest hitter ever…behind Ted Williams, George Brett, and Rusty Greer that is. A Hawk Harrelson hater or lover, you probably know this already.

**********

* – Frank Thomas photo credit: AJ Rox My White Sox

Thanks to Cleveland Indians announcer Bruce Drennan, I now have one.

Yes, I agree with Deadspin; this rant is epic.

[Video hat tip to our friends at Waiting for Next Year via Deadspin]

If you don’t want to watch the whole thing (highly recommended) then this screenshot pretty much sums it up:

The Cleveland Indians currently sit in last place in the AL Central (yes, below the Royals!), 8.5 games out, with a putrid 10-17 record.

Of course, as much as I’d like to make this post entirely about pointing and laughing at the hapless Indians, I do have to admit this: five of the Indians’ 10 victories have come against the White Sox this season.

D’oh!

But luckily the White Sox have started inching towards .500 over the past week, preventing Hawk from going off on a similar rant (yet, anyway).

Because these things can be altered quickly, I got a screenshot of said shenanigans so you can all see what I’m talking about.

Apparently the editors of Hawk’s Wikipedia page don’t like my favorite baseball announcer very much because they fabricated quite a catch phrase for the voice of the White Sox:

(Click on the image to enlarge. Source: Hawk Harrelson Wikipedia page)

So apparently Hawk likes to yell “I love licking sack” when the bases are loaded. As someone who listens to Hawk as much as I can, I can say that I have never once heard head say this.

Now, we all know that Hawk does, from time to time, figuratively licks the sacks of Ted Williams, George Brett, and some of his other favorite former and current players. Some people are annoyed by this; I think it’s part of what makes Hawk entertaining. He is always talking about the good ‘ol days, and I think that’s a nice perspective to have.

So yeah, there is so figurative sack licking going on in the booth, but come on Wikipedia…he doesn’t come right out and say it!

Hawk shouldn’t feel to bad though. Wikipedia got Colorado football coach Dan Hawkins pretty good too:

Hawkins was diagnosed with SUCK on December 16th, 2005, when he took the Colorado job. He has been fighting the disease ever since, but has yet to beat it up until this point.

The takeaway? If your name has “Hawk” anywhere in it, monitor your Wikipedia page with a fine-toothed comb.

Finally, for no good reason at all, I will leave you with a far-too-close-up picture of dear Hawk, who is absolutely my favorite person to listen to when the White Sox are playing.

Unfortunately, this picture makes Hawk look far too much like Sloth from The Goonies. And while Hawk is now Tom Paciorek, he’s better looking that what you see here. Bad lighting. And I think his left ear fell off before the picture.

The source for the above photo is Around the Horn in KC, a Kansas City Royals blog on MLB.com. They did a nice feature on Hawk if you want learn more about the man who invented the batting glove…but who does not love licking sack (literally).

Well, last night Hawk took it to another level when Paul Konerko jacked three home runs in the White Sox series-opening victory over some random AA team that is in town for the weekend. During the second and third of Konerko jacks, the second being a grand salami, Hawk adds in a jubilant “Hell yeah!” to his normal home run call.

Unfortunately, MLB.com does not allow you to embed videos (or at least they don’t make it very easy or intuitive if they do) so I’ll just have to link you over there. But it’s worth it.

(Thanks to Jimmy Traina at Hot Clicks for linking to this since I had to miss the game last night.)

• I liked them peripherally for a while in the early 90s and then my White Sox fandom began in earnest while I was in high school, and I’m pretty sure KVB and I got into the White Sox at around the same time (although he may have been a fan first…you’ll have to ask him).
• My favorite players from those early years were Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, Black Jack, Ray Durham, Mike Cameron, James Baldwin, and Roberto Hernandez.
• From the first moment I heard Hawk Harrelson call a game, I was hooked.

(For the record, what I do remember from my early baseball years is that I hated the Cubs long before I ever loved the White Sox, simply because so many of my Indiana friends loved the Cubs and I could never understand it. They received so much adulation yet never seemed to win anything. I wasn’t about to offer any more undeserved adoration.)

I realize that Hawk takes a lot of grief for being an unabashed homer, for sometimes telling long and sprawling stories about guys like Ted Williams and George Brett, for firing Tony LaRussa during the Hawk’s ill-fated tenure as White Sox GM, and for sometimes talking about things that make you wonder if he’s doing okay. Plus, we all know that he likes to make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. (Well, not really the question mark…more like batting gloves. And that actually doesn’t seem to be such an outrageous claim after all.)

But…and it’s a big BUT…for the life of me I cannot understand how any White Sox fan does not enjoy listening to a Hawk-called game over a road announcer or one of the national schmoes they trot out on ESPN or Fox.

I started thinking about this today when I went searching online for a list of Hawkisms that KVB needed for a gift he’s making a friend of his and a friend of the South Siders. I unwittingly stumbled upon the unfortunately named website HeaveTheHawk.com. As you might expect, the creators of this website are not big fans of Hawk for the reasons mentioned above and many more.

Now, I don’t know much about this site nor do I have the time or inclination to go digging. (And for all you haters out there, I am blatantly violating journalistic ethics and integrity by not reaching to them for a comment before publishing this. If you’ve got something to say about, email me.) It appears as if they are White Sox fans, but I suppose it’s possible that it’s a bunch of Cubs fans looking to poke fun at the TV face of White Sox baseball. I have no idea.

All I know is that I disagree wholeheartedly with their “Manifesto“. I do know that one of their gripes is that Hawk Harrelson never played for the White Sox, as evidenced by this excerpt from their page “10 Reasons Why the Hawk Must Go”:

3. Hillbilly. The fair city of Chicago is the third largest media market in the country. So why must we listen to a South Carolinian carnival barker with NO White Sox connection? But wait, he was GM, you say? Yes, read on.

I have never lived in Chicago, so perhaps there is more of this sentiment floating around than I realize. But I consider myself about as die-hard a Sox fan as they come (though, admittedly, not as die hard as these guys or these guys) and I’ve certainly never once thought of Hawk as a “South Carolinian carnival barker.” Plus, what exactly does Hawk need to do to develop a “White Sox connection”? The guy’s been with the White Sox for as long as I’ve been following them. Sure, he didn’t play on the South Side, but doesn’t he have more of a White Sox connection than, say, Mike Cameron, who was only with the White Sox for a couple of seasons? How exactly do we define “having a connection”?

Anyway, I don’t want to make this a long and drawn-out post, and the truth is that I can’t because two of my best friends from Indiana are flying into town tonight (they’re in the air as I type this) so I have to actually put the blog toy away for a little while. But seeing that ugly website earlier today made me feel compelled to throw some support behind my man Hawk. White Sox games just aren’t as fun when Hawk isn’t announcing, telling balls to “stretch”, imploring the scorekeeper to “put it on the board”, and giving opposing batters their proper “he gone” send off after a strikeout.

Yeah, Hawk’s a huge homer. Probably the biggest one in all of baseball. So I can understand why a non-White Sox fan might abhor him. But for Sox fans to not like him? That I do not understand, and I’d like to get some feedback. If you’re a White Sox fan, what do you think of Hawk? Surely you love the guy, right? I can’t be this wrong about our fan base, can I? (And if you’re not a White Sox fan…be gone! I’m sure you don’t like him, so you can spare me the trite Hawk criticisms that I’ve already discussed.)

But before you head down to the comment section, sit back, relax, and strap it down as I offer you one of the only redeeming aspects of HeaveTheHawk.com. It’s a sublime song that lists out pretty much all of Hawk’s most famous Hawkisms. I’m assuming it’s meant to be a sarcastic dig at Hawk, and it’s certainly not all that great musically, but it’s still awesome. So click here and check it out.

And then send the creators of HeaveTheHawk.com some hate email. Because, as well know, Hawk looooves email, and I’m sure he’d love knowing that White Sox fans have his back. Say what you will about him, but he has a more tenured association with the White Sox now than anyone but Jerry Reinsdorf. And as far as I’m concerned, I hope he never gets “heaved”, because White Sox games just wouldn’t be as much fun without him.

I agree with the guys at HeaveTheHawk.com that listening to Ed Farmer on the radio is great. But nobody compares to Hawk Harrelson. And unlike the guys at HeaveTheHawk.com, I say that in the most positive context possible.

Hawk…you rule.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

He will be missed and the reactions on Chicago’s 670 The Score this morning had the Southside callers sick to the stomach at the idea that Minnesota, of all teams, signed him. This sentiment will fade in due time, but if he’s in the playoffs this year and The Good Guys are not, I will cut myself.

Not really, but I will NOT root for the Twinkies.

Side note: I have thought about if anyone else would laugh (besides me) if Kirby Puckett made a come back and Bobby Jenks plunked him in his good eye, blinding him in both for good. Don’t judge. I always will laugh at multiple pudgy baseball statures like Bobby Jenks, Kirby Puckett, John Kruk, Fernando Valenzuela….Mike LaValliere.

Where was I?

Oh yeah, Joe Crede. I am afraid Crede’s career might not be totally over after the Minnesota signing, though it is only a one year deal. But then again I wouldn’t ever make that claim — unless, that is, the Cubs signed him (where every player goes to die). Rest In Peace Milton Bradley.

Joe, I hope you come to MSF, get this file, and download it to your IPod before you go hunting in Missouri and listen. Because Hawk Harrelson calling your clutch home runs is priceless. Thanks for giving us life at 3B after Robin Ventura. (FYI…I cut this from highlights played by Waddle and Silva on 670am The Score 06.08.2008:

Hawk Loves Joe Crede

And just in case you don’t want to download the mp3, here is a little picture video in tribute to Joe Crede:

Projected Batting Order from Whitesox.com :

1. CF Jerry Owens:
.276 BA, .346 OBP, 30 SB at AAA Charlotte in 2008 (2007 MLB: 356 AB, .267 BA, .324 OBP, 32 SB, )
2. C A.J. Pierzynski:
.281 BA, 13 HR, 60 RBI in 2008
3. LF Carlos Quentin:
.288 BA, 36 HR, 100 RBI, .394 OBP, .571 SLG in 2008
4. DH Jim Thome:
.245 BA, 34 HR, 90 RBI, .362 OBP, .503 SLG in 2008
5. RF Jermaine Dye:
.292 BA, 34 HR, 96 RBI, 41 2B, .541 SLG in 2008
6. 1B Paul Konerko:
.240 BA, 22 HR, 62 RBI in 2008
7. SS Alexei Ramirez:
.290 BA, 21 HR, 77 RBI, 13 SB in 2008
8. 3B Josh Fields:
.246 BA, 10 HR, 35 RBI for Charlotte in 2008 (2007 MLB: 373 AB, .244 BA, 23 HR, 67 RBI, .958 FPCT)
9. 2B Chris Getz:
.302 BA, 11 HR, 52 RBI, 11 SB for Charlotte in 2008

There is nothing wrong with this projection. Center Field and Second Base are the only positions up in the air and will be decided by Ozzie during spring training. The only other CF options are veterans Brian Anderson with Dewayne Wise being the underdog and fan favorite. One of the two will make the team regardless.

At 2B the options are young or experienced. Besides Getz, Wilson Betemit will get a look as he came from the Yankees in the Swisher trade. In this Baseball-Reference.com link Betemit’s seven year career stats are compared to that of Joe Crede (he gone) who was missing from the lineup more than half of the games in 07 and 08. This also opened the door for Josh Fields getting a solid 100 of major league experience in 2007. But back to Betemit specifically, he could easily get a lot of time if the inexperienced Getz doesn’t impress Ozzie. Though there is a lot of confidence verbally from Ozzie already. Whoever has the better glove in spring training will start the season.

Projected rotation from WhiteSox.com :

1. Mark Buehrle, 15-12, 3.79 ERA in 2008
2. Gavin Floyd, 17-8, 3.84 ERA in 2008
3. John Danks, 12-9, 3.32 ERA in 2008
4. Bartolo Colon, 4-2, 3.92 ERA with Red Sox in 2008
5. Clayton Richard, 2-5, 6.04 ERA in 2008

The pitching staff is closer to being in order after the Bartolo Colon signing by GM Ken Williams. Mark Buerhle is still the number one and has been for some time. Gavin “Pretty Boy” Floyd and John Danks look to improve on stellar 2008 campaigns. Both youngsters were the main reasons “The Good Guys” even made the playoffs last year.

The fifth position with Clayton Richard could be good enough if the former Michigan quarterback can get more strikeouts and give up less base hits. If that doesn’t hold to be true in his first full season in the majors you might see Jose Contreras be the man if his ruptured achilles is healed by the All-Star break.

Aaron Poreda is one of the challengers if Richard doesn’t impress in spring training or catches the injury bug. Poreda is looked at as one of the best pitching prospects in the organization and also the biggest ( 6’6″ 240 lbs). He just turned 22 years old in October and has a dominant stat line after a short 2007 in rookie league and a 2008 season in single and double A: 2.69 ERA 1.09 WHIP 207.1 IP 166 K and only 7 home runs given up in that span.

Pitchers and catchers will report Sunday February 15th so the season is fast approaching. I would say I have the White Sox finishing in first place this year but that wouldn’t be different then any other year. GO GO WHITE SOX!

Chicago Celebrates Resignation of Jay Mariotti

The city of Chicago has announced that it will hold a parade in celebration of Jay Mariotti’s departure from the Chicago Sun-Times. Parade sponsors include the White Sox, Cubs, Bulls, Bears, and all citizens of Chicago.

Chicago, IL – Word broke late last night that notorious Chicago sportswriter Jay Mariotti, a future first ballot inductee into the Turd Hall of Shame, was resigning from his post as Sports Blowhard at the Chicago Sun-Times. Unfortunately Jay the Joke, as he is often referred, made no mention of giving up his seat at the Roundtable of Nonsense otherwise known as ESPN’s Around the Horn.

According to longtime Chicago sports fan Jevin Morriline, today’s announcement was “an act of divine intervention proving the unyielding benevolence of God.” It appears as if Morriline is not alone in sharing such a feeling

The city of Chicago, led by Mayor Ozzie Guillen and Secretary of Ducksnort Ken “Hawk” Harrelson, have announced that plans are being developed for a city-wide parade to celebrate the departure of Jay Mariotti.

The proposed route for the parade would begin at U.S. Cellular Field and end a few blocks North of City Hall. It is the same route the 2005 Chicago White Sox went on when they won a World Series that Jay Mariotti never thought was possible.

The following is an official statement made by Mayor Ozzie Guillen and released to Midwest Sports Fans this afternoon:

“F&%k Yay Mariotti. Yay is a piece of $h!t and a idiot and the whole f&%king city of Chee-cago is happy to f&%king see that motherf&%ker go.”

Hawk Harrelson could not be reached for comment. However, sources close to the batting glove inventor and long-time admirer of Ted Williams, Rusty Greer, and George Brett claim that Hawk spent most of the day skipping around the basepaths at U.S. Cellular field shouting “He Gone” to a joyous, melodic beat.

The reasons for Mariotti’s departure are unknown. Some have speculated that he was afraid of walking out of his house and his very rational fear finally got to him.

According to one source, Mariotti had been having a recurring nightmare in which he walked out of his house to leave for work and was jumped by Ozzie Guillen, Lou Piniella, Jerry Reinsdorf and pretty much every other Chicago sports figure of the past two decades, all of whom have felt the wrath of Jay Mariotti’s putrid drivel that was passed along by the Sun-Times as sportswriting.

There are others who believe that Mariotti’s father had a large hand in his decision. Theologians agree that a Cubs victory in the World Series, shockingly a realistic possibility if Rich Harden can somehow stay healthy, would bring about the Apocalypse. At such a point in time, Satan will return to Earth for his favorite son. However, Satan refuses to be only the second most hated being walking among humanity.

According to sources close to the douchebag, Jay Mariotti was pressured by Satan to perform an act that would “bring great joy to the world at large.” The thought was that this would reduce the intense level of hatred projected upon Mariotti from sports fans everywhere.

Rather than do something good for someone else, however, Mariotti’s solution was to shine the limelight on himself one more time and resign on the even of a slow news day so that all of the attention would be on him; but despite this inherent selfishness, Jay Mariotti did succeed in bringing joy to all of mankind.

“Even I wanted to kick his ass sometimes,” said Mahatma Gandhi. “Heaven help whatever city he terrorizes next. Perhaps he will just go away forever.”

That, unfortunately, is not likely. The reason given by Jay Mariotti for his resignation, according to an article in the Chicago Tribune and first noticed by Midwest Sports Fans on Deadspin.com, is that sports journalism is much more focused on the web as opposed to hardcopy newspapers. Mariotti claims that he is now “talking with a lot of Web sites.” It is unclear if the Web sites say anything back or if Jay Mariotti’s computer just sits there silently wishing he would shut up like the rest of us do.

As Jevin Morriline said, “Leave it to Jay Marrioti to claim that he can communicate with Web sites. That pompous son of a Lupica probably thinks he can communicate with animals and Woody Paige also.”

Ozzie Guillen and Hawk Harrelson reportedly will announce final plans for the Jay Mariotti – He Gone! Parade before the weekend.

[UPDATE: According to official White Sox source, Ozzie Guillen laughed at the notion of a parade for Jay Mariotti upon reading this press release. He then proceeded to leave tonight’s game against Baltimore to seek out the writer of this completely fabricated story to kick his ass for making up quotes.]

White Sox fans everywhere…rejoice! Jay Mariotti aka Jay The Joke is leaving the Chicago Sun-Times and making the Chicago sports media infinitely more respected and competent in the process. This is truly a case of addition by subtraction.

I’m at work and can’t expound too much right now (though I will later).

Head over to Deadspin.com for more information on Jay Mariotti’s resignation right now. Then come back later for a Midwest Sports Fans “tribute” to the man whose ass Ozzie Guillen would like to kick into submission, and who all White Sox fans pretty much consider a worthless, petty, egotistical, blow-hard.

While you’re here, take a quick trip down memory lane:

Ozzie Guillen is the man…and hates Jay Mariotti. Exact words from Ozzie: “He’s a piece of shit.” Amen!

Hawk Harrelson is also the man…and hates Jay Mariotti. Exact words from Hawk: “About baseball he’s a frieking moron. Who hires people who don’t a damn thing what they’re writing or talking about?”

All I have to say is, good riddance Jay. Thank you for making Chicago a better sports city by leaving. Now when will you do all of America a favor and quit Around the Horn?

As Lynyrd Skynyrd once sang, “Oooh, that smell. Can you smell that smell?” I know what I can smell, and for once it isn’t the stench of Grady Sizemore’s female parts since the Cleveland Indians are so waaaaaay far behind the White Sox in the AL Central Standings.

No, that smell is the first wiff of Fall. And Fall means one thing, and one thing only: Football. I could write an entire post about all of the many images, memories, feelings, and pangs of sublime anticipation that rush through every fiber of my being when this glorious time of year rolls around. However, I might crash the server due to the length of the post.

So instead, I will go a different route and highlight one of the few things about football season that I absolutely abhor. There aren’t many, and most of them are so meaningless that they are essentially infinitesimal. But there is one steaming pile of arrogant and monotone nepotism that hangs over the Fall like an unexpected early morning dingleberry carwash. And unfortunately, it hangs over October baseball as well. You all know who I’m talking about:

Joe Buck.

I don’t really want to waste time explaining all of the many reasons why Joe Buck is a tool. We all know them. And everyone has wondered at least once while listening to a Joe Buck broadcast whether he was trying to decide if he’d be having more fun smashing his nuts in a vice or being at the game he was announcing. Joe Buck treats announcing like Joe Sixpack treats his 9-5 warehouse job. Get in, work, get paid, and get out. “Joyless” is probably the most apt word to describe Joe Buck’s announcing style.

Don’t believe me? Listen to Joe Buck’s comments on Colin Cowherd’s radio show. These two megalomaniacal chode ticklers deserve eachother. Awful Announcing (a great blog that is getting added to the Blogroll ASAP) has a great take on this as well.

Case in point, his call of David Tyree’s incredible catch in last year’s Super Bowl. Courtesy of a quick YouTube search, I have the video here for your auditory displeasure:

I mean seriously…was that someone announcing the Super Bowl or reading a phone book? And Troy Aikman isn’t much better. Maybe it’s just because I grew up on Hawk Harrelson homerun calls and Don Fischer going apeshit every time Indiana scored a touchdown or made a key basket, but I like a little emotion from my announcers. They don’t have to be obvious homers like Hawk and Fisch, but for goodness sakes you’re at a football game! We’re not reciting Psalms in church here. Give me some emotion!

To provide some perspective, check out another video I found on YouTube when searching for calls of the Patriots-Giants Super Bowl. I don’t know who the hell these guys are…and obviously it was not a real broadcast. But damn, at least they have some emotion!

I’m glad I ended this post on a positive, upbeat note. Remembering that I am going to be force-fed a consistent gag-inducing diet of Joe Buck for the rest of this year was starting to make me a little nauseous.

But enough about Joe Buck the massive tool.

Bring on football! And an announcer who actually seems to be enjoying himself a little bit…

KVB…where did all of the YouTube videos go of Gus Johnson announcing NFL games???

Stumbled across this video while doing some random YouTube surfing today. I love Hawk and DJ. If I didn’t legitimately wish that I’d thought of this first, I’d make fun of whoever did this for having too much time on their hands.

And while we’re on the subject of Hawk, YouTube, and complete idiots (well, we weren’t on that subject…but I’m currently watching ESPN, which reminded me of Around the Horn, which reminded me of Jay Mariotti, which immediately brought the term “idiot”, among many other derogatory terms, to the forefront of my thoughts)…well, just listen to Hawk. He’s the Gza.

News and commentary from around the web on the morning after the Chicago White Sox made a huge and surprising splash just before the trading deadline by dealing for Ken Griffey Jr. This should be interesting…

Follow the “Read More” link for White Sox news links…

From the Sun-Times:

Griffey approves trade to White Sox

Computer geeks confirm that Griffey trade a positive for White Sox

White Sox drop finale against Twins

My name is Jay Mariotti…and I’m a turd.

Crede, Contreras set for rehab; White Sox worried about Linebrink

Elsewhere:

ESPN.com: Keith Law thinks Griffey deal a mixed bag for White Sox

ESPN.com: Fans get unruly during White Sox loss to Twins

More stories

The Chicago Tribune website was experiencing “technical difficulties” this morning. I chalk it up to the fact that the Cubs suck. Speaking of which, can I just express how disappointed I am in the Brewers and former White Sox 2B Ray Durham??? A 4-game sweep at home? Seriously? It doesn’t worry me because I’m fairly certain that the Cubs will choke and find a way to not make the playoffs, but it’s just annoying watching the North Side Fudge Packers win and give their fans hope that “this could be the year.” Right.

But forget about them, the White Sox have their own issues. We need to get back on track and put a hurtin’ on the Royals this weekend. An emphatic sweep or a solid 2-1 series victory is imperative. We just seem to be a tad out of sync and perhaps the trade for Griffey will provide a spark. I will be very interested to see how Ozzie fits all the pieces together. It looks like Griffey, Swish, Paulie, and Curse (that’s Jim Thome, if you didn’t know. I’ll explain later) will be rotating in some form or another each game. Sadly, unless he turns it around and gets hot, it looks like Paulie will be the odd man out at least initially. Ozzie’s stuck with him all year though. At some point, as much as I love him, Paulie has to start producing. We have a team capable of going deep into the playoffs, but we can’t have a .215 albatross around the neck of an offense that relies on power and situational hitting to be successful.

On a scale of 1-10, how excited do you think Hawk was when he heard about the Griffey trade? 17? 18? I think the only player that Hawk loves more than Ken Griffey Jr is Ted Williams. Well…and Rusty Greer. I can’t wait to hear Hawk call Griffey’s first home run in a White Sox uni. His head may explode.

On to Kansas City. We need a big outing from Javy tonight.

Pick to Click: TCQ (it’s the first official Midwest Sports Fans Pick to Click. I have to go with the AL MVP on this one.)