Stone and Benetti and White Sox TV Production

[Whitesox029]

I couldn't disagree more with the premise of this thread. When Benetti came on, there was all kinds of hand-wringing that we were getting a cookie-cutter ESPN guy with no personality. Now he shows personality like Hawk did and people are complaining? Gimme a break...
I enjoy his jokes and his deep cut cultural references. Is there REALLY anyone out there who would rather hear him talking about spin rate and launch velocity at every available moment between pitches? Let the guy have some fun. After all, isn't that the point of literally all of this? Sports are supposed to be fun to watch, participate in, commentate on.

[I_Liked_Manuel]

Benetti talks a lot and doesn't say much, meanwhile Stone talks little and says a lot. Find a new PBP man

[Nellie_Fox]

I'd give my opinion, but I'd just be an old man yelling at clouds.

[Falstaff]

Originally Posted by tick53

Is there anybody else out there who would like to see these two be a little less corny and sophomoric? They give me a headache after a few innings.

You got me remembering the glory days of Harry Caray and JC Martin. And Harry drinking him under the table to where JC could not appear for the post game interview. What I would a give to reinvent that chemistry in the booth. You can't beat fun at the old ball park.

[harwar]

I've been a huge fan of Steve Stone ever since 2005, when he worked for espn as the 2nd color guy . he understands all facets of the game and is very good at describing, and at times explaining, what he is seeing on the field . Jason Benetti is intelligent and articulate and definitely knows the game . there are times when he seems like a hyperactive teenager, but that's his personality . they have great chemistry, and genuinely seem to like each other, which is a nice change from the coldness between Hawk and Stone, i do find myself listening to the other teams feed at times, when he gets to be a bit much, but all in all, i'm fine with them, because i know that they both want the White Sox to win as much as i do.

Also, as for the crowd shots, i first thought it was just WGN, who has always done that sort of thing, but it's the NBC affiliate too, and it seems to me that the director doesn't seem to interested in the game, but more in watching the crowd.

[Kilroy]

Originally Posted by BainesHOF

Benetti is HORRIBLE...

No, he's not. He just gets on tangents and injects weak attempts at humor and that stuff bugs me.

I absolutely love him during Bowl Week doing college football. But there's so much going on during the football games that he doesn't have time to get into the inane stuff that drives me up the wall.

And side note, having met him, I really like him, he was great to talk with, very engaging.

Originally Posted by Rocky Soprano

"We hate Hawk."
"We hate Benetti."

Never hated Hawk, even when he lost some of his sharpness on the calls.

Originally Posted by MeteorsSox4367

Just some random thoughts...

I liked Hawk a great deal. When Eloy hit the HR, I even said to myself, 'He looks up...You can put it on the board!"

Same here. I just stood up from my couch and yelled "Way back!!"

[Rocky Soprano]

Originally Posted by Nellie_Fox

I'd give my opinion, but I'd just be an old man yelling at clouds.

Step 1 is admittance.

Completely joking. Honestly, love to hear your thoughts on this. I am honestly surprised people dislike Jason. He comes across pretty savy, while he does rant a bit I also think he is getting better. He's made some great calls this season and has show some passion so I really do like him.

[SaltyPretzel]

Originally Posted by Kilroy

But there's so much going on during the football games that he doesn't have time to get into the inane stuff that drives me up the wall.

That's the reason I think he'd be much better suited doing play-by-play on the radio.

I think it would be great if he replaced Farmer.

[Whitesox029]

Originally Posted by Nellie_Fox

I'd give my opinion, but I'd just be an old man yelling at clouds.

A visual to go with your reference.

[chisox59]

I think Jason and Steve have gotten better since they first started. Initially there was even more silliness than you see today. One thing I have noticed is the quality of the TV direction this year. I know the previous director of the telecasts retired after last year and his work was outstanding. This year the camera spends too much time on the guest being interviewed and not the action on the field. We don't need to constantly see them to get the gist of the subject matter being discussed. Jason/Steve need to realize that their first job is to cover the game but they seem to get wrapped up in the interview and let the play (if the camera is on it) describe itself. One of the worst was the "mustard man" interview. There was too much visual focus on him and not the game. I could have cared less about that interview. When I'm paying for MLB.TV I expect to see the game and not some quirky interview. I don't really care for the Sox Math, etc. but I realize their focus has to be on the future fans and not those of us who can easily relate to Elson and Brickhouse. It's much like the character races on the scoreboard (or in costume on the field) and the sound/visual effects (for the video game generation) between pitches. The younger generation seems to continually need something to focus on.

[shingo10]

I found the 1st inning of Giolito's start against the Cubs to be maddening in regards to the broadcast. Before he even threw a pitch Jason says something to the effect of "This park is one of the biggest signals of his turnaround as he was torched here in the 1st inning on May 13th of last year." And then as Giolito proceeds to pitch WORSE than he did last year they stayed with that angle and even had Chuck Garfein chime in on it. It was such a poorly timed plot line to try to push but it's like they had decided before the game they were going to do it no matter what.

[thomas35forever]

Is this thread for real? Sorry, but the Allens, Gowdys and Scullys are gone, and they're not coming back. New generations need new baseball voices to go with them, and Benetti fits the mold IMO. Bunch of old men yelling at clouds here.

[voodoochile]

Originally Posted by thomas35forever

Is this thread for real? Sorry, but the Allens, Gowdys and Scullys are gone, and they're not coming back. New generations need new baseball voices to go with them, and Benetti fits the mold IMO. Bunch of old men yelling at clouds here.

People are entitled to their opinions without being insulted. I'm tired of this reference. I get the joke. It's not that funny when directed at actual people....

Thanks...

[FielderJones]

I am fine with Benetti and Stone. I liked Hawk, but Benetti is a great upgrade from the last few years of Hawk. No problem with any of their humor or attempts to engage younger viewers.


And I'm an old man, too.

[Harry Chappas]

I think Jason and Stone are great and the Sox are lucky to have them.

I don’t want to live in a world where people hate Jason Benetti. Just a solid kid doing a great job and he’s getting better.