Voice: Not Just for TV and Radio Announcers

All great sports announcers have their own distinct voice. Whether they’re giving the play-by-play or commentary on the television or the radio, they maintain their voice throughout their careers. And I’m not just talking about what their voices sound like. It’s the tone, the language, the word choice and the unique phrases they use that made them famous and distinguishable.

Ken “the Hawk” Harrelson, a long-time White Sox television announcer, could easily say that the bases are loaded. Instead, he uses his own catchy phrase, “the sacks are packed with Sox.” Or whenever there’s a White Sox homerun, you hear his distinct cheer of “You can put it on the boooooard…YES!”

The written voice is no different (…minus the vocal aspect of voice). Writers use their “voice” to convey their character through the written word. There is a blog called South Side Sox that does an excellent job of showing examples of written voice. The blog itself actually has a few writers, and with each one, you can sense a different tone and style of writing.

One specific post starts us off on a catchy and clever note with the title “Sahx Sweep Sawx, Streak to Six,” playing off of the pronunciation of “Sox” with the stereotypical accents in Chicago and Boston, respectively. The play on words and alliteration grab the readers’ attention with gusto. At least it did for me! I assumed going into reading the post that it would be very witty and smart, and I was not let down. Along the same lines of it being smartly written, it was definitely written for the informed White Sox fan. Only an informed fan would know that “Stoney” refers to Steve Stone, one of the White Sox television announcers, and Q is short for Carlos Quentin.

He maintained his catchy voice from title to end, which really helped round out and conclude it. After he explained how the White Sox beat and swept the Red Sox, he said

Superb! That’s a bingo!

Enjoy the day off tomorrow, if you got it.

Detroit coming up in a few hours.

It was a crisp, smart, straight-to-the-point conclusion that let the reader know he was done, but left us ready for more.

Another post in the South Side Sox blog with a strong voice was called “Bizarro World (An August White Sox Review).” The voice of this author was above all things sarcastic, and bitter as well. The best example of this was in the passage that read:

Try this one on for size. The White Sox led the majors  AL in runs for the month of August. Like the sound of that? I do. Haven't heard that in awhile.  Normally such info would cause even Mayor Daley to run through the streets of Chicago naked…

By using the strikeout technique on the word “majors,” the writer is indirectly mentioning and practically mocking the fact that the White Sox only led the American League in runs in August and not the National League as well. The excessive sarcasm that followed led to the unfortunate explanation of how even though the White Sox led the AL in runs, they still had an under .500 record for the month.

He solidified his bitter sarcasm with a simple “hooray.” Period. By placing a period after this usually joyous celebration of a word, he is removing all excitement from the word, which gives it a mocking tone. He then stated, “We now take an intermission for a rant.....” once again confirming his harsh voice.

Both of these voices work well with the topic of baseball. The witty and clever writing keeps the fans intrigued and entertained, while the sarcastic tone can often reflect the feelings of the fans when the team isn’t playing so great. A sweet and happy voice when writing about a team playing under .500 in a month would probably not sit well with angry fans. A slightly bitter attitude, however, would mirror and validate the fans’ outlook.

Let’s hope we don’t need any more angry posts this season…