re: Unpopular opinion: Jim Hawthorn > Chris Blair

I listened to Jim Hawthorne call LSU games from a radio that was perched outside my college dorm in Houston. I caught his games out in West Texas and knew him personally as my parents next door neighbor. JH put forth emotion into his broadcasts.

Anytime, I picked up the radio broadcast, I could reasonably guess how the Tigers were doing just by the inflections in his voice. By 2012, any games playing after 9 pm was way past Hawthorne’s bedtime.

Hawthorn was always an LSU fan calling games on the radio professionally.

Blair is a radio professional hired by LSU to call games for them.

I was destroyed for posting this.

Blair is generic and lacking emotion. Sounds forced

I have never liked Blair. It’s just not LSU. It’s not Louisiana. I have friends from Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, and Mississippi that used to call me after games and almost convert to Tiger fans just because of Hawthorne’s calls. People all over the country loved the guy because he loved his job and was so enthusiastic about it. Blair just seems like he is forcing himself to be a Tiger fan. Back when not all the games were on tv for those of us who remember, I would go outside and sit in my truck and listen to the whole game. I love listening to the games on the radio, especially when Hawthorne calls it. I could care less with Blair about listening to the radio or the highlights. To put it bluntly, Blair sucks and his forced LSU fandom does too.

If we could find someone as enthusiastic as the guy that does the Spanish call we might have something.

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He constantly screwed up calls ("Jack Hunt!!!")

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So one call in his career?

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. I love listening to the games on the radio, especially when Hawthorne calls it. I could care less with Blair about listening to the radio or the highlights. To put it bluntly, Blair sucks and his forced LSU fandom does too.

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I said it when it all went down, for this very reason: LSU needed to hire from within because the element of having a "fan" as your broadcaster would be lost if they hired an outsider, and that's what happened. Of the in-house finalists, Hanagriff loves LSU and has since he was a kid. P Wright loves LSU and has been hanging around calling all the sports almost as long...or actually longer than Hanny. I'm pretty sure both have at least 1 degree from LSU. Maybe they don't have as professional and "perfect" a voice as Blair, but they damn sure have loved the Tigers for a long time and we wouldn't be having this discussion if one of them had gotten the job.

Not sure it's unpopular. I much prefer Hawthorne.

Of course but it’s a different era. I haven’t listened to a game since Hawthorne retired. In the 80/90s though radio was often the only way to tune in. Except forJefferson Pilot, which was not that great. I remember my dad listening to the games in the carport while he shined his shoes. Hawthorne’s approach was for that medium - imprecise, emotional, and interspersed with historical context.

When the other team made a good play or we caught a bad break Hawthorne would use a flat, factual, slightly disappointed tone. He was competitive. If he got excited and messed up a call - it was more in line with watching a game In the stadium, without the repetitive instant replays that are half of what’s on TV now. Like Coach O he was an LSU fan first and foremost.