CHICAGO -- Brooks Boyer recently presided over a rolling blackout in Chicago that brought about intense excitement and South Side pride in the city as opposed to fear and trepidation.

He soon could be part of the official search for a new White Sox radio announcer, as Boyer enters his sixth season as the team's innovative vice president and chief marketing officer.

The one-time Notre Dame basketball standout, who was part of the opposition during the first time Michigan's Fab Five started together as freshmen in the same lineup back in the 1991-92 season, took the time recently to talk with MLB.com. Boyer addressed topics ranging from the Sox Pride Blackout's success to the state of the organization's broadcasting teams.

Here is that conversation.

MLB.com: You tried the whole "White Sox Pride Blackout" plan with the fans during the American League Central tiebreaker against the Twins and then carried it over against the Rays during two home games in the American League Division Series. Were you satisfied with how it worked?

Boyer: The way that the season came together at the end, to have that game [against the Twins] that had so much meaning ... the fact was that the Monday [makeup] game [against Detroit] ended, and as soon as that Monday game ended, we went on sale with tickets and sold them out in an hour. Therefore, it was all White Sox fans.

Lou Hernandez [White Sox director of public relations] and I talked about it on that Sunday, and we had T-shirts made up that said "Sox Pride Blackout" on them. They were going out to all the media as soon as we won and the [makeup] game was going to be played. So, we got the word out and our fans responded.

It was such a powerful thing that when we went down to [St. Petersburg], e-mails and phone calls came in telling us, "You have to continue this." It was the postseason, where every game, every pitch matters. It seemed to work.

I don't know if it now becomes a White Sox thing all season long. You certainly can't do it, at least to me. There's not a game in the regular season, as I look back on the schedule ... whether it's a Yankees game on the weekend or a Cubs game or a random Angels game on a Saturday in September, it just doesn't have the same emotion.

MLB.com: You don't want to turn this special idea into something mundane.

Boyer: It has to be when there's something on the line. The games where we had the blackouts, you had everything on the line there. That's why I think it worked so well.

MLB.com: In regard to the broadcast aspect of things looking toward 2009, have you heard anything from Darrin Jackson? Has he decided on the offer to move from the television booth to radio broadcasts with Ed Farmer?

Boyer: No. There's no deadline right now. We certainly haven't put a deadline on DJ. He's looking at a couple of things, and he's going to get back to us in the next couple of weeks. At the same time, we kind of have an idea what direction we might want to go if DJ doesn't come back. So, obviously our hope is that DJ is here, but we have to cover our bases as well.

We have some ideas of people we would reach out to in the event that DJ doesn't come back.

MLB.com: We talked last year at about this time concerning Jackson's impressive development in the booth and the positive work Hawk Harrelson did with him to foster a team feeling. So, was it the All-Star television combination of Hawk and Steve Stone simply being too enticing in regard to the change?

Boyer: It had very little to do with Darrin's ability. It had a lot more to do with Steve Stone being in the market and willing to take on that role. As DJ and I talked about and DJ even said, "I get it. I understand it." Here's a guy [Jackson] who played a lot of years on one-year contracts, and when there is someone who comes in, you are competing for your job.

It's certainly no knock on DJ. Steve is very accomplished in this market and he's very, very good. So, that's why DJ has other opportunities -- and we certainly are helping him with those opportunities, with the hope that he would want to come back and do radio.

There was never a time where it was, "Hawk and DJ aren't working. We have to find a different direction." It's just something that evolved with Steve Stone, where there's something in the market that we think brings a little bit more to the broadcast than maybe DJ would.

MLB.com: And if you didn't have some sort of affinity for Jackson's work, you wouldn't have offered him the radio job.

Boyer: We think highly of him. Darrin is part of us. He cut his teeth broadcasting here. He was a player here. Our fans know him. Ed knows him, and I think they would work very well together. It's a different medium, so there would be a little bit of a learning curve. But getting right into it, you aren't going to miss much of a beat.

MLB.com: Since DJ hasn't even made his decision yet, I'm guessing you aren't going to give out names being considered for the radio job. Will these people you are reaching out to have White Sox connections? Will they possibly be some of the people you talked to last time (before hiring Chris Singleton for radio work)?

Boyer: We've got a list of people in mind, who we think we can partner with Ed Farmer, who can make a very good broadcast sticking to our three philosophies. Those are teaching the game, paint the picture for the fan who is listening on the radio and ultimately sell the experience of coming to a game. These guys are mouthpieces to our fans.

We will put someone in with Ed that can build chemistry the way Steve did. He did a great job of building an instant rapport with Ed and vice versa [in 2008]. We'll find someone who can hopefully do that.

MLB.com: Is the plan to have Farmer continue on as your radio play-by-play man?

Boyer: It depends on the candidate we get. Ed will have a major play-by-play role. At a minimum, he would have [innings] one through three and then six through nine. So, if we find someone who has the ability to call the game, they could do those middle three and then slide over and do some analysis. We could do that.

We are not looking for a No. 2 guy or a pure analyst. We are looking for the person who can help us put the best broadcast out to our fans.

MLB.com: Stone is considered, if not the best, then one of the best analysts in the business. Hawk is one of the game's most colorful announcers, a White Sox institution and a real character in the game. They worked a few games together in 2007, but do you feel their styles will mesh well over the course of a full season?

Boyer: That remains to be seen, but my feeling is that you put someone as accomplished as Steve in with someone as accomplished as Hawk ... it's a small booth for those two guys.

But I think they both realize the potential of their pairing. I think that as they go along, they will build that rapport. The week they worked together (in 2007) was really, really good. Can they keep that level up the entire season? That's ultimately going to be up to them. I think putting those two guys together certainly gives us a heck of a tandem in the TV booth.

MLB.com: I didn't hear much of the TV broadcasts, but from what I was told, during the games that meant the most, the really important ones down the stretch for the White Sox, Hawk got quite fired up during parts of the broadcasts. He's just as prone to criticize his team if he feels it deserves it, or even hand out well-earned compliments to the opposition. But is his criticism of umpires at times, let's say, just part of the whole Hawk entertainment experience? Or do you ever talk to him about cutting back on some of the personal infusion?

Boyer: You know, Hawk has been doing this for a long time. And for us to ... he's the type of guy who you don't want to put a harness on and say, "Do it this way" or "Do it that way." We've tried with our broadcasters to let them be them. If you are trying to create a new personality, then it's not the person we ultimately hired.

Our White Sox fans know how passionate Hawk is about the team. He's certainly not shy to give his opinions. If he went back and watched his games, he would probably say the same thing. There are times where you are like, "Ok, Hawk. Let it go. It's time to let it go." And he hammers on it. That's part of his passion. It's part of him caring. So you roll with it.

He has a lot of people critiquing him, and I think he listens. He has friends and people in this office that he respects, who will say, "Gosh, did you really need to do that?" He takes criticism, constructive criticism, very well. When we talk about those types of things, he takes it to heart. But some time the fan in him will come out.

That's what you get when you have Hawk. I think with Steve next year, some of those things are going to be defrayed because Steve can get back right on track in breaking down the game and Hawk can cool out a little bit.

MLB.com: People talk about Ron Santo being a fan on the Cubs radio broadcast, and obviously, he's there for a far different purpose then Hawk. But Hawk has that same sort of passion and feeling for the White Sox, even though he didn't play for the White Sox.

Boyer: What Hawk brings to our broadcast is significantly more, with no disrespect to Ron Santo, because that's not his role.

Ron and Hawk, people might call them both homers, but what Hawk brings to our broadcast is significantly more than Ron Santo brings to the Cubs broadcast. Hawk is calling the game, and Ron is reacting to the TV monitor. When you put Steve in with [Hawk], Steve will be doing the analysis and then you get the conversation going and it's a lot of experience in that broadcast booth -- on the field and in the booth. It's going to be able to paint the picture a little better.

MLB.com: Final question: Will the "Go Go White Sox" song live on into 2009?

Boyer: All the things we do here ... when we did the "Blackout," the only reason we kept it going was the reaction of the fans. When we started "Go Go White Sox" in '05, the reaction of the fans is what kept it going. You play that after we beat Minnesota or Detroit or Cleveland, and the fans still react to it positively.

It's not necessarily a theme song. It's a little bit of a rallying cry. We try not to overuse it. You use it in the right spot, and fans react. Now, the next generation of fans, my kids, they know the words to that song. It's great to see kids grab on to it. It's great to see the younger generation grab on to it.

MLB.com: One truly final question: Is [U.S. Cellular Field organist] Nancy Faust back again?

Boyer: She is. It's the same deal as last [season], and she's very happy.