Guillen's son makes his own name as broadcaster

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Ozzie Guillen Jr., standing outside the United Center, does his homework before a broadcast.

Updated: December 10, 2010 2:42AM

Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen may be pegged as a wild card in the major-league baseball world. But his son Ozzie Guillen Jr., 26, is all business. Especially when talking about his role as color commentator for Spanish-language radio broadcasts of the Chicago Bulls.

"I do plenty of research before each game," said Guillen, who insists the fast-paced game of pro basketball requires it. "The more prepared you are, the better the broadcast will be.''

Guillen carefully studies the opposing team's bench. "You have to know something about all the players so you can talk knowledgeably when substitutions are made on the spur of the moment," explained Guillen, now in his second season of doing color for at least 25 Bulls home games broadcast in Spanish on WRTO-AM (1200), known as La Tremenda. Guillen works alongside play-by-play announcer Omar Ramos, whom Guillen describes as a "big Chicago voice." Occasionally, Guillen will switch off and do the play-by-play while Ramos does the commentary.

Though he was raised in a baseball family, Guillen said he's a big Bulls fans. "I grew up listening to Bulls games when we were in Chicago, and my father was playing for the White Sox."

Guillen maintains he's not alone in his love for the Bulls among young Chicago Hispanics. "A lot of second-generation Latinos who are 15 to 30 years old have grown up here following the team," explained Guillen, who credits superstar Michael Jordan for boosting interest within the Latino community.

Although there are no Hispanic players currently on the Bulls roster, Guillen said his favorite player is Joakim Noah. "He's got heart," Guillen said.

Basketball might not be as popular as baseball or soccer in much of South America, but in countries such as Brazil and Argentina, basketball is huge, Guillen said. And he applauds the NBA for doing a good job helping cultivate the Hispanic market throughout Latin America.

The unique jargon of basketball has not been a problem for Guillen. Most of the language used in the game can be readily translated into Spanish, and for words or phrases that don't have a direct Spanish equivalent, like "slam dunk," Guillen simply speaks them in English. "Our audience knows what I'm talking about," said Guillen.

Guillen got the nod to do the Bulls broadcasts after he started doing Spanish-language radio broadcasts of upwards of 50 White Sox games on La Tremenda during the 2006 season. Because he had lived around baseball for so long, he slipped smoothly into the role of radio commentator. "Baseball is also a much slower-paced game than basketball, which makes my job doing Bulls games a lot easier," he said.

Guillen actually got his first big break in radio early in 2006 at sports talk WSCR-AM (670), where program director Mitch Rosen put him on the air as co-host with Hector Molina of a Sunday night talk show called "Latino Baseball Chicago," which continues to air during the baseball season. Molina also did White Sox radio broadcasts in Spanish in the 1990s. Rosen said he had a hunch Guillen would be good on air. "He has a lot of personality and is very charismatic," said Rosen. "Plus he knows the game of baseball."

Now that Guillen has demonstrated he can handle both baseball and basketball, his goal is to add the Chicago Bears to his repertoire. "I would hope one day to be able to do all three of these big sports in Chicago," said Guillen. At the moment, the Bears don't have radio broadcasts in Spanish, and so far Guillen hasn't been privy to any discussions about adding them.

Could Guillen see himself on TV, too- "Sure, but I'd probably have to dress up more and do less talking because people can see what you're talking about on television," he noted.