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Sports Radio Shakeups...


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Program director Bill Van Rysdam is gone; he's long been around the scene, both at KILT and KTRH. Rumored to be taking his place: Mark Vandermeer, the Houston Texans radio play-by-play guy and host of the station's morning show with Andre Ware, the Texans' radio analyst.

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/20...he_sports-t.php

The article states that Houston "doesn't really care all that much about sports talk radio." Would you say this is true?

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Even though I'm a sports fans, hardly any of my friends are (don't know why). Including those and other friends, I only know of two people who listen to sports talk radio.

If I'm in the car, it's pretty much mostly what I listen to. I'm not real sure if even sports fans in general care about sports talk radio. I don't think I'd be a good one to judge your question.

Do you know if they have any data to back up their claim that nobody in Houston cares?

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Just sampling my dozen or so close guy friends, all but 1 are sports fans, and 3 of us I would consider hard core sports fans. Only those 3 of us ever listen to sports talk radio, but we do it a lot. I catch Mike and Mike every morning, and switch between different things in the afternoon (MLB Home Plate, Doug Gottlieb, or any games that are on).

That being said, I'm so glad I have XM and am not stuck with the local affiliate (lack of) talent. I hate days when my carpool buddy drives and our options Carl somebody and Calvin Murphy in the afternoon. Completely useless and not the least bit entertaining. I used to listen to John and Lance back in the day, but there's not a chance I'd go local over Mike and Mike. They are more amusing, first of all, and second when they do have interviews it's way better than local crap.

Part of my sentiment is that I'm not tied to any Houston teams at all, and talk focusing on Texans, Rockets, or Astros is a great reason to not listen. I need broader coverage to stay entertained. So maybe that's something evident here, that Houston fans are not that great. They really aren't, save a few hard core locals. This is very evident going to Astros games, though I have heard Texans fans are good but haven't been to a game. Most of us are transplants who already had teams when we got here, so we don't care about an interview with the U of H basketball coach and never will. Local sports radio rules the real sports towns (Chicago, New York, Boston, St Louis, maybe a few more), here it best serves as a national affiliate.

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I'm a homer so I prefer local over national. Everyone has their own opinions and mine is that Mike/Mike are wannabees. Sure Golic is a former pro athlete but I still don't really like him.

I'm glad the radio stations are local-centric here. There's plenty of ESPN SI.com and other places to fill my national fancy. Plus, one can only take so much A-rod, Yankees, Boston and other teams I have no interest in.

However, I really do like national shows from Sporting News radio, especially Bob and Bob on the weekends.

My favorite local shows are the both afternoon/night shows.

Edited by lockmat
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I'm a homer so I prefer local over national. Everyone has their own opinions and mine is that Mike/Mike are wannabees. Sure Golic is a former pro athlete but I still don't really like him.

Wannabe what? They're far better interviewers than any local guys, not to mention the much higher quality of interviewees. Past that, hosting a radio show is about entertaining and sounding coherent and somewhat eloquent. Not sure what there is to want-to-be.

Of the local guys, Charlie Palillo is good. But if your station's best option for the drive-home hour is Calvin Murphy, that is pathetic.

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Wannabe what? They're far better interviewers than any local guys, not to mention the much higher quality of interviewees. Past that, hosting a radio show is about entertaining and sounding coherent and somewhat eloquent. Not sure what there is to want-to-be.

Of the local guys, Charlie Palillo is good. But if your station's best option for the drive-home hour is Calvin Murphy, that is pathetic.

To me, they have the feel that the "new guys" who came on to the scene after Sportscenter's prime time years. Remember how they way over did it trying to come up with their own "boo-yahs!" and "he put the biscuit into the basket!?" They just couldn't compare. Thankfully, they've settled into their own and stayed mostly away from that. I think a lot of it is in their tone of voice and their knowledge. It sounds like they're trying to be somebody they're not. Mostly, it just comes down to their opinions, which I don't agree with. But who knows, I haven't given them a lot of air time, so after listening to them for a while I could change my mind (like I did years ago with Rome, although I don't listen to him anymore either).

I really used to like it when Charlie and Rich were together on 610 but Charlie by himself now is just boooring and he's a little too uptight for sports. He needs to loosen up a little bit.

Who are your teams by the way?

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To me, they have the feel that the "new guys" who came on to the scene after Sportscenter's prime time years. Remember how they way over did it trying to come up with their own "boo-yahs!" and "he put the biscuit into the basket!?" They just couldn't compare. Thankfully, they've settled into their own and stayed mostly away from that. I think a lot of it is in their tone of voice and their knowledge. It sounds like they're trying to be somebody they're not. Mostly, it just comes down to their opinions, which I don't agree with. But who knows, I haven't given them a lot of air time, so after listening to them for a while I could change my mind (like I did years ago with Rome, although I don't listen to him anymore either).

I really used to like it when Charlie and Rich were together on 610 but Charlie by himself now is just boooring and he's a little too uptight for sports. He needs to loosen up a little bit.

Who are your teams by the way?

I completely agree with your analysis here, you are spot on. I listen to sports talk radio about 85% of the time I am in my truck.

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Sports radio is about the ONLY thing I listen to any more. Music radio here sucks big time (unless you enjoy hearing the same thing played over and over and over) and even though I consider myself a conservative I absolutely hate the constant negative vibes from Rush, Hannity and all the other blowhards. I like Charlie. The guy really knows his stuff. By the way, anyone know what happened to Craig Roberts on the morning 740 sports show?

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To me, they have the feel that the "new guys" who came on to the scene after Sportscenter's prime time years. Remember how they way over did it trying to come up with their own "boo-yahs!" and "he put the biscuit into the basket!?" They just couldn't compare. Thankfully, they've settled into their own and stayed mostly away from that. I think a lot of it is in their tone of voice and their knowledge. It sounds like they're trying to be somebody they're not. Mostly, it just comes down to their opinions, which I don't agree with. But who knows, I haven't given them a lot of air time, so after listening to them for a while I could change my mind (like I did years ago with Rome, although I don't listen to him anymore either).

I really used to like it when Charlie and Rich were together on 610 but Charlie by himself now is just boooring and he's a little too uptight for sports. He needs to loosen up a little bit.

Who are your teams by the way?

I disagree with Mike and/or Mike all the time. I just think they are much better at putting together a show than any local hacks when it comes down to interviews and guests, and especially just driving a discussion to an interesting place. Local hacks are still local because they constantly have those awkward moments where you're going "what the hell are you getting at here". There are plenty of pointless national guys too - like Colin Cowherd, who is completely annoying, and JT the brick, who is an idiot.

I listen to sports radio non-stop during baseball and football season, and in those 2 really crappy months where there is neither I force myself to take a break, which leaves me fresh when I come back to it.

I haven't listened to Charlie since it was Charlie and Rich, I had XM by the time he split off. So you could be right about Charlie being boring by himself. I used to listen to Jim Rome but the time slot just got more difficult to keep up with after my work cut off the streaming audio, so it's been years. I didn't like him at all at first, but after a while I loved it. I would imagine picking it up again today (after 6 years out of it) wouldn't be too difficult, he's probably exactly the same.

My teams are the Saints, White Sox, and anything LSU. But, for football and baseball I love to get complete national coverage (college especially for football, pro for both). I don't expect to get much of any coverage on my teams unless they are nationally relevant, and that's fine with me. I know all of the websites where I can get what I need for them. I do get annoyed when the networks crawl up the Red Sox and Patriots asses, some of the ESPN guys are way too homer for them.

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I disagree with Mike and/or Mike all the time. I just think they are much better at putting together a show than any local hacks when it comes down to interviews and guests, and especially just driving a discussion to an interesting place. Local hacks are still local because they constantly have those awkward moments where you're going "what the hell are you getting at here". There are plenty of pointless national guys too - like Colin Cowherd, who is completely annoying, and JT the brick, who is an idiot.

I listen to sports radio non-stop during baseball and football season, and in those 2 really crappy months where there is neither I force myself to take a break, which leaves me fresh when I come back to it.

I haven't listened to Charlie since it was Charlie and Rich, I had XM by the time he split off. So you could be right about Charlie being boring by himself. I used to listen to Jim Rome but the time slot just got more difficult to keep up with after my work cut off the streaming audio, so it's been years. I didn't like him at all at first, but after a while I loved it. I would imagine picking it up again today (after 6 years out of it) wouldn't be too difficult, he's probably exactly the same.

My teams are the Saints, White Sox, and anything LSU. But, for football and baseball I love to get complete national coverage (college especially for football, pro for both). I don't expect to get much of any coverage on my teams unless they are nationally relevant, and that's fine with me. I know all of the websites where I can get what I need for them. I do get annoyed when the networks crawl up the Red Sox and Patriots asses, some of the ESPN guys are way too homer for them.

I think the local guys do a decent job at conducting interviews, but I definitely understand where you're coming from. I meant to comment on that before but forgot. The national shows do tend to have more of a "plan", contrary to the locals which are more caller driven and go whatever is most popular with the audience that day. To me, local is more like a conversation, a dialogue. National is like a monologue. But yeah, the national guys do a very good job a doing interviews and having a plan and staying on topic. You can tell they've really done their research and have a focus when they're talking, even if I disagree with it. You can tell it how they have those hooks right before commercial breaks that make you want to keep on listening, like the tv news stations do.

As to Jim Rome...yes, he's more or less the same from what I can tell. However, some major differences. He now talks nascar and considers soccer a sport. Those are two MAJOR swings for him. He's still pretty harsh but he's lightened up a lot in the past 5-10 years. It seems like the clones have gotten much better too. No longer are they even trying to sound like Jim Rome and use his tone of voice. Even though they're still clones they seem to be staying truer to themselves.

How did you become a Sox fan?

Speaking of the Red Sox and Patriots, I thought I'd bring up Bill Simmons. The dude is funny. But honestly, is it possible for him to write about anything other than a Boston sports team? It's as if they're the only teams that exist. His following is already huge but I would think it'd be even bigger if he could come out of his bubble every once and a while.

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As to Jim Rome...yes, he's more or less the same from what I can tell. However, some major differences. He now talks nascar and considers soccer a sport. Those are two MAJOR swings for him. He's still pretty harsh but he's lightened up a lot in the past 5-10 years. It seems like the clones have gotten much better too. No longer are they even trying to sound like Jim Rome and use his tone of voice. Even though they're still clones they seem to be staying truer to themselves.

What!? He's gone mad in his old age maybe. I think I listened through the glory days of the clones and smackoffs. I sort of enjoyed the idiocy of it all. Does he still do tour stops/

How did you become a Sox fan?

Nothing complicated - there was no team in Louisiana, and although the Astros were on the radio in BR, I never really got to like them because they played on turf and their colors sucked (what? I was 10-12 yrs old!). Not many games were on TV back around 1990-ish, it was mostly the Braves and WGN. Well, I didn't like the Braves because Dale Murphy didn't play any more, so when it came down to choosing Cubs or White Sox, I went with the better team (at the time) and cooler uniforms. Jack McDowell, Frank Thomas just starting, Alex Fernandez - and I'm sure the rest of the country hates him, but there's no better homer TV broadcaster than Hawk Harrelson (if you're a Sox fan, and Ed Farmer on the radio is another awesome homer). All it takes is a few years following a team when you're 10-13 years old and you're hooked for life.

Speaking of the Red Sox and Patriots, I thought I'd bring up Bill Simmons. The dude is funny. But honestly, is it possible for him to write about anything other than a Boston sports team? It's as if they're the only teams that exist. His following is already huge but I would think it'd be even bigger if he could come out of his bubble every once and a while.

I agree with this 100%. I can't read Bill Simmons most of the time, but have to sometimes because I know there will be some humor in there. Although, I did really like his piece on Manny last week. Not humorous, more of a thoughtful read.

Edited by 20thStDad
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What!? He's gone mad in his old age maybe. I think I listened through the glory days of the clones and smackoffs. I sort of enjoyed the idiocy of it all. Does he still do tour stops/

Nothing complicated - there was no team in Louisiana, and although the Astros were on the radio in BR, I never really got to like them because they played on turf and their colors sucked (what? I was 10-12 yrs old!). Not many games were on TV back around 1990-ish, it was mostly the Braves and WGN. Well, I didn't like the Braves because Dale Murphy didn't play any more, so when it came down to choosing Cubs or White Sox, I went with the better team (at the time) and cooler uniforms. Jack McDowell, Frank Thomas just starting, Alex Fernandez - and I'm sure the rest of the country hates him, but there's no better homer TV broadcaster than Hawk Harrelson (if you're a Sox fan, and Ed Farmer on the radio is another awesome homer). All it takes is a few years following a team when you're 10-13 years old and you're hooked for life.

I agree with this 100%. I can't read Bill Simmons most of the time, but have to sometimes because I know there will be some humor in there. Although, I did really like his piece on Manny last week. Not humorous, more of a thoughtful read.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure he still does the stops. You're right, the callers are kind of crazy and it kind of makes them funny. I worry though how they are in real life.

I totally understand the Sox story and it's completely acceptable in my opinion.

Yeah, the manny piece was pretty decent, however, did you get the feeling that it was completely made up or at least embellished? No way his son at 6 years old knows that much and came to those conclusions.

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Yeah, the manny piece was pretty decent, however, did you get the feeling that it was completely made up or at least embellished? No way his son at 6 years old knows that much and came to those conclusions.

The 6 year old kid dialogue and knowledge was a huge stretch, but focusing on the adults' answers and reaction I found myself wondering how we're going to look back on this era once it's a few years down the road. We don't know yet. Baseball is weird. Ban a gambler for life, worship the drunk wife abusers.

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The 6 year old kid dialogue and knowledge was a huge stretch, but focusing on the adults' answers and reaction I found myself wondering how we're going to look back on this era once it's a few years down the road. We don't know yet. Baseball is weird. Ban a gambler for life, worship the drunk wife abusers.

You're right, the adults' answers were intriguing. Good last sentence.

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I like listening to 610 in the afternoons because, while Matt Jackson seems somewhat buffoonish to me, the interaction between him and Rich is entertaining. I like the fact that the show isn't polished like the national shows because I like the feel of just a couple of guys sitting on the couch BS-ing. Adding in the local calls creates a wide range of opinions being presented as well.

As far as Simmons, I like reading his pieces because while I don't root for the same teams he does, I can easily relate to the passion that he feels for his teams. That is why ESPN brought him on in the first place, not to be another do-it-all reporter, but to provide a passionate fan's perspective. To do that, his pieces have to focus on the teams he cares about. His job was never meant to be broad. I've been reading his stuff since he joined up at ESPN and I hardly miss it.

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I like listening to 610 in the afternoons because, while Matt Jackson seems somewhat buffoonish to me, the interaction between him and Rich is entertaining. I like the fact that the show isn't polished like the national shows because I like the feel of just a couple of guys sitting on the couch BS-ing. Adding in the local calls creates a wide range of opinions being presented as well.

As far as Simmons, I like reading his pieces because while I don't root for the same teams he does, I can easily relate to the passion that he feels for his teams. That is why ESPN brought him on in the first place, not to be another do-it-all reporter, but to provide a passionate fan's perspective. To do that, his pieces have to focus on the teams he cares about. His job was never meant to be broad. I've been reading his stuff since he joined up at ESPN and I hardly miss it.

That makes sense, thanks. I know he does draft blogs and does go off topic every once and a while, but I just wish he'd be funny about something else. That's the selfishness in me.

Maybe it'll be more even more entertaining to me once the Boston teams start stinkin' it up.

and oh yeah...what's your opinion on this sheeats??

Edited by lockmat
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