Okay, I may be a little hypocritical here...I actually enjoy some SOME sports radio when they are breaking news, and that is mostly breaking news about the Eagles. This time of year, with March Madness, provides for some of the stupidest radio.
For example, 97.5 the Phanatic has a "Field of 64" of phrases, sound effects, radio personalities, and callers. Some of the callers have their phrase incorporated as well. I heard one whole hour of it the other day while free agents everywhere in the NFL were getting signed and the Eagles signed some of their own. It would be nice to hear a discussion of the future of my local team. But instead I heard two crappy announcers debate if "what up?" should be allowed since Jose is already in the tournament. Who of you who listen to this actually care enough to vote about it? Then this past weekend I was running back and forth to the laundromat and heard a tournament of 32 wrestlers. A person would call in and give their choice over the pairing of a new school wrestler and an old school. There is no basis for any of these decisions and I am stuck listening to these two hack weekend announcers debating why the guy picked Randy Orton over Roddy Piper. We all know Piper would win anyway, but I don't want to hear it debated on my local sports radio when all 4 home teams are in the news.
So, that is just one minor thing I cannot stand, but that is seasonal. I also cannot stand the two sports radio stations during the summer when only baseball is the current sport. This is more of the callers than the shows as the shows will be dictated by what is going on with the Phillies. I cannot tolerate caller after caller saying the Phillies need more offense and this guy is the answer when he is doing good and he is not the answer when he is doing bad. Howard Eskin was my favorite during this time, because he would put an end to that type of drivel before his whole show was dominated by it. But alas, he is gone into radio obscurity now. 97.5 has "Talking Baseball with Dutch" that often turns into a recap of what Darren Daulton has been up to since his last weekly show and describing his resurgence in the public eye. It is quite dull if you ask me.
I cannot stand the following local sports radio personalities:
Anthony Gargano - The way he says "That's awesome cuz...aw that's awesome" really irritates me. A caller will talk about how one time Cliff Lee slapped him five and Anthony Gargano turns into a deep voiced shrill woman that I immediately change the channel on. I also do not like his deep sports history references. I understand they play to a wide demographic, and I accept that, but his deep gushing about these legends makes me want to vomit. When he goes on with these appreciation stories it sounds like one half of a couple that says stuff like "I love you shmoopie doopie loopie".
Tony Bruno - I understand he is supposed to be a light hearted yet tough guy. He has a national radio show where he is advertising sports talk but rather makes sexual innuendos all night with some haggard stripper by his side. If you are ever on the road between 10-11 p.m., you will listen and hope to hear something sports related. Tony, you are not a Howard Stern of sports, and some times he comes across as desperate in this show. However, during the day, his lunch time show is okay. Again, light hearted, but sometimes the guys around him and the subsequent interaction is too much for me to care about and follow.
Both stations' night shift guys - After the main afternoon/end of the day drive time guys are done, there seems like each station has a one hour, tune out to other things type of shows. I admit, I like the Mike Missanelli (sp?) show from 5:45 to 6. He does "Soundoff" where he will play voicemails and respond to them over the air. Sometimes you get the same thing, but I am interested his split second reactions. People do get carried away with this whole "is this a violation" thing. More on that later. What follows this usually interesting 15 minute block is some guy I have heard a hundred times but still cannot remember his name. I just know that I listen to him because he pisses me off. You know how you will hear a show or watch somebody on TV on purpose because he/she pisses you off? This is my current hate guy. He is so rude to callers and has this sort of nasally voice that has a splash of arrogance as well. He actually told a woman once she should just stay on her back all night rather than roll over to grab the phone to call him. I like shock, but not when it is not warranted.
ESPN Sports Center Radio from 5 to 6 a.m. - This Jay Glazer fellow has the WORST delivery of a news story. I do not need sarcasm in every story. I do not need your voice to go up and down more times than Russia's history of czars or any other type of roller coaster. He sounds like what I think the word "smarmy" means. That is what I really do not like about ESPN. Once Chris Berman came on to the scene, he had something witty to say. It was actually fresh and entertaining. But as he got older, so did his schtick. Combined with the fact that every person who sits in that studio does the same thing, all the way down to your syndicated radio reporter, I find ESPN to be intolerable.
I am fortunate to have options. I guess I should have started off by saying I do enjoy talk radio. No radio stations play the music I like, so that is why I have my iPod filled with a meniscus of mp3s. I only like talk radio I deem entertaining or informative. Rush Limbaugh calling some public figure a slut and spitting hate to democrats is not entertaining, and some for democratic radio. I love Howard Stern - though I realize his style has varied for even just the past 12 years I have heard him. When I have heard everything there is to hear of his show or he is in a commercial break, I go to these local sports radio shows for some relief. Alas, it tends to be during the times the above things I hate are on the radio. Or commercials. Oh THAT'S where Howard Eskin went!
You know what is weird? Amoebas. And New York Sports Radio. I get the (dis)honor of driving up to North Jersey quite frequently and I tune over there to hear about the New York Sports teams. They have basically two of every team for every major sport. The New York accents and abrasiveness can be too much at times, but overall they just talk sports with enough ball-busting done at a level where even the random to casual listener is in on it. However, their downfall, as an example, is one day I will tune in and immediately hear something like "Thank you for that stimulating call, Nunzio." I am sure it was not. They, too, suffer from the baseball boredom, and it is mostly about how old A-Rod and Jeter are and how fat Sabathia is.
You know who does sports radio right? NFL Radio on SiriusXM. Yes, they have their cast of callers and inside jokes, sometimes the over the top guffawing with laughter that seems forced, and silly what if scenarios. However, they also have legends, current players, former players, reporters, and informed callers. They do not allow one aspect of a major topic or a minor topic go on for too long. And some of the announcers can get you excited simply for a crackled "live via cell phone" interview.
It almost feels like, in Philadelphia at least, that anybody can have a show. I think 97.5 actually had a contest where a listener could get a one hour show for a year or something like that. If you hear some of these guys throughout the day talk on their shows, where they act like they are breaking new ground, it would sound just like those guys who talk at the gym rather than work out. It is bad enough I have to shower with those guys, let alone listen to them on the radio when all I want to hear about are my local teams.
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