Sports talk radio in VT- The Huddle

C4CRVT

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SoSH Member
Feb 29, 2008
3,076
Heart of the Green Mountains
I have a 40 minute commute- Essex to Stowe- in Vermont. There's a local radio station that does ESPN national stuff (Mike and Mike/ LeBatard / Russillo and Kanell) utill 4 then a 2-3 hour local broadcast. They pick up the Bruins, Red Sox and Patriots games in addition to the UVM hoop cats and have an AM sister station that they use for some other Fox sports talk and live sports casts.

The afternoon show (now called the Huddle) staple is Rich Haskell who's kind of a loveable loser type. He grew up in the Boston area. He's into Boston sports all the way, likes hockey, does PA at the local minor league baseball park, highly involved in local stuff. He's a really likeable guy. He's a little bit anti-saber or whatever but has a very good hands-on knowledge base of most sports.

His new partner is Arnie Spanier. I can't stand this guy. He's super obnoxious and seems to revel in it. He's from Brooklyn and is a Dolphins/Giants fan, Mets/Nicks. He is fairly knowledgeable but I can't freaking stand him. He spends half the show trolling Pats fans. I think he's on the Sunday 11pm fox national broadcast.

The guy he's replacing is AJ I think moved on to the Boston media market somewhere. He was fine.

They have some really good regular call in guests including VT native Buster Onley. The producer Brady Farkus is a young guy that I think does a nice job and is (despite being a Seattle fan) not at all obnoxious about the local teams.

Getting back to Arnie- any other SoSHers out there listen to the show? Is it just me? I want to write the start writing the show and suggest they find a replacement. I gave him a few months to see if I'd warm up to him. He's not smart enough to know how to poke fun at Boston fans in a funny and harmless way. He's just a totally obnoxious ass 90% of the time. I feel an urge to visit the station and kick him in the balls on an almost daily basis.

Why are we stuck with this asshat?
 

Bunt4aTriple

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Jul 15, 2005
4,348
North Yarmouth, ME
Arnie was in the Mikey Adams slot on the Fox Sports Radio a few years back. He was obnoxious, but not in a really malicious way, although he's likely more focused on Boston these days. Sounds like he got demoted and is taking it out on the locals.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Jan 23, 2009
20,676
Maine
Yeah, Arnie Spanier had a national show for a while...I want to say he was on the old Sporting News radio network and maybe Fox Sports after that. If he's now doing a local afternoon slot in Vermont, that's a big step down from where he was. That he's in a market that probably doesn't favor his roots probably only adds to his bitterness. No shock he'd be obnoxious about it.
 

Vinho Tinto

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Dec 9, 2003
7,047
Auburn, MA
Yeah, Arnie Spanier had a national show for a while...I want to say he was on the old Sporting News radio network....
That's where I remember him. SNR was on a AM station in Boston about 15 years ago. I remember Tony Bruno, Papa Joe Chevalier, and Nestor Aparacio as other hosts. I usually listened to their NFL show if I had to work on a gameday.

If he's now doing a local afternoon slot in Vermont, that's a big step down from where he was.
When Fox let Tony Bruno go, he did an interview and admitted that his options were pretty limited and he didn't know what he could do without taking a massive financial hit. There are a couple of local or national radio spots that pay well and then a massive pay drop.
 

Ramon AC

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Apr 19, 2002
3,234
What?
Ken Squier is a national treasure, but The Score isn't the same without Lee Kittell. I can't get 101.3, but I do get 1240 AM CBS sports radio when the weather's right, which afaik has no local sports programming. I also get WFAN in the car at night. Steve Somers there, me here