Kirk and Callahan: Done
- Thread starter Vinho Tinto
- Start date
radio alarm sounded on this morning to Gerry Callahan saying "These Republican yada yada yada..."
I saw a bit of the 'Best of' NESN show the other night...and good lord does Meter have a punchable face.
Meter is a walking/talking cliche of a sports radio host. He is awful on BC football, yet so proud of his catchphrase "take a bow" and other absurd lines, that I think he believes that is a key to success. I'll never forget a sportsflash he replayed a few years ago, with evident pride, with his call of a revolution soccer goal by saying "Twellman puts the biscuit in the basket." Just terrible.
He had other gems such as:
"The munchkin is in the mesh!"
and
"The scone's in the zone!"
Holy shit really? That's worse than Swishalicious and a text message from Teixeira.
This morning Dennis wanted to know why black people pronounce the word "ask" as "ax".
You'll have to excuse him, all words sounds strange when they aren't pronounced with a mouth full of food.
he has pretty much been laughing and poking fun at himself for these calls for the past 5 or so years
I only keep D & C on because a.) I don't get a 98.5 signal, and b.) I don't want to miss anything that might happen. I say the following with the caveat that it very likely could be all shtick and not what they really feel, but their distaste for every sport but basketball and golf is really off-putting. They constantly mock people who don't want to hear about their "water cooler topics" with a sarcastic "LET'S TALK BRUINS!" or "LET'S DO BOX SCORE TALK!", and then when the Bruins are coming on strong and making a playoff push they all of a sudden change their tune. Not that their Bruins or Red Sox talk is ever insightful or does anything more than scratch the surface. I've heard both of them break down football very well, but then as soon as they realize that they're actually starting to sound intelligent about it they say "Well we don't want to be like those JOCK SNIFFERS from 2 to 6!" and change the subject. I don't know how in the world they can be #1 in Boston as they claim, and frankly I think their shtick is better suited to Mike Adams' time slot. Baseball is for nerds, football is for meatheads, and hockey is for neanderthals, if you ask them.
I had an analogy for the pre-2/28/11 lineup on EEI. I always thought of Dale & Holley as the kids who sat in the front of the class, paid attention, did their homework... were a little arrogant about how intelligent they are, but mostly good people who didn't stir up trouble. The Big Show guys were the jocks who sat in the back... good students when they applied themselves, but it was mostly spitballs and wedgies. Sometimes funny, sometimes not. Mike Adams obviously is the class clown. Not a bad guy, but a D+ student because he's more concerned about fart jokes. And D & C are the kids who skip school so they can throw rocks at the buses.
Yet, for some reason... "it works", as they'd be all too happy to tell you if you dare speak up against them.
I had an analogy for the pre-2/28/11 lineup on EEI. I always thought of Dale & Holley as the kids who sat in the front of the class, paid attention, did their homework... were a little arrogant about how intelligent they are, but mostly good people who didn't stir up trouble. The Big Show guys were the jocks who sat in the back... good students when they applied themselves, but it was mostly spitballs and wedgies. Sometimes funny, sometimes not. Mike Adams obviously is the class clown. Not a bad guy, but a D+ student because he's more concerned about fart jokes. And D & C are the kids who skip school so they can throw rocks at the buses.
Yet, for some reason... "it works", as they'd be all too happy to tell you if you dare speak up against them.
So are D&C going to go through the whole season dropping different syllables from Saltalamacchia's name? Today he was Saltamacchia. I can see how it might be hard for them to get the entire name out in one breath.
Anyone catch them going on and on about how no one is gunna watch the NCAA finals tonight because it comes on so late? I was shocked one of the producers finally clued them in that the rest of the world doesn't go to bed at 9PM.
Better than Schilling, who for some reason used the occasion to call and rail over why Bin Laden's corpse was disposed of in a way that wouldn't offend islamic traditions in that area. And then went on to make some snarky comment about how Obama couldn't blame the Bush administration for this. Dennis, in rare moment of clartity for him, pretty much understood and acknowledged the tactical value of not going out our way to make Bin Laden a martyr, and seemed to be genuinely happy about the news, and complimentary to everyone involved in the operation.
Fairly well, actually, and I'm not a fan. I mean, there's the perfunctory dig at Obama, but nothing serious. Mostly praising the troops, and deservedly so. Weirdest moment (I think) was Schilling calling in saying he's pissed that the body was dumped at sea. Really Schilling, really? What a blowhard that guy is. In the memorable words of some movie character, "this ain't f..ing checkers man, this is chess."
Edit: Ach Cornwalls, too fast for me.
Schilling should be happy that the blood of Osama may make its way into his plankton source. That would be super-Patriotic meal for Mr. Schilling.
I just listened to him.
Good lord, he is an asshole. Forget the burial issue for a second...why the hell is he politicizing this? Jesus.
EDIT - After ten years, and some people still don't understand how the prosecute this war. The physical, macho metaphors 'they punch us in the face and kick us in the balls, and we just punch them in the face!' are not helpful. It seems pretty obvious that sheer force isn't gonna solve any problems; if it did, we would've been out of Iraq within a month.
I'm not trying to go V and N, but Schilling is a fucking moron. He cannot help but make this another talking point.
Good lord, he is an asshole. Forget the burial issue for a second...why the hell is he politicizing this? Jesus.
EDIT - After ten years, and some people still don't understand how the prosecute this war. The physical, macho metaphors 'they punch us in the face and kick us in the balls, and we just punch them in the face!' are not helpful. It seems pretty obvious that sheer force isn't gonna solve any problems; if it did, we would've been out of Iraq within a month.
I'm not trying to go V and N, but Schilling is a fucking moron. He cannot help but make this another talking point.
It was a one off really. Just today is probably the one day two Irish guys from the area (especially with the Howie Carr tie in due to the common Entercom ownership) are going to have better radio than T&R without a doubt.
Flipped over for a few minutes to hear some replacements talking emphatically about boxing. I think I'd rather heil KKKallahan.
My tv was still on NESN this morning and I turned it on just in time to hear them debating Brady vs. Manning.
Did they mention that Aaron Rodgers is better than the both of them? That fuckin' debate is so 2007.
Really? After last season, you're going to say that that definitively?
http://footballoutsiders.com/stats/qb
By any standard metric outside of passing yards, which Rodgers had 22 more last year, Brady was better. He had more TDs, INTs, TD:INT, Completions, Completion %, and a better QB rating. And that's looking at raw stats. If you look at the advanced metrics, which account for the Packers incredible receiving corp, then Brady blows Rodgers out of the water. By advanced metrics, Brady had the best year a QB has ever had last year, and the only year that was even close was his own 2007 campaign.
Yeah, do you really believe that? It was a great year, but do you really believe 2010 was the best year EVER by a quarterback?
I'm sure this will go over here really well, but the Marconi nominations came out yesterday, and guess who are nominated for Major Market Personality of the Year?
That's the only nomination for WEEI. Sports Hub, however, was nominated for Sports Station of the Year.
That's the only nomination for WEEI. Sports Hub, however, was nominated for Sports Station of the Year.
Pretty sure he was talking in terms of regular season numbers. But every year there are a lot of people who declare the Super Bowl winning quarterback the best quarterback in the game which is the natural extrapolation of your point.
Yeah. Those numbers only refer to his regular season. But even if I don't agree that it's the best (despite FO's metrics), it's one of the top 5, I think, and the point I was making was that it was silly to say so emphatically that Aaron Rodgers is better than Tom Brady when Brady had just put up such an absurd year.
Ya know, I can understand people listening to D&C on the radio in their cars for sports talk and debate. But what is with the idea of having a TV show on NESN for them? Watching a bunch of middle aged guys in a radio booth talking sports without highlights is not what I call interesting TV. It adds nothing that the radio show has and I just dont understand the appeal. I know its been done before, but at least someone like Howard Stern used to have half naked women to look at.
So, I got in the car yesterday morning and the dial was still tune to WEEI. D&C were midway through a bit where they were playing a male enhancement drug commercial and riffing on it. It was forced, unfunny, and for a moment I was really confused as to what show I was listening to.
I guess they've gotten the early results from the listener surveys and are putting them to 'good' use.
I guess they've gotten the early results from the listener surveys and are putting them to 'good' use.
So I saw on Twitter that Larry David was going to be on D&C so I switched over for the first time in forever. Brutal interview. They spent 5 minutes rattling off Steroid Era baseball players asking him if they should be in the Hall of Fame. He finally said he thinks this is out of his territory. All I could think of is how much better this interview would have been with Toucher and Rich. No chemistry whatsoever, and Dennis is just brutal when it comes to asking questions and directing the interview.
There were some cringe worthy questions but after last weeks Curb episode the Hall of Fame kind of made sense.
I considered tuning in hoping that they'd be ranting about 98 Mile's destruction of the station yesterday.
The thing is that I don't know if Dennis is just toeing the company line or if he doesn't realize that he's on the starting five for the Washington Generals. If nothing else, someone at Entercom should tell him to stop using Twitter because it makes him even less likeable than he already is (if that is possible). I don't know why, but I seem to be enjoying watching D&C and Ordway flounder far more than I should. They've been so smug and condescending for so long that I am actually hoping that they get humbled when they initiate their next contact negotiations and publicly decry what an insult their pay cut/non-renewal is as they accept it with hat in hand.
I also made the mistake of listening to their podcast of the "Big Announcement" on Thursday and it was just a bunch of contrived BS about how the FM simulcast will solve all of the world's problem. Whatever you say guys...
John Dennis claiming that 850 + Providence station + NESN + the other 5-6 stations that 850 simulcasts throughout New England = victory over lone 98.5 signal in Boston is awesome. Talk about dense.
I was on a crowded Fenway Park elevator this summer at the same time as Dennis and a couple of his friends. I was struck by the fact that he sounded exactly like he does on the air -- rather than a casual, conversational tone, he was speaking in "radio voice" as though addressing an audience. It was a bit odd.
The insinuation that John Dennis has any friends casts doubt on your story.
I'm trying to be a glass half full guy here, and I'm hoping that his somewhat panicky commentary throughout this affair means he sees the writing on the wall. If he's not feeling secure in his contract, maybe change has been implied at some point.
I'm trying to be a glass half full guy here, and I'm hoping that his somewhat panicky commentary throughout this affair means he sees the writing on the wall. If he's not feeling secure in his contract, maybe change has been implied at some point.
I flipped on D&C for a few minutes today while T&R were on commercial, they were talking to a Jehovah Witness and critiquing his beliefs about not standing during the national anthem. The specifics of the argument arent important but based on the small amount that I heard it was clear to me that they havent let the ratings change them and they keep trying to go with controversial political type topics. I wish them the best of luck!
That's like complaining that Toucher and Rich don't talk enough sports and focus too much on entertaining the audience. I think there is room for both T&R and D&C to do well in this market, the problem IMO is the show itself. Pair Callahan up with someone more liberal and willing to challenge him like Holley or Felger and even with some of the political stuff they would do very well because not everyone wants to listen to T&R's type of humor.
The problem is John Dennis. He is a fat lazy fucktard that will let Callahan go off on a tangent and rather than keep him in check he either say "Uh huh, you're right Gerry" or stokes the fires so he doesn't have to do anything.
I think we see things differently. Both T&R and D&C are 'sports' shows, and both use sports as the main discussion point which lead them into other topics. D&C have been doing headlines and political stuff for years, T&R have always done comedy stuff. The difference is that now T&R are actually winning, while D&C are still doing the 'lets argue about a controversial topic' routine, but they are losing at it.
My critique of them is that their side topics arent improving their ratings, but in the limited sample I listened to today they are still going there, pretty silly IMO. Because if they want to really 'attack' T&R they should go 100% sports and get quality guests because that would be something very different from what T&R are doing and I think D&C/WEEI might have a better chance at getting better guests than T&R. And if you are Jason Wolfe please do not read this!
I can see where you are coming from and I don't think we are that far apart. D&C is probably the easiest show to fix because I still think Callahan is a really good sports commentator, and as I mentioned, the problem is Dennis. Jason Wolfe is nothing more than a fucking puppet, if he had any balls he would fire Dennis, eat his contract and hire someone that can keep Callahan in check.
They are losing in the ratings because Dennis is more than happy to let Callahan go off on a tangent and then unwilling to reign him in because it would require him to actually work. I don't think "just talking sports" would work on a Morning show, so I think there can be a healthy dose (key word) of politics thrown in here and there, but because there is no one there to reign Callahan in, it goes overboard and ruins the show.
I really think we both see eye to eye on this, perhaps I just think it is an easier fix to get rid of Dennis than expect them to change the tenor or tone of the show.
They are losing in the ratings because Dennis is more than happy to let Callahan go off on a tangent and then unwilling to reign him in because it would require him to actually work. I don't think "just talking sports" would work on a Morning show, so I think there can be a healthy dose (key word) of politics thrown in here and there, but because there is no one there to reign Callahan in, it goes overboard and ruins the show.
I really think we both see eye to eye on this, perhaps I just think it is an easier fix to get rid of Dennis than expect them to change the tenor or tone of the show.
Funny, they rant about this but when Eric Mangini is a guest on the show they gave him a few soft toss questions at the end of his segment about Spygate. Only caught part of the segment, and none of the follow up, so maybe D&C did talk about it afterward, but I doubt it.
Yes, we arent that far off. Dennis doesnt add value to the show at this point. Although I do think it would be difficult to find a replacement who could indeed keep Gerry in check, I dont think say Merloni or Mutt could do it. I do think that a pure sports show could compete with T&R, they might be able to capture some listeners back who dont find T&R funny and/or dont care for comedy. If I was Wolfe I could at least want to try something different instead of keep the show and format as is and simply hoping something will miraculously change for some unknown reason which seems like the current strategy. That said, one of D&C probably has to go to shake things up and get them focused on this new format, but I think it would be worth a shot because finding a Dennis replacement would be very easy.
WRT having an all sports morning show, this is not a good sign, it clearly shows they would have to do a lot of work to actually make the good guests be worthwhile radio.
I do have to say, I love rooting against them
So these 2 clowns have been hammering Carl Crawford for having a stiff neck on Monday, and today they got on him for not talking to Edes after the game. But then they start playing these old sound bytes which I think were Carl Everett, saying stuff like he's not talking to no bleeping Globe etc etc. Now granted somebody (I think it was Meter) mentioned, once, that that was a different Carl, but I guarantee a couple hundered morons came away from it thinking Crawford was not only not talking to Edes, but also ripping people. And I think that was their intent.