Where do you guys live? Being in LA, I at least get the benefits of Cowherd’s big market bias, so occasionally I can stand him if he’s talking about the Lakers. Other than that, I agree that he can be a real asshole with anyone he doesn’t agree with. He’s like that smarmy dickhead in class who’s condescending and ignorant. He has this way of talking where he sloooowly explaaaiiiins himself to you about how you’re wrong like you’re a child. Even when I agree with his opinions, I can’t stand that and just want to punch him in the mouth. He’s a front-running attention hog who calculates everything he says to maximize listeners, whether by sucking them off or pissing them off.
And don’t get me started on Rome. I hated his schtick a decade ago when the only radio I listened to was him and Howard Stern, and he was still the bigger jackass. Yeah, I get that sometimes listeners are shitty, but you want to get real opinions from real people, not rehearsed bullshit from an actor practicing his rant. I hate the smack off, I hate his best call of the day, and I hate the “takes”. And his show is so full of in-jokes and self-referencing bullshit that it’s obtuse and difficult to follow for anyone who hasn’t been listening to him for years. If he only wants his sycophants around for a circle-jerk, then fine by me, I will never listen to him again
I like our local radio guys. We’ve got a pretty good basketball-centric crew with a former Laker on one channel, and on another station a former USC player and a beat writer for an LA area website. They’re generally fair, though Vic the Brick is the biggest Lakers homer there is, but he’s hilarious so it’s ok
He’s now in Arizona but when Bob Kemp was on “Sporting News” radio overnight a few years ago he was quite good. Always liked his ground rules about no Pete Rose talk and no use of the “R” word (respect).
Nowadays I mostly avoid it. If it’s not for the generally limited hosts, it’s the fools who call in with the same nonsense.
Haven’t listened to Rome in, jeez, forever. I understand his shtick has changed, perhaps due to the firing of his long-time producer Travis Rodgers. (Whose own talkshow isn’t that bad, if idiosyncratically dependent on twitter.) Never understood how Rome, with such a energetically maintained “bad boy” persona, could turn into the biggest celebrity suck-up during an interview. (Thanks for that change, “Chris”.) Seriously, James Lipton is telling him to stop lobbing softballs. For a, IMO, very funny Jim Rome impersonation on Rodgers’s show, go here.
Usually I listen to the local guys in the Houston area. Lance Zierlein/John Granato at 1560 are quite good when they don’t talk over each other, though due to the ridiculous number of promos/ads, they must be listened to only in a car with presets. (Admitedly, a lot of their promos are really funny, just not after the 100th time. Here’stheir take on 90210’s opening sequence.) Most of the 1560 guys, including Rodgers, are interesting to listen to for their niche interests. I cite to Zierlein all of the time for football analysis. Charlie Pallilo at 790 dares to not dumb things down for his audience, which is refreshing.
So, with decent commentary like this, I’m free to ignore shows like Patrick’s, Rome’s, and Cowherd’s.
I wonder how long Jim Rome’s radio show would be if he didn’t fill it with minute-long stretches of dead air followed by him repeating what he said right before that.
I noticed that too. Never have I heard so much dead air in a radio show, ever. On occasions where I tuned in, sometimes I think my radio went bad because there would just be nothing. Then 15 seconds later, he would laugh or snort and go on ranting and pausing like an angry robot whose hard drive is skipping