I am a sports radio junkie, my husband thinks I’m nuts! I don’t know how I got so hooked, but I listen daily. I’m not a big fan of national shows; I mostly listen to the local sports shows here in Kansas City on 810WHB.
I’ve learned that there really is no gray area when it comes to Jim Rome–it’s either love or hate. Even he admits his show is an acquired taste, I’ve heard him say this many times.
My take–I love him!!! To me, his show is different than all the cookie cutter shows out there. He involves listeners in a unique way, and while sometimes it gets a little over the top for me and sometimes I am whooshed by all the “jungle gloss”, overall I enjoy his takes. Some days the Clones are annoying, some days they are spot-on hilarious. Either way, I’m always entertained. The only time I really don’t listen is if the show is about boxing, one of my least favorite sports, but I gotta hand it to him–what other sports jocks even talk about boxing these days!?
I can’t believe people are still bringing up the Jim Everett thing…that was 12 years ago! That’s a lame reason to hate Rome. Jim Everett was a crybaby anyway, what he should have done was thrown it back onto Rome, he should have known the “Chris” thing was going to come up, he should have been ready for it. But the video is still funny as hell!!!
Oh, and as far as how he repeats things over and over, this isn’t just Rome, lots of talk radio hosts do this. You never know when new listeners are switching over so it’s a bit annoying if you listen to the whole show, but it’s understandable. Also, there are stations that may only carry and hour or 2 of the show since it’s syndicated, so he’s repeating for the benefit of those who may not get all 3 hours. I agree though that some days he goes overboard (ie the Lesley Visser laugh…!!!)
Not in Socal. Nocal isn’t just a contraction of Northern California. It’s also a play on words that suggest that while Southern California is, for better or worse, the “real” California—“It’s just so Cal …”—Northern California is just the opposite—it’s no-Cal. If you think about it, both sides are then able to treat the terms as insults or compliments, depending on one’s perspective; e.g., someone from Eureka might very well take it as a compliment that they are no-Cal, if, say, Irvine is representative of the real (but undesirable) California. I’ve never heard anyone in Socal refer to Nocal as Norcal, and I’ve lived here on and off since 1981.
Pro-SSM, pro- the left on pretty much any gay rights issue you care to name. I use “gay” as a slur, but it has nothing to do with how I feel about, you know, gays. For me, the word has several meanings, and none of them have anything to do with the others. I would never use homosexual in the same sense.
Pit me if you like.
I would also like to repeat that I am a Colin Cowherd fan. I’m an even bigger fan of Compass (whose real name I forget), his producer. He (occasionally?) does a Sunday morning show here in Central Florida that is sublime. Brilliant analysis, funny, and his non-sports-related jags are always relevant.
Also a fan of Mike and Mike, particularly Golic. He plays the fat, jolly sidekick type very well, and his occasional references to his playing days are never gratuitous and always insightful. For an example of the opposite, see pretty much any athlete/coach-turned-broadcaster who likes to throw around the phrase “it is what it is”.
I used to listen to Rome regularly a few years ago, but I’ve stopped listening to him. The replayed athlete quotes, the fake emails, and the goofy calls are still pretty funny. The problem is Jim started believing his own shtick: callers sound so worried he’ll run them that their calls sound really rehearsed, he spends way too much time complaining about the “clones” and how he wants to do TV anyway, and his athlete interviews are incredibly brownnosed.
As far as ESPN radio, the only complaint I really have is they have this weird attitude that every sport besides football is dying and horribly run. This means constant criticism of everything baseball and basketball do, while they almost sound like you can’t criticize the NFL. I recommend you check out Bob Valvano’s late Friday/Saturday show; it’s a very thoughtful show that thinks about the larger issues of sports while still remaining fun.
This hacked me off, too, as a Saints fan. But then again, I know Cowherd was faking that take … he only went anti-Saints when the Saints started getting a lot of positive press. That’s his M.O.
