local sports talk radio

[billiken_roy]

i saw a similar string subject to this on bernie's board and thought it would make good conversation. here is a copy of part of dan ceasar's most recent column about our two sports talk stations in st louis and rumored lineup changes. strangely it seems "the voice of the billikens" bob ramsey is out right now. personally, while i have been disappointed with some of bullet bob's comments and actions when away from his play by play duties, i have always wondered if possibly he got away from claiborne he might be more palitable. at least to billiken nation. i would love to see ramsey and frank together, but realistically, those two hours could turn into billiken talk and i am sure the rest of the st louis sports fans would be just outraged.

jay randolf jr being left out doesnt break my heart. maybe he can drive over to columbia and get a job there shaking pom poms.

personally i have always been a fan of slaten's show for entertainment purposes. dont get me wrong, i dont like what he is as a person. his tirades in public are legendary, but his act on the radio was always good entertainment. i was always amazed at the number of people he could p!ss off.

i like burwell on the radio a lot. i like burwell period. i think st louis is damn lucky to have him here. i will be surprised he stays here long as imo he is too good to be stuck in st louis.

the fight at the morning drive time will be one i wont be sorry i miss. i am a loyal jc corcoran listener and thus wont be switching over to hear each sports fan station's version of "beer, babes and babble" headed up by tiger tim on kfns and brian mckenna on the kslg.

as for each station doing there syndicated time, i am not a rhome fan. i much prefer dan patrick.

here is the article.

"Media Views: Balzer jumps to 1380, might work with Briggs

By Dan Caesar

Of the Post-Dispatch

07/02/2004

Things are coming together on the assembly lines of the two locally oriented all-sports stations, which are being overhauled by new management. Little has been announced, but here is what sources say are possibilities, and can be considered food for thought:

Challenger KSLG (1380 AM) - Morning drive: Brian McKenna, Jeff Gordon and one other person. Midday: ESPN radio shows (Colin Cowherd, Dan Patrick). Afternoon drive: Malcolm Briggs, Howard Balzer. KMOX's Andy Strickland also could be involved in some role. The only move confirmed is that Balzer will be in the mix.

"I gave my notice (Friday) at KTRS," said Balzer, who has been at that station for four years. "My last show there will be Monday."

Simmons Media's Daryl O'Neal, whose company runs KSLG, said Balzer is "one of the most underrated and underappreciated guys in the market."

His expertise is in football, and he also is expected to anchor the station's coverage of that sport.

"It's a good fit for me," Balzer said.

O'Neal declined to comment much further.

"We're 95 percent done with our lineup," he said. "We want to have some element of surprise" in announcing it.

Incumbent KFNS (590 AM, 100.7 FM) - Morning drive: Tim McKernan, Martin Kilcoyne and possibly Jim Hayes. Mid-morning: Frank Cusumano with Bryan Burwell or Mike Claiborne. Midday: Jim Rome (syndicated), or Claiborne. Afternoon drive: Kevin Slaten and Claiborne, or Slaten alone. Slaten has give his notice at KTRS (550 AM), where he is doing a news-talk show, and is expected to start July 19.

"It's a work in progress of putting our roster together," KFNS program director Rob Weingarten said Friday. "There's not much I can say beyond that."

At this stage, it appears that longtime hosts Bob Ramsey, Jay Randolph Jr. and Scott Warmann could be on the bubble, but sources said there could be roles for most, if not all, of them.

Ramsey and Randolph have been in the local all-sports business since Day 1, when in 1992 now-defunct KASP was the first local station to adopt the format. One would hope there is room for such experience. Randolph was on vacation and couldn't be reached; Ramsey was philosophical when reached Friday.

"I want work, and I want what's best for my family," he said. "In the end, for the market and for the people working in the business, (the competition) is going to be good, although in specific cases it might not be good, and that could be me. I wish I knew what was going to happen." "

[Billiken Rich]

Corcoran is and always has been an idiot. I must say though that I haven't had to listen to him since his abortive Kmox stint. That wonderful couple of months produced more on air profanity than I ever imagined. I'll never forget some yahoo constutional law student dropping the f-bomb twice before JC pulled the plug. Classic stuff.

Ramsey and Frank together would be the only reason I'd ever listen to either of those stations.

[billiken_roy]

i dont and never had liked jc's politics, but i like his show tremendously. mindless entertainment which at pre 9 am is about all i can handle. he has changed with the times and i along with him. he is mild compared to his long ago kshe days.

[willie]

What I don't understand is why Claiborne keeps his job? I guess part of it is that he's a self proclaimed hockey expert, and the hockey heads are a vocal radio group. If I was KFNS's GM I would take him off the air and give him a weekly hockey show like Randolphs golf show. The guy I think who does a good job is Marecek's kid. He's gone from nepotism to a pretty good reporter who's very good at baseball.

[lefty]

the local media talent is very poor. I agree Jay Randolph jr is the biggest joke and Claiborne is a close second. You may be right about Ramsey being better away from him but he's still pretty poor. Frank C. may be pick of the litter but he loses touch with reality way too often. Two or three years ago he proclaimed the Cardinals pitching staff the best in the majors early in the year and last year he had Pujols batting over .400 for the entire season in early June. Plus his sappy dissertations on TV get old. Let's face it. Most of these guys have maxxed out their potential and if they weren't somehow connected they'd be in another line of work. It's so bad they brought Zip Rzeppa back and now Kevin Slaten.

[billiken_roy]

lefty said, "the local media talent is very poor."

it is st louis, not nyc. but still, lefty, you have a great point.

my problem with the talent is how lazy so many of them are. my gosh, turn on the internet, read the paper, something. but the amount of facts that so many of them f up are just inexcuseable. (the mvc fiasco earlier this year is the best example. even our own defenders, ramsey and frank originally were so off base on the discussion) and half of them admit they more or less come in sit down and start talking. then when their time is up they head to the golf course.

then the next issue i got (claiborne might be the worst at this)it is their opinion or else. geez have an open mind. sure some of the callers are goofballs, but a lot of them are very prepared with their thoughts and facts. imo it is sad that the "amateurs" are probably more suited to host the shows as the "pros".

[Schasz]

Sucks and this is from someone who has lived in 3 different major metro areas. The talent down here in Tampa is really BAD. The morning guy here moved back to Charlotte and I was happy that he did. Thank God the afternoon guy is out a couple weeks on his yearly Ireland golf trip, so I can listen to his replacements and they will hands down be an improvement.

The on air personalities in Seattle were the best and they had a morning guy in Mitch Levy who was not only funny but always got good National guests to interview on a daily basis.

There was a day when sports radio in St. Louis was KMOX and nothing else. Of course back then they had super on air talent like Bob Costas, Jack Buck, Dan Dierdorf, etc. KFNS was in business before I left and the Rams made the move to KSD to spread the sports wealth out. There just aren't enough very good to good sports radio disc jocks in St. Louis to go around.

I agree with BRoy that Slaten had a very entertaining show back in the early KFNS days, but he had already left before '96 when I moved from St. Louis. Frank C was very good on some days, but there were others when he was very average IMO. Glad to learn JC is still kicking around, as I listened to him the day he arrived in St. Louis at KSHE and always really enjoyed his show. It seems that he and I had very similar backgrounds as far as early education and our music tastes were somewhat similar too. Plus his sarcastic humor suits me fine too.

[aj_arete]

here, but I do understand how he might get under the skin of some people. However, his knowledge of hockey and football is so thorough and insightful that he HAS to be on air.

I also enjoy Kevin Slaten a lot, even with the off-duty issues. I look forward to more debates and hangups with him.

As for Bob Ramsey, he's certainly strong in baseball and basketball, but he can be just as annoying as Claiborne with his arrogant, know-it-all attitude.

[lefty]

most of these guys don't prepare at all. They might read the sports page for ideas for the day but they really don't research it - they just wing it. Frank does a better job than most. Now if you want to hear the worst of all, go to 1380 and listen to Stull (sp ?) and Schrader. Those two are unbelievably ignorant. One is a traffic guy in real life and I've never heard of the other guy. Neither is glib, witty or interesting.

[billiken_roy]

i called one day and laid out the reason for the mvc for stull and schrader. they were totally clueless and i just floored them with facts. of course harry spent the next month looking for exceptions to the facts i gave him to try to disprove what i had said. but the fact was they didnt know what they were talking about.

[billiken_roy]

to give claiborne a break, if his strengths are hockey and football, then maybe that is why i just dont jive with him as i admit those are my least favorite of the big 4 sports. but look at it this way, if it is hockey and football that are his expertise, then why not have his show labeled as such. for example, i dont hear hockey fans calling hrabosky's show to ask about the power play? i dont hear baseball fans call jay randolph's golf show with questions? i.e. if claiborne is an expert at just one or two sports, then he should be big enough to limit his comments to that.

[aj_arete]

I'd rate his general sports knowledge with any host. I really think a pairing of him and Kevin Slaten will be an ideal match. I know he's off the mark with his Billiken views, but I'd cut him some slack there. I just don't think he's a fan of college sports in general.

[billiken_roy]

no radio booth is big enough for kevin slaten and a full-time co-host.

like i said, slaten is a fun host, but the needed give and take for a multiple host format would be cumbersome for kevin slaten and lose the effect of his schtick.

[aj_arete]

nm