Why Detroit sports talk radio blows: Reason #399

I'm going to paraphrase a pair of ridiculous statements I heard Pat Caputo spout within a few minutes of each other on WXYT tonight.

Caputo on the Detroit Lions: You can't fire Rod Marinelli yet, as the Lions would have to rebuild again from scratch.

Caputo on the Michigan Wolverines: If Rich Rodriguez only wins 5 games, he should be fired!

One word came to mind: WHAT?!

The conundrum of a supposedly knowledgeable sports talk radio host so brazenly speaking out of both sides of his mouth caused my head to explode. Seriously, brain matter shot out my ears...

This picture could not reflect my feelings any more succinctly:

I only ask of one thing from sports talk hosts. Think before you speak. That's all. I don't believe that's too much to ask. I suggest Caputo and his ilk listen to the advice of a very wise man...Biff Tannen.

Think, McFly! Think!

Truer words have never been spoken. The world, and especially sports talk radio, would be a much better place if we would only listen to Biff.

Why Detroit sports talk radio blows: Reason #474

WXYT has spend the past half hour talking Pistons. Mid-day hosts Scott Anderson and Doug Karsh are talking Pistons half assed, with only one host (Karsh) making sense, but at least they're talking Pistons.

What got me going was the clueless Anderson crucifying the Pistons for their admittedly ugly, but ultimately inconsequential, loss to the Knicks Sunday night. Even worse, most callers are agreeing with his know-nothing ass. The discussion is turning into the lame, beat to death, "Pistons have no heart" argument.

Couple of things...

First off, I HATE the "Have no heart" argument. I DESPISE IT! It's totally subjective, not based on any facts, especially when coming from fans who only see the team from a distance on TV. How do you measure heart? How can a team that beats the Celtics on the road, the first team to have done so this season, have no heart? It's totally nonsensical claim, arbitrarily measuring the unmeasurable.

The Pistons did beat the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night, which was a very nice win after tough losses against 2 of the NBA's best, Boston and Dallas. I think that showed they have plenty of "heart", whatever that entails...

Here's a fact. The Pistons played 4 road games in 5 days, one of those nut busting NBA schedule quirks that every team has to survive. I saw a fair amount of the game, and the Pistons had the look of a team that was dead tired from playing a barnstorming like schedule this past week. Every team has a few of these awful losses against a team they would normally kick their asses up and down the court.

Flip Saunders saw what was happening against New York, and emptied the bench. That was the smart thing to do, limit the starters minutes in a meaningless game that was long lost.

Losses like last night's happen in the NBA, where a team plays well below their capabilities, and the opposition steps up. Even a bad team like the Knicks is capable of beating anyone in the NBA on any given night. In other words, shit happens, you burn the tape, and you move on. That's it...

More importantly, it's the middle of fucking January! If this were April, then I might, I repeat, MIGHT, be concerned. As for the Knicks debacle? We'll have forgotten all about the loss in a week.

So I'll cut the Pistons plenty of slack over a silly loss that is only 1 game in 82. I think a team that is playing well over .700 ball has earned it, despite what IQ challenged sports talk radio hosts would have you believe.

Above the Fold - A spin around the Detroit sports talk radio dial

If you are a Detroit sports junkie, like myself, you tend to listen to a ton of local sports talk radio. (I'm still saving my pennies towards a satellite radio) Which means you listen to both all-sports stations in town, WDFN and WKRK/WXYT. Both stations have been somewhat in flux, thanks to the massive economic downturn we are experiencing in the D.

There have been firings, such as the elimination of DFN's morning show, Jamie and Brady, and the not very amicable parting between KRK and Deminski and Doyle. Then the rehiring of 1/2 of DFN's morning show, Jamie Samuelson, now going solo.

There's also the scheduling of odd shows that don't fit a sports format, specifically KRK's unlistenable Motor City Mornings, which has a TMZ, Perez Hilton, lowest common denominator sensibility to it. Not exactly something that appeals to the 25-54 male demo, which I'll still a member of for quite some time.

Things are getting even more interesting in the competition between the 2 stations. A post on The Sports Inferno website reports that the Mike Valenti and Terry Foster beat the longtime kings of sports afternoon drive time, DFN's Stoney and Wojo, in the latest ratings book.

Not only did the beat S&W, they crushed them..

How bad was it.. how about this.. the AM to AM number.. SportsInferno almost beat S&W. That's right.. the side note station 1270am alone almost booked better numbers 3-7 (Men 18+) then DFN had in the same time slot.

But when you look at WXYT-FM vs WDFN, 3pm to 7pm, Men 25-54; It was Sports Inferno at just over 4.5 to Stoney & Wojo's under 4.0 And if you combine the listenership it was nearly a 7 to less then 4.

So wow.. basically Mike and Terry doubled S&W numbers!

That's an absolute stunner. S & W, and for that matter, DFN, have dominated the Detroit market for a decade. For years it's been Mike Stone and Bob Wojnowski, then everyone else, when it came to sports talk in the D. Have listeners tired of hearing the same old, same old on S & W? Or could the move to FM have more to do with the KRK ratings surge? All I can say is that yes, I am tired of the same old, same old on their show. When you've listened to them religiously for a decade, it's gotten to the where you can predict their whole damn show.

For that matter, I can't get DFN in till 8 am, and then lose the signal around 5, while I can tune in KRK loud and clear, 24/7. It's frustrating as Hell to be listening to DFN, and in the middle of a conversation I suddenly hear nothing but static. I don't want to be tethered to my PC to be able to hear a local radio station. (Sorry Diesel, it's the truth!) It's asinine, when you really think about it...

If they want to continue to compete in Detroit sports talk, Cheap Channel has to be contemplating the idea of moving DFN's format to FM. I'd love to be able to hear Matt Dery's Pistons post game, Baligian's hilarious, bile filed Lions post game, or even just the last hour of Stoney and Wojo. That's out of the question for me till the days get longer.

It appears there is going to be more even changes in local sports talk, as KRK/XYT will be under the direction of a new program director.

More change at 97.1 The Ticket , WXYT (1270 AM and 97.1 FM ), as Tom Bigby comes in to run things as operations manager, effective Monday. Bigby was program director at the legendary Philadelphia sports station WIP-AM from the '80s through 2004, and will definitely bring a sharp edge to the station. More recently, Bigby was operations manager at WYSP-FM, a CBS Free FM station in Philly. Dan Zampillo remains as WXYT program director.

I have one suggestion for Bigby. Ditch Motor City Mornings, ASAP. I don't mind the occasional foray away from sports, but I don't want a constant rehash of the latest Britney Spears breakdown, either. MCM is awful radio for a male oriented station, especially in comparison to Samuelson and Sean Baligian at DFN.

Still, you'd think with a new PD, one who was quite successful in another sports mad town, a few heads will roll at KRK. Who that might be, I'm in no position to guess. I'll defer to someone with more insider knowledge than I'll ever have when it comes to Detroit radio, former PD/host at both stations, and a Michigan ex-pat, Gregg Henson. 3G makes a few guesses as to what might go down...

1. The morning show is toast. Weather you like it or not, Bigby doesn't want a "lifestyle show" he would prefer to have a sports leaning show that discusses issues pertaining to MEN, not women as the current show is so adept to doing. I think he will give them some time but I expect him to take advantage of the 90 day "out clauses" in the morning show deals and send them packing at the soonest possible time.

2. Sadly, Gator is gone. It is well known that Bigby isn't a fan, too bad. I actually liked Gator on the air, I hope I am wrong. If Gator doesn't make the cut, I suspect karsch will be retained but paired with somebody with a little more edge and personality.

That's just scratching the surface. Henson goes on to make educated guesses as what might happen to the entire roster of KRK hosts. Considering the ratings news, maybe tweaking is all that is going to be needed.

For as much as I tend to rant about local sports talk, I'll admit I do enjoy quite a bit of it. Hey, when given the choice of listening to local sports talk, or a nationally broadcast know-nothing bag of douche like Colin Cowherd, the snoozerific Dan Patrick, the infuriatingly dull Mike and Mike, or the utterly lame and generic Sporting News or FOX radio networks?

Give me local sports talk every time.

Why Detroit sports talk radio blows: Reason #248

For the past hour, 97.1 The Ticket (I still can't get over the originality of their mew name) WXYT has featued a somewhat heated discussion between show hosts Mike Valenti, Terry Foster, and Scott Anderson. I'm sure you're thinking, "That's not so bad."

It is when the discussion involves Valenti trying to convince Anderson to drink with them at some half-assed event tomorrow night.

I have to ask...WHO GIVES A SHIT?

I don't, and I doubt you do either. Hey, I'm all for drinking, but I really don't care to hear what frat boy style antics these clowns are planning to do, especially during the amateur night the bars turn into on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Let alone talk about it for an entire HOUR.

When it comes to drunken revelry on biggest bar night of the year, I've been there, done that, wrote the book, no longer feel the need...

Rather than wait for a legitimate discussion, I decided to do my laundry. Watching the clothes go around and round is vastly more entertaining...

Why Detroit sports talk radio blows: Reason #1874

WXYT's Mike Valenti and Drew Sharp have wasted the past 30 minutes of my life, 30 minutes I'll never get back, discussing Lance Armstrong dating an Olsen Twin. Disturbing? Sure. Worth even a minute of my time? HELL NO!

Valenti, not exactly a prize himself, yet being the arbiter of ALL things attractive about the female persuasion, claims the Olsen's are "Butterface's," and look like "Monkeys," while claiming that you should never be caught with "Fat chicks."

I can picture it now. I arrive at the pearly gates, and my afterlife is hanging in the balance. St. Peter will see that I actually wasted a portion of my life listening to this lowest common denominator tripe masquerading as a discussion, and even worse, wrote about it. You can close the book on my afterlife, I'm screwed.

I'm going to Hell in a God damn handbasket...

Why Detroit sports talk radio blows: Cheap Channel edition

As someone who just can't justify the expense for satellite radio (As Charter has me by the balls for TV and internet), I'm stuck listening to terrestrial radio. For a sports fan who has the radio on all day, having 2 sports talk stations to pick and choose from is actually pretty nice.

WXYT, (Now pimping themselves as "The Ticket!" How original...) appears to be in expansion mode, with their simulcasting on on AM and FM, soon going local 24 hours a day (Talking sports for 20 hours, save for 6-10AM, until Demenski and Doyle's contract expires), hopefully soon eliminating the lame nationally syndicated sports talk on overnights.

24/7 local content is great for Detroit sports fans, as I'd rather hear hosts talk about what matters in the D, than some national hack that knows jack shit, taking calls from listeners who know even less.

You can get a national perspective easily enough from the usual suspects, so I like the idea of keeping it local on my radio. I may bitch at times about local hackery, but at least it's local, not some lame ESPN/Fox Sports/Sporting News crap off pulled off of the satellites.

Unfortunately, WDFN seems to be going in the opposite direction of WXYT, making personnel cuts with all subtlety of a butcher with a dull cleaver. I guess station owner Clear Channel is known as Cheap Channel for good reason as they unceremoniously eliminated their long running morning show yesterday...

Sports-talk WDFN-AM (1130) and its morning show duo of Jamie Samuelson and Greg Brady with sportscaster Matt Shepard parted company Monday after their 6-9 a.m. broadcast.

The station's Web site indicated their slot will henceforth be filled with Fox Sports Radio network programming 6-8 a.m. weekdays; local mid-morning host Sean Baligian will now toil an extra hour, from 8 a.m. to noon.

Just what local radio needs, MORE lousy syndicated programming...

I've listened to more than my fair share of the Jamie and Brady show over the years, as they were the ONLY local sports talk available in morning drive time for several years, thanks to WXYT flailing around with the likes of Don Imus, Opie and Anthony, (Neither show developed any sort Detroit listener base), and ESPN's Mike and Mike, who didn't do much better.

If something big happened locally the night before, you'd know that Jamie and Brady would be talking about it that morning. (Even though I did get the impression that, at times, Brady would rather be talking about anything other than sports) There was no place else to go for sports. As of today, even that option is gone.

Why? Because they were deemed too expensive. It's more cost efficient, despite lower ratings, to pay some kid a few bucks to twirl knobs, and monitor a satellite feed, than actually pay proficient broadcast talent. And no matter how you felt about Jamie and Brady, if you liked their show or not, that's a God damn shame.

Now commuters will be missing that local discussion entirely. (As WXYT has D & D doing their version of WRIF's Drew & Mike) Those in need of a sports fix are stuck listening to whomever Fox has on the air at that time in the morning, talking Boston/New York/Chicago/LA, ignoring the hard core sports cities like Detroit.

Hell, I guess short-sighted cost cutting is to be expected, as local radio has been dying on the vine for years. The once "Great voice of the Great Lakes" WJR is a shell of what it once was, becoming a poster child for syndicated right-wing talk radio. AM is well on it's way to becoming a refuge for niche broadcasters. I rarely listen to music on FM anymore, as their playlists are tightly controlled, put together by some suit in New York. I have a hard drive full of music anyway, so screw 'em.

Terrestrial radio as a whole is overly homogenized, as what you hear in Detroit is the same you hear in every single other market in the country. Now our sports talk is slowly losing it's local flavor, all in the name of media conglomerates making a few extra pennies for only-looking-at-the-short-term shareholders.

Maybe it's time to cut back on the cable TV, and put the difference towards a subscription for XM or Sirius.

Is WXYT's AM sports talk format on the move to 97.1 FM?

Update: As of 3PM, the Detroit sports talk landscape changed for the better, with 97.1 FM officially converting to an all sports format, with WXYZ's talent, and ditching the shock talk. The best news, in my opinion, is that they are going to a lineup that is all local, from 6AM to 2 AM, including weekends. The downfall of some of the biggest local radio powerhouses (WJR, I'm looking at you) is their over dependence on syndicated programming. Say what you will about the talent, at least 97.1 is leaving the syndicated filler on the shelf.

As I sit here glumly watching the state of Michigan run out of money, while Nero watched Rome burn the legislature twiddles their thumbs, and the government prepares to shutdown all but the most vital services, a ran into a very interesting Detroit sports talk radio rumor...

WXYT 1270 AM may be moving their sports talk format to 97.1 FM as soon as Monday morning.

Michiguide.com says...

Rumors are running white-hot that CBS radio is about to pull the plug on the Free FM hot talk format in Detroit as soon as tomorrow and replace it with the sports format that currently airs on WXYT AM 1270.

On September 26th a request was filed with the FCC to change the call sign of FM 97.1 from WKRK-FM to WXYT-FM and there are reports that long-time Free FM afternoon drive hosts (Jeff) Deminski & (Bill) Doyle cleared out their belongings from the station after their shift on Friday. The D & D program has long been the station's most successful show and if they are indeed out there will be many disappointed fans who will no doubt be angered by any format change that doesn't include the popular duo.

There have been several similar rumors about changes to 97.1 in the past few months that have been false, but this is the first time there has been some concrete evidence of a change to the station, even if it is only the call sign that is changing.

There's a 3 page long thread at the local media rumormongering message board, the Michigan Radio & TV Buzzboard, with radio insiders and informed fans speculating much the same thing.

Over at the blog of the polarizing (You either loved him or hated him, there was NO in between) Detroit sports talk icon, and former PD of both WDFN (When it was still a good listen) and WXYT, Gregg Henson, he claims it's a done deal. As of Monday, WKRK 97.1 FREE FM is dead, and it's going sports talk. Henson gives his quite educated guesses as to what may happen...

WKRK will simulcast Valenti and Foster for the short term while they decide what to do with WXYT.

WKRK will become a sports station by the end of 07.

WXYT will become a talk station with largely syndicated content.

O and A (Opie & Anthony) will could stay on WKRK, even though moving Mike and Mike to WKRK would make most sense.

The Sports Inferno moves to WKRK after a 3 month simulcast on both stations.

The Big Show moves to WKRK but they will re-evaluate the talent.

Bill O'Reilly moves to LIVE middays on WXYT.

WKRK's Motor City Midday is moved to WXYT and eventually dumped once contractual obligations are met.

Because CBS Radio is having HUGE sales issues, both stations are going to be mostly syndicated with national talent except for drive times

As someone who listens to more than his fair share of Detroit sports talk radio, a move to a clear, powerful FM signal from one of the stations is long overdue, considering the outright crappy reach of both WXYT and WDFN. You'd swear their transmitters were powered by 2 asthmatic, chain smoking, 3 legged gerbils, cutting to 1 gerbil at dusk...

When I lived well north of Detroit, WXYT was unlistenable at all times of the day, while WDFN wasn't a Hell of a lot better. At night, it was a crapshoot. I finally gave up on terrestrial radio, and listened to both stations over the web.

Now that I'm south of the D, WXYT is, for the most part, loud and clear at all times of the day, and I get a weak, but listenable, daytime signal from WDFN. I don't even bother with WDFN after dusk, as it's nothing but static. Hell, I get Chicago sports talk, such as WMVP AM 1000, in loud and clear after dark, yet I can't hear WDFN.

Considering the complaints about WDFN's signal have been ongoing ever since they signed on the air over a decade ago, Henson also speculates that WDFN may be moving their format to FM as well. He claims 106.7 FM would be the frequency. (106.7 was the frequency of the legendary album rock station of my youth, W4, currently on it's 2nd go round as a country station. I don't even know what the call letters are now. Don't get me going on how insanely good local radio was all through the 70's, to the mid 80's. You young whippersnappers don't know what you missed out on. But I digress...)

Considering how stale, boring and inspid both stations have become over the past few years, regurgitating topics (Michigan is arrogant! MSU has an inferiority complex!), bits (Happy new year! I DESPISE that Wojo bit with a passion...), callers (Such as Caller David and Linda, if you listen to either station for any about of time, you know EXACTLY whom I'm talking about), and hosts (For example, Art Regner has bounced from WDFN to WXYT, then back again), we're long overdue for some fresh ideas in Detroit sports talk radio, which is currently long in the tooth, and short on inspiration.

We'll find out in a few hours if we are living in a new Detroit sports talk radio world. We can only hope...

TWFE on the good, the bad, and the ugly, in sports media

Why in Bernie Smilovitz gainfully employed in the Detroit? It's unfathomable to think that he's actuallymaking well over 6 figures for the lamest TV sportscast (Term used very loosely) you'll ever see in a major market. He's on WDIV's airwaves for 3 minutes a newscast, yet half of that is spent running some unfunny blooper clip that's a decade or 3 old (Such as Brett Butler getting hit in the nuts by his kid, a kid who's probably in college now), while the other half is spent mugging for the camera or flirting with the anchor chicks.

Smilovitz's painfully uncomfortable to watch "Weekend at Bernies" bit can kiss my blogger ass. Bernie's been coasting for years, while being paid handsomely. At least the "Boom goes the dynamite" kid was making an effort, sad as it may have been. Bernie isn't even trying anymore, and is mailing it in at this point.

Truthfully, Don Shane at WXYZ is loafing along so as well. When you've been on the air as long as those 2, the boredom they have with their bottom rung status on their newscasts can't be hidden. But they continue to cash big paychecks.

The only Detroit station that gives a damn about sports is WJBK, FOX 2. They are the 1 station that actually tries to have a legitimate sports department, Woody Woodruff be damned.

I was speaking with Ian, of "Bless you Boys," another blog that has the slightly gay name, and what seems like 5 others, after recording our guest appearance on "The Detroit Tigers Posdcast" last night. We both agreed on a couple of things in regard to Detroit's big dog in sports talk, the Stoney and Wojo Show...

It was shocking to hear WDFN's Stoney and Wojo over the national airwaves, when they sat in for Jim Rome last Friday. I never really thought that their show would fly outside of the D. To be honest, I was wrong. They were quite good, and defended Detroit against Rome's sheep-like listeners, "The Clones." They were vastly better while covering for Rome than they ever are during their local broadcast.

Why? Because Mike Stone actually had opinions, and Bob Wojnowski scaled back from 11 on the "Dumb ass fat guy shtick" dial, to about a 2. Wojo was much closer to the funny and literate columnist we read in the Detroit News. The "Dumb Wojo" has become a rote, paint-by-the-numbers, radio caricature, and is, in S & W parlance, an old bit. When Stoney shows a little more emotion, and makes a few waves, it's equally as refreshing to hear. I hope S & W learned that they didn't need to be "Fence sitter and Dumb ass" to do entertaining radio.

I have trouble waking up in the mornings, but I think I finally know why. You try and stay awake during WDFN's snoozefest morning show. I turn over, flip on the radio, hear Jamie and Brady babbling on about...Well, I can't say, as they put me right back to sleep. It's as if the Sandman clubbed me over the head with his boring stick. ZZZZZ.

Not that WXYT is much better in the AM. Who told Scott Anderson that his impersonations are any good? Please don't encourage him to do his Jim Leyland. It's lousy. OK, he does do a pretty good Johm Keating, I'll give him that. There's a problem, unfortunately. How many people actually know who John Keating is?

There's 1 thing that frustrates me more than anything as an avid blog reader. That being sites that require me to jump through hoops, in a blatantly obvious attempt to increase their click-thru rate. Deadspin, I'm looking at you. I read their RSS feed, but I never physically visit the site anymore, as it's become a pain in the ass to navigate.

By the way, if you do happen to surf over, stay out of the comments. Deadspin's commenting, once original and funny, has turned into a a Fark-like pissing contest, seeing who can out pop culture reference the other. The signal-to-noise ratio is higher than I was in in the 70's.

This week, a new entry in the sports blog arena hit the web, Epic Carnival. I'll admit that I'm a tad biased, as some of the bloggers involved are friends of TWFE, and have linked to me. But you can't deny that they are off to a good start. They are putting up a ton of daily content, so if you don't care for 1 post, don't worry, another will be up soon.

What I like about EC is that they are posting, for the most part, long-form opinion and humor. There's very little in the way of a Deadspin-like 1 snarky paragraph, and a link. EC bloggers are writing much in the same tone as they would on their own sites, and posting it on the collaborative blog. In other words, they aren't dumbing down their writing, or toning down their irreverence, unlike some the great bloggers that write for the mainstream AOL Fanhouse.

I have nothing against the AOL bloggers at all, as I read the Fanhouse daily. I'd also love to get paid to write. But I do know that I couldn't write with the same attitude at a site like the Fanhouse, unlike what I can get away with at TWFE.

For example, I doubt I'd be allowed to write my "Inside Millen's Brain" posts, portraying Matt Millen to have the mental capacity of a retarded 3 year old on 'ludes. Or call out Bernie Smilovitz, whose TV hackery is a pox that lowers the IQ of the entire Detroit area. New York City ran his hack ass out of town, why in the Hell did they allow him back in Detroit? And who on earth watches, let alone enjoys, Bernie, and his vaudeville level of lowest common denominator humor? But I digress...

They have the same sort of "Write what you really think, good taste be damned" attitude at Epic Carnival. I hope they will able to keep it that way as they get more notice, and traffic.

To close, let me do one shout out...

If you read TWFE, and/or are a Detroit sports fan in general, I'm guessing that you are already listening to the weekly "The Detroit Tigers Podcast." So I seriously doubt my appearance on the show will increase downloads, or iTunes subscriptions. But I had a great deal of fun sitting in with "The Daily Fungo" guys, and I hope I added a little something to what was an already entertaining podcast.

Want to lose IQ points? Listen to Detroit sports talk radio

Art Regner got the ziggy from WXYT in what was called a "Cost-cutting" move. As bad as it is to see ANYONE lose their job before the holidays, the move was a positive one for 1270. As you might remember, I had Art high on my list of Detroit media hacks. Regner's blind love of all things Wolverine and Red Wing caused him to come off as nothing more than a sycophant. Neither team could do no wrong in his maize, blue, and red tinted world. Regner was nothing more than a glorified fluffer when it came to those organizations, I guess WXYT tired of paying for handi-wipes and knee pads.

With the loss of Regner, WXYT has improved themselves. 1270 may not be listenable, as pseudo tough guy Mike Valenti and Michigan mouthpiece Doug Karsh are still on the air, but improved all the same. Faint praise, but it's progress.

The highest ranking member of my media hack list, self designated baseball "Expert" Wobb Parker, along with his long suffering partner, Mark Wilson, was given his walking papers from 97.1 FM. The cancellation of Parker and the Man was greeted with a shrug by me, as I never listened to them. Personally, I find Parker to be absolutely insufferable. I avoid his columns at all cost, so why on earth would I want to listen to his drivel as well? If only the Detroit News would take heed, and shitcan the worst columnist of any major market newspaper.

But there was even better news than no longer having to hear Parker's tripe. The reason given for Parker's removal was that both the Red Wings and Tigers were going to have their night games simulcast on WKRK along with WXYT. That may have been the best news for Tigers fans since Joel Zumaya gave up playing "Guitar Hero." 1270's weak signal was long been a sore spot with the Tigers fanbase. Since leaving WJR, you couldn't hear the Tigers over the air at night, unless you were living within plain sight of 1270's transmitter. Considering WXYT's transmitter is powered by 2 asthmatic hamsters during the day, and 1 at night, the Tigers moving to FM was loooong overdue.

For those pining for the days of the Tigers being heard on the WJR's blowtorch of a signal, as compared to WXYT's Bic lighter of one, those days are long gone. WJR makes more money going with a schedule full of syndicated programming, which is a damn shame. 760 is a shadow of its own self, anyway. Today's WJR is an utter waste of a clear channel signal. Local programming is an afterthought, as they would rather poison the airwaves with agenda pushing blowhards like Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Laura. If only JP McCarthy knew what has happened to his once great station, which is no longer the "Voice of the Great Lakes." The Tigers and Wings are better off being on stations with more sports-centric focus, rather than the rhetoric-spewing voice of far right wing conservatism.

WDFN is dead to me at this point. The station has become so full of inside jokes, callers who fancy themselves as bad comedy writers, run into the ground cliches, and hosts that encourage such behavior, that 1130 has become unlistenable to anyone with even a modicum of intelligence. Tuning into Stoney and Wojo yesterday afternoon (For the first time in months, actually) pretty much confirmed that I wouldn't be listening to 1130 again anytime soon, as I'm trying to preserve what brain matter I have left.

I don't mind guy talk at all, but S and W have turned into an audio version of the lowest common denominator lad mags, Maxim and Stuff. Sports are an afterthought, talked about in between "Wacky" news stories and rote, by the numbers caller contests. They have dumbed themselves down to the point where they have become frustratingly unlistenable.

For example, yesterday's big topics were sexual fetishes, and another one of their once funny, now lame, 64 team tournaments. What was even worse hearing Mike Stone and Bob Wojonowski going through the motions was their outright asinine callers. They feel the need to do awful bits that even Jay Leno would find unfunny, state the blatantly obvious, and encourage Wojo's stupidity, which is an act that has worn awfully thin. If I ever hear "HAPPY NEW YEAR" over the airwaves ever again, I'm going postal.

After listening to out 2 local sports talk outlets, one thing has become clear. Between Detroit sports talk radio, or getting a lobotomy, local sports talk kills more brain cells.