3/26/2004
TALK TALK
Hello, my name is Mark, and I’m addicted to radio. (Hi Mark!)
Seriously, I could go a couple weeks without turning my TV on, but I can’t get through a day without radio, specifically talk radio. In fact, as I write this, I’m listening to the underappreciated Jonathan Green on WTMJ from Milwaukee.
Today I lost one of my three favorite radio hosts of all time–Tony Kornheiser, about whom you have already heard, if you’ve been reading this site. TK’s been the subject of much blogging angst for the past two months, ever since he announced that his radio show would be ending. (To be fair, some people aren’t as bothered by this.)
As a longtime TK fan, I know when the man’s speaking from the gut, and when he’s feeding me a line. And he’s feeding me a line about why he’s left his radio show.
TK doesn’t do any better at hiding his contempt for Jim Rome than I do. Rome, a Los Angeles-based radio host, has slowly been eroding ESPN Radio’s 18-34 male audience, thereby depriving Bristol of the lucrative ad dollars from the burgeoning male-enhancement and offshore-sports-book industries. (Note to Bristol: Your desired advertisers are the same reason I had to install MT-Blacklist. Think about it.) Kornheiser has alluded several times this week to “telling the real story” about his leaving the radio show at some point in the future. If “the real story” doesn’t involve ESPN’s desire to skew younger with an “edgier” program (read: to find a cheaper Jim Rome), I will eat all the gravel out of my driveway.
It would be wrong to cast this as a Kornheiser vs. Rome conflict, however. Their shows only overlapped for an hour. But anybody who’s listened between the lines knows that ESPN Radio’s quest for Rome’s audience (which I am well aware is only good business practice) is almost certainly behind this lamentable move.
I am not bitter about TK’s leaving the radio. Nor am I immune to the shortcomings of his program–it was frequently self-indulgent, and TK’s interruptions of the news updates took considerable getting used to. But the genius of good talk radio is the goodwill that a great host can generate. That’s what makes a person listen to a show day in and day out. A good talk radio show develops a sort of story arc, and as a listener you can tolerate a host’s self-indulgent moments. Why? Because they move the show forward. Good talk radio is about something besides the issues of the day; it offers the listener a chance to meet regularly with a fascinating person–or several of them, if the show has regular callers. And for those of us who talk for a living (like me), good talk radio offers us all the benefits of good conversation without the burden of having to carry part of that conversation ourselves.
And that’s why I’ll miss Mr. Tony. He knew how to talk to guys without being a boor or a bore. He knew that saying “ass” every thirty seconds, or making comparisons between female body parts and deli products, doesn’t exactly pass muster with a lot of people as “great radio.” Nor do many of us think that OJ jokes are funny. (Sure, they used to be–ten years ago.)
There will be a new guy in TK’s time slot on Monday morning. I’ll be listening, of course. And I’ll not judge him by whether he measures up to my esteem for Kornheiser. That’s not fair. I’ve learned to love radio hosts and lose them before–Tom Becka from KFAB in Omaha (though he eventually found new digs someplace where I could hear him) and John Williams from WCCO in Minneapolis (but, mirabile dictu, I got him back when I moved here). I’ll survive, but losing a great radio host is not something you get over in a week.
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Kevin O’Reilly mentioned something else I never cared about from Kornheiser, his incessant use of sports reporters to fill his show. Blowhard talking to other blowhards.
Comment by bryan — 3/26/2004 @ 9:01 pm
Blowhard talking to other blowhards.
No, I don’t think Jay Mariotti was ever on Tony’s show.
Comment by Mark Hasty — 3/26/2004 @ 9:24 pm
Given a choice between a “blowhard” with some worthwhile information and an interesting opinion, and an athlete who wants softball questions that stroke his ego, I’ll take the “blowhard” every time.
Sports radio has just become immeasurably more lame.
Comment by Jim — 3/26/2004 @ 10:32 pm
In re: “blowhards talking to blowhards”
I actually thought his policy of sportswriters over athletes was a good one. While there are some athletes that can talk intelligently about their games, for the most part they speak in clichés and certainly don’t provide news. Sportswriters actually know more about sports than athletes, hence they made for, IMHO, more interesting radio.
Not that I hate listening to athletes, just that given the choice, I’d rather listen to writers.
Comment by Steven — 3/27/2004 @ 10:46 am
Mark, nice entry. I found myself this morning lost, without a friend or a routine that i have followed for over 4 years now. For those that had the patience or the humor to stand Tony, this monday has been a dark day. I spent my morning listening to archived shows and clips.
But i guess this world would be better if we could all be like the gnome…
great
Comment by j jones — 3/29/2004 @ 8:22 pm
j:
I hear you. I was 18 once, but I got over it. The gnome is for the folks who didn’t, I guess.
Comment by Mark Hasty — 3/29/2004 @ 8:43 pm
I’m the guy who sent Tony the bumper sticker that said “My Springer Spaniel Is Smarter Than Your Honor Student”, and sent him the first of those two 6 year show synopsis he read on the air (As I was saying to Rod-ur-ick Rack me! I am SO clahsic). I swear he even choked up a little. Because of my work (full time musician), my schedule doesn’t line up with the rest of the world so I grab human contact where I can. TK Stack Money, Andy Polly Andy Polly, Roderick Bell, Denis Horgan, Phil The Show Killer, Tamara, Roseanne (I’d marry that woman just to hear her crack wise in that delightful accent all day) Wolfe Spyder et al were my surrogate buddies for the last 6 years. When they came to my town (Syracuse) to do their only roadtrip, I got a chance to meet Tony and Andy in person. After chatting for a bit (my table mates had a sign that read “Dan the Duke Davis Nude Driving School”) I slid Tony a CD of my band which he actually played on air and used for bumper music a few times. I’m not trying to pat myself on the back for being one of the original callers/e-mailers, I’m just trying to point out that this show was very special to me and to millions of others. It was different and I will miss it differently than any other radio show that has moved on.
The new guy is good, but the hints that it is gonna be an all sports/football slanted show, and feature interviews with athletes scares me. Cowherd seems like a smart, funny guy with all the sarcasm we need to follow Tony, but heavy football talk is torture, ESPECIALLY if he’s going to take a lot of phone calls.
Wherever Tony and Andy end up on the air again, I sure hope the station can handle the 1.8 MILLION Mr. Tony faithful who will be trying to stream it from day one.
Godspeed Satchmo, can’t wait to have you back on the air.
Comment by Steve Winston — 3/31/2004 @ 1:39 am