Courtney Fallon, who does headline updates at 98.5 The Sportshub, posted the following this afternoon on Twitter:

Gary Tanguay is no longer co-hosting the midday show at the Sports Hub. Gresh will take his place.

I’m trying to get further confirmation from the station, but that’s all I have at the moment. I’m assuming this isn’t a day-late April fools joke.

Update: The above Tweet has been deleted, I don’t know what that means, but it’s been retweeted enough times so you know it was there to begin with. I still haven’t heard from anyone at 98.5, but with the holiday weekend on tap, I don’t really expect to, either.

Saturday Update: Chad Finn also has the story in today’s Globe: Tanguay out at 98.5 FM

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

83 thoughts on “Gary Tanguay Out at 98.5 FM”

  1. Wow a semi-bombshell, he gave no indication on the air today.

    Ugh to Gresh taking his place though.

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    1. Well, now there’s really no reason to ever listen to the 98.5 mid-day show. Saying that picking up Gresh for a full-time job is scraping the bottom of the barrel is an insult to actual barrel-scrapers.

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    2. Got to hand it to the execs at 98.5, who wait till after 5:00 on a holiday weekend to plan on making this announcement.

      I’m probably not the only one who doesn’t check this site most weekends, I just happened to catch a little of Gresh’s weekend show when he explained how ‘bittersweet’ he was about the news because of his friendship with Tanguay.

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    3. I am so bummed out about Tanguay. Those two were great together on air. I can’t stand Gresh

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    4. how does GT get fired after a few months and that rag on am radio, Dale Arnold is still causing people to drive off the rode. He is a pompous Condescending TWIT.

      I HATE DALE!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  3. Whether or not this is legit… the “aspiring sports journalist” has already deleted the two Tanguay-related tweets from her page. I’m sure Cha-Chi and Mike Thomas reminded her to stick to flash reports and not station PR.

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    1. I listen to all the shows on 98.5 (including weekends)…I have never heard this Fallon character on the air yet the twitter page says “Headlines personality for 98.5 The Sports Hub”

      Maybe this is some kind of fraud?

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  7. waaaaay back in the “Olden Days” an audience was afforded the opportunity to fling hard-scrabble-y grown vegetables at offending entertainers and the like. The shame of modern technology is that we are left with little more than hateful emails/voicemails/texts to convey the true sense of disappointment with our clowns…ah me…

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  8. Has anyone heard her on the station? The only trace of her on 98.5 are some Celtics posts. Why is she posting this news? Will she have a job after today?

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  9. Way overdue. Gary Tanguay is terrible. He’s the king of trying to make controversy when there’s none there. I like Gresh – he and Zo used to be great together on 790 The Score in Providence.

    As bad as Tanguay was on the radio, Toucher and Rich are worse. They rot.

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    1. My thoughts exactly. I like Gresh too. Whereas I’d never choose Tanguay and Zolak over Dale and Holley, I’ll now at least split time between the two stations if Gresh and Zo are back together. The only thing Tanguay does is stir the pot and go with the “storylines” of the day. Gresh can go off the deep end at times, but he’s proven at The Score in Providence and on ESPN Radio that he does have talent and can put together a good show if he wants to.

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      1. I hope 98.5 makes it as an alternative to EEI, but the best sports talk show I heard recently was Neumeier and Gresch filling in the morning slow. It was great listening!

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        1. I agree. I did like the Gresh Neumi combo better than the Gresh Zo combo. Let’s see if it progresses. Don’t love Gresh, but I do appreciate his lack of fear in speaking his mind.

          98,5 has turned this mom of 3 boy athletes into a sports talk-radio fan.

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      2. agreed….In fact, this is such good news, I can’t believe it’s really true….It’s disturbing that some of these tweets are being deleted….but either way, Tanguay is THE WORST sports talk radio guy out there (of if not THE worst,he’s in the top 2 with Mike Adams)

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    2. I find Tanguay to be a pompous ass. He’s unlistenable. I stoped listening to the midday show shortly after 98.5 started.

      However, were the ratings that bad? If the ratings were decent, why would the station can him? Perhaps, the guy who mentioned GT’s calling out the Bruins is right.

      Speaking of guys commenting on the Bruins… I don’t follow the NHL until the playoffs start, so I’m not qualified to comment on them, but neither are any of the guys on Boston sports radio. There are maybe 4 or 5 guys who are qualified to discuss them intelligently; these guys are the beat writers. Listening to Felger, Mazz, etc. discuss the B’s is a waste of time.

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  10. How is it that people actually like Gresh? What are his good qualities? I have no clue what 98.5 (or Comcast Sportsnet) is thinking by running this loud, uninformed, tub-o-goo out there. I change the channel every time I see or hear Gresh. Zo and Gresh were such a hit in RI, why not bring ’em to Boston!!!! Thanks for turning 98.5 into WEEI-lite.

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  11. I dont care for him on the radio but Mohegan Sun sports Tonight I really dont mind him and he is OK on the Celtics pre and post game.

    I am curious though how does this affect his doing The Patriots Brodcasts with Zo and Gresh whereas 98.5carries the Pats games? He has been there for at least 5 years I think and I dont see them walking away from him on that front

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  12. tanguay lives in wayland, alas wayland uses a landfill and not curbside pickup. no answers to be found in old receipts carelessly thrown in a hefty bag.

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  14. Not a great fan of Tanguay but I absolutely can not tolerate that loud, obnoxious windbag Gresh. It’s back to Dale and Holley for me during the day. I’ll have to figure out some alternative for game days.

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  15. At least Tanguay had an opinion whereas Zolak still believes he is a player and will never rip anyone if they are still playing in Boston.Zolak probably got Tanguay fired.

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  17. I listen to the sports hub to get away from the loud mouth brash attitudes at weei. Please tell me… whats the difference between Gresh and the loud mouths on the big show???

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  20. I bet that they are no longer a sports station by the end of the year. They re-up the two non-sports hosts, they re-team Zolak and Gresh, who had almost negative ratings in RI and Felger is still an a**hole.

    I don’t think CBS is in love with this sports format. After their fast start they’ve slipped quite a bit. They don’t have any long term contracts and can get out easily.

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    1. Good riddance. It’s about time or more like why did they give him any time at all? Tanquay should do voiceovers because the only thing he has going for him is that. He’s like a headline, bold and in your face but with no depth. I’ve always thought he must be related to someone to be so entrenched in the sports scene here with no apparent knowledge of sports. He liked to spew out absolutes without any thought put into his “spew”.

      Now is the time for CSN to smarten up and put Tanquay out to pasture for the good of all New England sports fans. CSN was smart in getting Dickerson off of the hosting beat. When he and Tanquay were together it was a regular joke fest. I’d rather watch paint dry or get a tooth pulled.

      Felger feels he needs to be the show while Mazz needs to be gone as well.

      Bring Neumie back NOW!!!

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    1. T&R loved mocking Gary’s self-important ‘deep radio voice.’ So it’s juicy irony that T&R get a big extension while Tanguay is sent packing.

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  22. See you later Tanguay, you useless ****head.

    As an added bonus, maybe this gets him off Patriots pregame. Still little chance that young Johnathan comes up with a better hire if that’s the case.

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  25. ……sorry, don’t see it that way…..Gresh, great?…..maybe not….but Tanguay is the most useless sports yakking fool I’ve ever seen….and in this market?….THAT’s SAYIN’ SOMETHING!…..Gresh is an improvement if only a slight one

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  26. 98.5 was supposed to be the alternative to the dumbed-down, frat-boy radio at ‘EEI. Real sports, serious sports talk without the buffoonery.
    They got to a good start.
    But Gresh is a loud-mouth, humorless, talent less windbag who wouldn’t be up to snuff at ‘EEI, where at least he fit the profile (literally & figuratively) of a host.
    Gresh is unlistenable. UNLISTENABLE.
    98.5 has made a huge mistake with this replacement, whether you liked Tanguay or not.

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  27. Tanguay at least sounds good on the radio, and he knows his Pats and Celtics well enough. I don’t really mind their letting him go, but Gresh? Really? I already favored Dale & Holley (the only WEEI show I did any longer favor) but now I won’t even be turning to the Hub during mid-day commercials. Bummer. Bummer, bummer, bummer. Huge step back for 98.5.

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  28. I can’t say that I am surprised. What was surprising was how fast it came. My guess is that he did not know it was coming until after the show. Tanguay was terrible. If he was losing an argument, he would resort to shouting which really does not help make your point. He was chicken little that always saw the sky falling. He was the first to say Terry Francona should be fired because he lost the locker room last year, ridiculous. Midway through the Bruins season he wanted Julien fired without thinking that Lewis was still on the payroll and Claude had three more years on his extension. It’s real good business to have three coaches on the payroll when two of them are on the couch eating Cheetos and drinking Pabst. My guess is that the main reason for Tanguay’s firing was the lower rating for 98.5 this past ratings book. My guess is that T&Z were the main culprits for the downgrade. Gresh is mildly better. Lately he has been going off on this Tiger Woods rant forever which has had me listening to Mustard and Johnson. He has to change his blowhard attitude or D&H will quickly knockout another foe. I would be curious if management at 98.5 read blogs like this to get a feeling as to what is going on. BSMW is not a secret, Tanguay, himself mentioned the blog one time on his former show in not so glowing terms.

    I hope D.A. is not the next to go. He too has been inexplicably getting killed by Mike Adams which is just dreadful radio. The only possible reason is that Adams has been around for about 30 years. But isn’t 30 years of suckiness enough?

    Finally, what has T&R done which allows them to get a contract extension. They have fallen more and more into “wacky FM DJ” abyss complete with noisemakers. I can’t believe I’m going to say this but D&C have raised their game immensely. I mentioned in an earlier post all you had to do was listen to D&C’s interview with Joslyn James compared with T&R’s. D&C was ten times better. It was fair and not over the top with snide comments. It was an interview. T&R were like three year olds.

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    1. Were you listening to the same interview I was? Every other comment James made was “I can’t discuss this now. YOu have to go to my website.” And you’re upset that T and R didn’t take that seriously? that’s not an interview: it’s a commercial.

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      1. Speaking of that interview, perhaps T&R shouldn’t have promoted James’ appearance so heavily, as it allowed EEI’s producers to get her on the air minutes before she appeared on 98.5. I was listening to T&R that morning and remebered that Rich was more frenetic than usual, and I wonder if that had anything to do with being scooped by EEI, with James appearing on D&C’s show first.

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        1. Jason, this is in response to your question on Bob Neumeier. I cannot answer within the the thread. I wish it were a tryout. I believe Neumy lives in Florida, I could be wrong. If I were 98.5 I would figure a way to get him on the air. He is great to listen to. Even if you do not agree with him, he has a clear argument and listens to the other side. I think EEI made a big mistake letting him go and keeping Dale who I do not think is horrible but if I had to choose who to pay Neumy would have received the cash.

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          1. Mandb97, I don’t think EEI let Neumeier go, I think he wanted a pay raise and Entercom couldn’t justify giving a midday host big bucks when they were probably paying him pretty handsomely already. Also possible that Neumy didn’t want to be tied down to a Monday-Friday gig in one market.

            It also sounded that Neumeier referred to a family in his on-air appearance, the first time I ever heard him mention a wife or a kid. Maybe he’s settled down, but like you said it’s in Florida instead of up here.

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          2. What I meant was that when his contract was coming up EEI. EEI and Neumy could not come up with a financial agreement so they let him go. Also all his favorite tracks run during the show and you never know but maybe he felt I will shoot for the moon and if I don’t get it, it’s 12:45 post time at Suffolk Downs.

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      2. I did listen to both. D&C were far more professional and got a little more out of James than T&R, who have become worse and worse with each passing day. I thought T&R started of pretty well but as I said earlier they have become what Colin Cowherd likes to put it, the “wacky FM DJ”(add in your favorite sound effect). It is awful radio.

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        1. I do agree that T&R lost credibility towards the end of the James interview when Rich started yelling at her, which may have come from a combination of her not divulging much information to him being peeved that EEI scooped them by having her D&C first.

          It’s going to be interesting to hear T&R without Crash (and more Jon Wallach) going forward because I believe they’re going to lose some of their wacky FM DJ edginess, which may be preferable for some but the trade-off will be losing some of the younger listeners who followed them over from BCN.

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          1. Crash was the third wheel on that program with Wallach around. If I had a choice, I would have kept Crash and left Wallach, but if you’re running a sports show, that’s hard to countenance. Crash is always going to be the 40 year old with the amusing stories and the unprofessional demeanor. Wallach is the sports geek.

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          2. I never liked Zolak AND lost all respect for him when he ripped the Chili Guy segment saying it wasn’t funny.Toucher and Rich suck up to this ahole every day.I think Toucher and Rich have lost it.Losing the heart and soul of the show “Crash Clark” sucks.Was Crash forced out?Why did he leave?They were 1000 times better on bcn where “Crash,Adolfo and the Chili Guy” made you laugh every day.Sadly Toucher and Rich have sold out.As for Tanguay at least he had an opinion and would rip someone who was still on a Boston team.Zolak blows and he stuck a knife into tanguay’s back.98.5 seems more like 1510 the zone.

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          3. Tony, you bring up a good point about ‘selling out’. When you get older and have more mouths to feed, there’s something to be said about job security, especially in the unstable radio industry. If T&R did indeed sell out, it’s hard to blame them.

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          3. In my opinion, Cowherd has more talent on his pinky finger than T&R has combined. If you like T&R, great. I think it has slowly become garbage radio. If 98.5 had been smart they would have taken out the wheelbarrow, filled it full of cash and dropped it on the lap of Bob Neumeier and partner him with anybody, with the exception of Tanguay and Adams. I believe it would actually give D&C a run for their money.

            Speaking of ESPN, other than that snooze-fest Mike and Mike I enjoy all their other programs. Cowherd, SVP, Doug Gottlieb and Brian Kenney are all great listens. And yes, other than Hardy and Troupiano, I will take John Stashower and Mel Kiper jr. over anyone locally.

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          4. mandb, a great morning pairing to me would be Neumeier and Tom Curran, sports conversation that would be both intelligent and witty.

            You think when Neumeier did those two days with Gresh it was a ‘tryout’ for the suits at 98.5?

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  29. I hope Andy gives some looonng pregnant pauses Limbaugh style – that’s awesome.

    The Crosseyed Clipboard Holder has got to be on deck – what happens when there ratings sink even lower.

    As LJS pointed out over the weekend thread (paraphrasing here) “Mike Thomas looks young enough to get it but has the hipster doofus look to him to screw it up.”

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  31. I’m shocked..I think Tanguay ia a class act who combined with Zo to create a great atmosphere. I will miss him very much!!

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  32. I would have to disagree with LJS, even though many of us who post here have grown tired of what present-day sports radio has evolved into.

    The problem is, Mike Thomas does ‘get it’, and what that means is, that regardless of what many of us think of EEI, we are in the minority. The ratings continue to bear out that EEI’s style works. Thomas looked at EEI’s success and considered it less risky for his new station to try and attain a piece of that ratings pie (while skewing toward a slightly younger demo) than it would be to try and reinvent the wheel with a completely different approach to sports radio.

    I wonder if Thomas hiring Gresh as full-time weekend/fill-in guy back in January was all part of a thought process to give Tanguay & Zolak three more months to improve their ratings, otherwise insert Gresh for Gary. Obviously Thomas would’ve kept those thoughts to himself given the friendship between all three of those guys, but in hindsight the Gresh hire makes more sense.

    I’ll go on record and say I’m not much of a Gresh fan, but there is some potential to reuniting him with Zolak. A couple of summers ago I caught some of their old shows on the Score in Rhode Island and I thought their on-air chemistry was pretty good, especially compared to T&Z. I say those of you already planning to switch to Dale & Holley permanently might want to give Zo & Gresh a chance first.

    I think if the SportsHub is going to maintain or improve their ratings, the key not only lies with the on-air talent but the show producers, who need to work and get more guests/experts on all their shows (less caller-driven programming), by taking advantage of all the connections CBS Radio and the local media have to offer. I also wouldn’t mind hearing Dan Roche more often as a fill-in host.

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    1. Jason, you are 100% correct. Felger even mentioned this quite a while ago on Chronicle when he said “if ain’t broke don’t fix it.” I look at DA vs Adams to prove your point. DA, no shouting, pretty witty and great sports talk. Shecky Adams, bad jokes, very little sports talk and Manny not having more triples. Yet Adams has been destroying Amandolara. The LCD wins.

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  33. Gresh is awful. I’m going back to D&H on EEI. I hate to go back to that end of the dial. I left because of the big show they were annoying and loud with little to no real sports talk. Gresh and Zo are equally as bad. I’m gonna miss Tanguay. Also, why is everyone bashing Mike Adams? Beside D&H planet Mikey was the only show worth listening to…

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    1. I know he’s not popular, but I never got the giant hatred for Mikey Adams. He’s not remotely as funny as he thinks he is, but I’ll gladly take him over the Putt Putt Twins, Dale, Ordway and Mustard/Johnson. I like DA better, but it’s not because Mikey is awful. None of them can hold a candle to Steve Sommers, already.

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      2. Jon I know we disagree on T&R but you are dead on with Sommers. Especially during baseball season when talking about the Mets. It is fantastic radio. I love his Mets soliloquies.

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    2. MD, I’ll give you that Planet Mikey can occasionally be entertaining on a warm summer night when you’re not wanting to be inundated with stats and numbers, but it seems more and more he resorts to junior high-level humor and offers little thought outside of Boston teams from three or four decades ago. Like most of the EEI personalities, his act is wearing thin on me.

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      1. Planet Mikey topics:
        1. I hate Manny Ramirez
        2. Peyton Manning is a goober
        3. Let’s call Bill “spaceman” Lee
        4. Wow, email female, you’re hot
        5. “Insert catered food here” is soooo good!

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        1. One issue I have with WEEI is their food obsession. Mikey and Ordway are always going on and on about Fred and Steve’s Steakhouse, Davios or whatever. Just what we need: radio about food.

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          1. “Just what we need: radio about food.”

            What you just did is the AOB equivalent of sending out the bat signal. Expect a response singing the praises of those phantom foodie triplets.

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  34. All set with the Mid-day show. The reasoned I listened was because of Tanguay. Zolak sucks! The guy knows nothing about sports other then football. Gresh is a guy that has been doing anything he can to get a show. Morning show sucks and now the mid-day show. Good job 98.5.

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  35. back to EEI for me for mid-day. I didn’t change from D & C but the rest of the day was the Sports Hub. Now it’s just Felger & Mas. No idea why the change was made but with all of the talent in this area you choose this guy to take over? He must work for food!What a terrible management decision.

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  36. How about a Crash and Tanguay show?Both guys are great.Zolak should have been fired!

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  37. Gresh is a complete moron. I have a sirius satelite radio, and the only thing keeping me from switching the dial was quality pairings – like T&R, Zo and Tanguay. Gresh is a complete imbecile. Dude – he is 100% platitudes; his knowledge of sports is completely superficial. If he can’t answer a question with a cliche, he doesn’t know how to respond. When pressed once about a Patriots draft statistic, he completely fumbled and sounded like a complete jerk off. I really don’t have any reason not to turn the dial during the day now.

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  38. Look…
    I grew up in Pittsburgh, Zo played against my high school….what you here are two of the THICKEST burgh accents out there…..close to Dan Marino Bill Cowher, and Jim Brady.

    So what you are really listening to is Pittsburgh sports radio time with a Boston emphasis!.

    I don’t mind Gresh, I didn’t mind Tanguay, I would never listen to D and H if I could help it, Dale is awful. Talk about pompous, I think the word for Dale is sanctimonious….look it up….

    Holley is good; he went to college in Pittsburgh btw.

    I like Sheppard as well.

    I actually thought Sheppard Tanguay and Zo would be great

    My .57

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    1. gresh is the worst thing about sports radio,all cliches,his “research” for shows makes him sound formulaic,which he is, and boring no matter how loudly he speaks.the sports hub seems to be shooting itself in the foot.

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  39. 98.5 is now Pittsburgh radio. Pittsburgh is an ignorant backwoods city. Ted Sarandis run! Do not sign. It is now a sinking ship. D.A. your next.

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    1. Was Sarandis on Sunday after the Bruins game on 98.5? I was at a Masters viewing party and missed it.

      Perception is an interesting concept. I don’t think 98.5 ever claimed upon their arrival they were going to be radically different than EEI, other than the fact they broadcast in FM and you don’t lose their signal on the Pike west of Natick.

      Last year CBS Radio management looked at EEI’s successful ratings and wondered how they could get a piece of the revenue pie. 98.5 has now evolved into an FM version of EEI in greater Boston, where there are a few good programs sandwiched in between the majority of blowhards filling the schedule.

      Sad but true, the days of quality sports discussion on a consistent basis died back in the 70’s and 80’s along with the disco ball, lava lamps and the rubik’s cube. We now live in an age where information is non-stop and the average attention span is shorter than Ken Rosenthal.

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      1. I think you are right about 98.5 not wanting to be different, Coyote. Felger tried to do something different on 890, but failed. What he took from his failure was that he shouldn’t try to be different, forgetting that he was on a station with a shitty signal and zero money to spend.

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        1. Dbvader, I don’t think you can make Felger solely responsible for his previous show on 890 or his current show. For one, his 98.5 show has a permanent co-host where his previous did not (Kevin Winter was an update guy who chimed in when he wasn’t busy getting updates). It’s also the difference of a station owned by ESPN as opposed to CBS Radio. I also don’t think many folks realize how much the producer of a radio program has his hand in the sound or feel of a show.

          I don’t think there’s a huge difference between Felger’s 890 and 98.5 shows, although I suppose you could argue that having a permanent co-host can potentially lead to more arguments, giving his current show a ‘louder’ sound.

          I’ve been saying for awhile what all these shows need are more guests who are intelligent and informative, with fewer callers and contrived debates.

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          1. Jason, I agree with you that a few intelligent, insightful guests can make all the difference. Fewer callers too, although I sometimes find certain callers help make it interesting, so maybe they just need to do a better job with screening. I have a question for all the thoughtful sports radio listeners out there. What’s the factor that makes this medium so primitive? I think its close to becoming pro wrestling with the contrived personnas and arguments. Is it because the majority of sports fans – and I’m talking about the people with the disposable income – want this type of entertainment, or is it that the “brain” trusts of these entities think that’s what we want?

            What do you think Bruce?

            Back when I listened to the Big Show I was actually embarrased sometimes when sitting in the car somewhere with the windows opened and those jackasses were bloviating. I love sports, and I enjoy listening to thoughtful opinion, inside info, anectdotes, etc. I don’t see why a “70’s” style format wouldn’t get big ratings at drive time…

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