I half expected to tune into 93,7 FM this morning and find John Dennis gone. Instead, both Dennis and Gerry Callahan were there, and they were joined by Kirk Minihane, who, as Chad Finn reports, will be the third host, and not a flash guy.

Entercom couldn’t really fire either Dennis or Callahan due to contractual obligations, so instead they added a third voice into the mix. I think we can expect Minihane to challenge some of the redundant thinking of D&C, though how vociferous he is with it is questionable. I don’t think for instance, we’ll hear him using the attack mode he used on Alan Siegel over the Boston magazine piece. He can’t do that, and be able to work with those guys each day.

So what changes will we see? Hopefully he’ll insert some reality into the conversations, make things a bit less one-sided on that show.

Speaking of challenging D&C, Alex Speier did a masterful job of it yesterday, making Callahan in particular look foolish, all very politely, and Callahan still had the gumption to claim victory after the call was over. Speier, by the way, again has the best read of the day with his piece on super-prospect Xander Bogaerts.

So what’s next for WEEI? Does Mike Adams have cause for concern over his position? Nights aren’t a priority for the advertising/ratings factions, but he does perpetrate the “old” image of WEEI, especially against the younger Adam Jones on 98.5. Management seems enamored with John Saucier, but I fear a show with him full-time would wear on one real quick.

**********

It’s time again for the NFL combine, and all the local outlets will be sending out their football personnel to the event.

Why?

It’s not to really cover the NFL prospects who are working out, though some reporters do more on this angle than others. The reason most of them are there is for the media availability of various Patriots and NFL people. But what do we really learn? Anything? I don’t recall off the top of my head any reporting from the combine that gave us any insight into what the Patriots will do at the draft. It’s interesting to follow on Twitter, I suppose, but there’s so much repeat material out there it’s tiresome to sort through to find anything of real interest.

I guess I’m just amazed that the combine has become the media event that it has, and that the local outlets, none of which are swimming in cash, keep sending their entire squads out there.

*********

The NBA trade deadline is this afternoon at 3:00pm ET. Either Danny Ainge is going to blow up the Celtics, or he’s not going to be able to do anything. It’s very hard to believe that Ainge will be able to keep his key pieces, and also add a piece that is going to increase their chances of being a contender this season.

I tend to think the Celtics will not make a major move, but it won’t be because of lack of effort from Ainge. Of course, I thought the same thing two years ago when the Perkins/Green trade went down.

The guy who is probably going to have any move first is Adrian Wojnarowski. @WojYahooNBA He has become the Adam Schefter of the NBA, breaking news from all over the league, usually ahead of just about everyone else.

************

Shoot, I was really hoping Dan Shaughnessy was going to write a column finger-wagging the Patriots over Alfonzo Dennard.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

18 thoughts on “Thoughts on Minihane to Morning Show, NFL Combine, NBA Trade Deadline”

  1. That saucier guy is just awful. He makes mut look good. All he does is talking about his life and his huge ego, you can tell he was picked on and not liked in school.

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    1. With ya. I keep hearing guys on several shows at EEI pumping Saucier’s tires as if he’s some up-and-coming radio stud, and I think, their shelf’s bare if he’s the best they’ve got. Not to mention his inflection sounds more like a top-40 host.

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        1. Anyone recall a show on 1510 (and later on 890) called The Young Guns, which featured five rotating 20-something hosts? One of them was Chris Villani, former EEI midday flash guy (I believe he left to take a sports director job at a radio station in Vermont) and one of the others was Saucier, who was just as opinionated back then.

          With regards to Saucier being picked on in school, I remember hearing his height is something like 6’10”. Even if he wasn’t a star hoops player, I doubt any of his schoolmates would dare tease someone that tall.

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  2. On the combine:
    I think the media being into it is because the public has come to love football so much, that they want to see “who might be next”. However, as you said, it projects 0 into what your team might draft. If anything, I wonder if the fantasy aspect powers this because FF obviously spans beyond your own/local team. Also, I find that the combine is 90% useless if you don’t watch college football–and, not just the big/bowl games. Unless you have a seriously hyped prospect like Luck/RG3, scandal like what happened to Te’o, you have no clue who these guys are.
    ——————-
    On the Dennard coverage/fan side: the second it broke, around 12PM here, G+Z had on Michael McCann and it seemed like a flux of folks who were either lawyers or parole officers called adding input. The general consensus is that his clean record, kept clean since then, he should not get time. He’ll be burdened by heavy fines, community service, and a good chance he could do it all here. In the end, we do not know what will happen because of the judge. Greg Bedard also said that due to this all happening prior to the current CBA, Goodell can do nothing and would get a challenge from the NFLPA if he did so.

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      1. Exactly. Just because the B’s have had a resurgence in Boston because of the cup win a couple of years ago doesn’t mean it’s now big nationally.

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  3. Dear Bruce:

    I have been trying for more than an hour to write an appropriate response to the Minihane addition to D&C. Here is what I came up with:

    “Thank god the John Bachelor show Podcast is up by the time I commute in the morning…I never have to listen any more sports drivel again”.

    From a business standpoint I can’t see how this is a good move. Do they think the addition of Minihane is going to miraculously skew the audience younger and thereby attract new advertisers. Do they listen to him…that even though his age is younger he sounds like an old bastard? His frequent on air blunt questioning of Mike Muttansky’s intelligence and talent alone should have been enough to make sure he never sees the inside of a booth on a permanent basis. I am guessing we are going to watch D&C play out their contracts while Minihane learns/waits in the wings as the heir apparent. Brilliant!

    As an aside…I have tried several times to listen to the Holley and Sheppard temp show as we await Mike Salk….it is painful. If this is a preview of what is to come Felger and Mazz’s ratings will double.

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    1. Though, ltd, I’d say that questioning Muttnansky’s intelligence and talent qualifies Minihane as having a clue (at the very least). I find Mike Muttnansky to be the most inane and boring talk show host in Boston. He rarely has any insight, and more frequently, Merloni (who’s good but not great) finds himself waiting patiently to correct some ignorant statement of Mutt’s. Possibly Mutt might have been ready for a show of his own someday, but he sure wasn’t when they gave him the midday slot.

      Whoever it was who commented on yesterday’s post that Holley has helped in the career demise of two longtime Boston on-air personalities, Dale and Ordway (a shrewd but slightly unfair comment), had a great point: Holley is likely too bland by himself to carry a show. He’s better at playing off of someone else, even someone as mild as Dale Arnold. So either Salk will take over the afternoon show (because Sheppard is awful–how many years on the air and he hasn’t learned yet to slow down his speaking rate?), or what was the Big Show will tank even further.

      I think you’re right that Minihane will have next to no impact on the morning show. Perhaps John Dennis will relinquish some control of the show’s tone and try to accommodate Minihane, but even though I’m no fan of Toucher & Rich, I’m still not listening to those two old hens. I actually liked Dale Arnold filling in for Dennis, when he’s done that.

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      1. Mike:

        I slam Muttansky all the time…but I am not employed by the same company and looking to move up the corporate ladder. That is my huge problem with Minihane.
        I was the one who commented on Holley. Your point about Salk taking over the show is a good one and I think that will happen. However I have no illusions Salk is any better than Sheppard and as such I think that show is going to suck. If arguably the two best talkers in Boston over the last 25 years (Ordway and Arnold) could not make Holley a star I doubt Salk can do it.

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          1. He knows local sports inside and out, which is more than a lot of these jokers (T&R, Gresh, Zo, Mike Adams and Mutt to name the worst) can say. He’s really mild, I agree. But the guy’s a pro and has intelligent opinions. You can do a lot worse.

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    2. “Do they think the addition of Minihane is going to miraculously skew the audience younger and thereby attract new advertisers.”

      Maybe, as Bruce said, it’s their “start” of a change in a different direction? Or, at least a testdrive? At one point, Chad Finn floated this Mary Paloetti, Minihane and Callahan. Sounds crazy, right? It is a change.. However, as Ryan said above, even with Minihane, I can’t see anyone I know who loves T+R even giving it a shot.
      Why blow it up completely and risk losing the established core you have given the cost? We have no clue the cost of those contracts but if the logic behind is the “lets see how Minihane works”, it’s the start of a change. If someone thinks its going to make a T+R listeners defect en masse, they’re on something.

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      1. T&R suck they know nothing about sports. Only reason they’re doing good is because the option on EEI is that much worse. Also Adam Jones is horrendous reminds me of Mutt Beetle should have that seat

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  4. Although I deplored his disgustingly unprofessional skewing of Jack Edwards, I think Minihane is a real good talent and hate seeing him wasted as a spare tire on D&C. I think he should have been given bigger role; maybe even his own show. I hope he doesn’t regress to the level of those two neanderthals. It’s actually a reflection of the poor decisions coming from management at EEI which is the bigger problem for the station.

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    1. So you’re mad at a guy for skewering a guy unprofessionally…for being disgustingly unprofessional? Because that’s what Jack Edwards is, you know.

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  5. Having Minihane in the booth with D&C reminds me of when Tony Kornheiser was brought in with Theismann and Tirico, or even Dennis Miller when he was brought in. Its a desperate attempt that just doesnt seem to be the right decision, yet again. 1 step forward, 2 steps back… sigh

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  6. They don’t need a third person, the show is fine without flash guys or third bananas who say nothing

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