Just putting this here:

The Red Sox have now won six in a row, including three on the road against Cleveland and Baltimore.

That’s Hall of Fame worthy analysis by the voice of Boston sports right there.

John Dennis is gone. It certainly appears that the longtime morning co-host will not be returning to the WEEI airwaves.

This meshes with what I had been told, which was that he flat-out quit.

While Dennis definitely had his flaws, he was infinitely a better host than Gary Tanguay, who seems to be the lined-up replacement. (Please no.)

The Patriots play their second preseason game tonight, against the Chicago Bears, whom they have scrapped with in joint practices this week.

The preseason broadcasts remain a bit of a disjointed mess. I like all the people involved on the telecasts, but they’re not in great roles. I appreciate Dan Roche for his positive outlook on sports – a refreshing alternative in a sea of negative pundits, but he’s not a play-by-play guy, or whatever facilitating role he is expected to perform on these broadcasts. Christian Fauria is not a great a analyst. He’d be better as the sideline guy where he can be be Tony Siragusa Jr. Matt Chatham would be better as the booth analyst.

I’m never sure when they’re tossing to the PFW guys, or what they’re expected to contribute to the telecasts.

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Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

20 thoughts on “These Red Sox Sure Are Hateable Right Now”

  1. On the D+C news, I’d like to ask a question.

    They’ve had a mixture and the times I’ve been able to tune in for long enough to pay attention, I recall Tanguay, Mutt and Bradford.

    I’ve said my piece on Tanguay and most of us are in agreement. However, compared to Bradford, who puts you to sleep, he seems to only be able to talk Sox. Mutt? Sounds like a generic ESPN personality. (A caller to some show he was filling on a few weeks back said just that.) Tanguay? Trainwreck, plain and simple, but he “lights up the board.”

    So, yup, I’m the dumbass listener here (no Arbitron so I don’t count). If having to pick between those three (ouch), GT is the guy who keeps me listening out of those. As a permanent choice? I don’t think it works, but I’m not a radio exec. This place and SoSH will be full of complaints on a daily/weekly basis if he’s their guy. However, I recall the same reaction these days to F+M: People keep complaining–yet, they’re still listening.

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    1. We should find out today, as Kirk’s podcast was late. He tweeted that he was taping it this afternoon and that it would be out today, so the new show could be announced later. Please not Tanguay! I don’t mean that as a playful, I don’t like him but I’ll still listen way. I mean if Gary’s the choice I won’t be listening to WEEI in the mornings at all. Podcast city.

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        1. Can’t believe I fell for that. And to top it off, a horrible podcast. Booo, all around on that one.

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  2. I suspect the job will go to Tanguay because, well, every village needs an idiot and the morning show requires one for Callahan and Minihan to sh*t on. Who better than Gary the braying jackass?

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    1. Agreed. I listened for about an hour this morning when they were discussing Gary’s upcoming vacation and it was pretty funny back and forth.Don’t get me wrong I still think Tanguay is a try hard and doesn’t deserve the promotion and I might be over reaching but it certainly sounded like Callahan was much more relaxed and enjoying himself.

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  3. A few points:
    – Tanguay. Still awful. Just this morning, they were discussing if it mattered that Brady didn’t play, and you could almost hear the wheels turning in his giant head… then, he finally got the hot take assembled and out it came: “I think Tom Brady was being selfish for wanting to play last night.” Sigh.
    – However it plays out, the biggest problem this show has had for the last 6 months is the CONSTANT talking about themselves and office drama, etc. Seriously, turn them on at 6 and look at the clock and then see how long it takes for them to talk about ANYTHING other than themselves and the show and disputes, etc.
    – Like most, I think when D&C were talking about sports it was pretty good. Minihan was a good additio at first, and when it came to Deflategate the 3 of them were the best in the city (F&M the worst, of course), but his ego and just unstoppable penchant for talking about WEEI drama has been unlistenable, IMO.
    – Bruce, you are a 1000% right about the Pats broadcast. Miscast all-around, especially not having Chatham in the booth. He’s perfect for that role.

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    1. Tom, I agree with your points. Especially, the second one about office drama. I’ll take it a step further and add in the hosts constant need to scream at the perceived incompetence of the producers. It always baffled me that either the program director or the hosts themselves at some point had to think that made good radio…. and then they all agreed. I guess it’s akin to predominance of reality TV we’ve seen for the past ten years or so — people like drama, real or not. But honestly, who thought this was a good idea to drive a radio program? In particular a sports talk program. Or, excuse me, a program about things sports fans talk about.

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      1. They took from Stern yelling at bab booey for a segment here or there and D&C do that thing everyday all show. Once again D&C takes an idea from Stern and beats into the ground. That is the influence from Stern superfan Minihane. Take everything Stern did and put it into overdrive just like what a bad imitator does. It’s why most tribute bands suck. They take the most exagerated elements from their source material and expand on it.

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    2. “However it plays out, the biggest problem this show has had for the last 6 months is the CONSTANT talking about themselves and office drama, etc. Seriously, turn them on at 6 and look at the clock and then see how long it takes for them to talk about ANYTHING other than themselves and the show and disputes, etc.”
      That comment is right on the money! I turn them on and all they do is talk about themselves. I think they think talking all their drama which most of it is staged like a WWE storyline, makes them seem edgier compared to T&R. I’ll tell you, the dominance of T&R really did that show in. And I can’t believe I’m gonna say this but the show was better when they would just spew on and on about politics. At least that was something they cared about and was real for them. This whole thing they do now with Minihane acting like a Vince McMahon stirring up contrived fights on the show is tired. It was funny for likje 5 minutes but now they’re beating it into the ground.

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  4. I get it that John Dennis is working the Jimmy Fund Radiothon, but isn’t it going to be awkward working with Callahan & Minihane after all that’s gone down, especially in an environment where the event/cause comes first and their interpersonal beefs should not even be discussed? If EEI so badly wants Dennis involved on those days, why don’t they give him his own show? What does it say about C&M that EEI feels the need to pair up the three again for this event?

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    1. They won’t talk about it at all. And I’d bet that he’s not on as much as you think. But this all about him fulfilling the rest of contract. Sounds like the station did him a favor by letting him off the air fulltime and putting him on “light duty” so he can collect the remainder of his money.

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  5. Agree with your observation on the Pats game coverage. The PFW segments are just shoehorned in,and Matt Chatham needs more airtime, ideally as co-host. Just a thought: It’s too bad NFL broadcasts weren’t done like the NCAA basketball tournament and have two broadcasts, one for each team.

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  6. Each year, there’s a poster here who provided a link to the annual Channel Media Survey about Boston Sports and Media. Is that person still here? Or, does anyone have the PDF?

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