Leila was laughing it up on today's " Score Stories" with old clips of Mike from Milwaukee. It's funny but I'm not pc. Mike was a retired postman. When he was on the Score with Boers and Bernstein or whoever, he was usually pretty well blasted. Then producer Goff chimed in the mocking, and trying to humiliate the guy. Wonder if Goff would humiliate and mock an old alcoholic black guy? Or Leila an old Iranian alcoholic? Would Goff, Bernstein, and Leila be laughing?

Couldn't disagree more. What does "adding value" mean? The job of the host is to interact with callers and use their communication skills to create something entertaining out of every call. Kap and Hood are great at this.

And that's why I don't listen to Kap and Hood. Most callers do not say anything interesting or funny. They either repeat things already said or have bad sports thoughts. It takes too much time to sift through a half dozen calls to get to someone funny or interesting. And I don't want hosts to have to get something entertaining out of every call in the first place. I want to hear the hosts thoughts and their conversations with experts and analysts. Sure, read some texts or emails. But randomly taking calls? No thanks.

_________________
Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

Sounds like you are talking about most hosts here. At least callers break up the monotony of Parkins droning on an on about some nonsense.

_________________

So you're taking it through the perspective of one show with a host you don't like. Who would you rather listen to- a host you do like or Bob from Woodridge suggesting what the Bears would have to give up for Watson? And usually the person willing to wait on hold to talk on a sports talk show doesn't equate to having a cogent sports thought.

_________________
Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

Yep. You get those calls that start a new topic or provide a sound bite that can be used in the future. Just hearing from those within the sports bubble (hosts and guests/experts) can get repetitive after some time.

_________________
Sherman remarked, "Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?" Grant looked up. "Yes," he replied, followed by a puff. "Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow, though."

Parkins was just the first name that came to mind probably because he doesn't take any calls. I don't want to listen to any host talk for 4 hours about what the Bears would have to give up for Watson. Why do you think his thoughts are any better than Bob from Woodridge? You really seem to think sports talkers thoughts are on some other level. The reality is they are just dopes like anyone else. Their thoughts aren't better than anyone else's. And the bad callers? Turn it into something funny.

_________________

I don't think it's Parkins whose opinions DAC places over those of callers, he just likes experts like Florio as frequent guests. So why not just listen to a Florio podcast?

_________________

Of course the thoughts of a sports talk show host are better, on average, than you typical caller. These guys are professionals that are much more knowledgeable than your average fan. They read more, watch more, and talk to experts more than your average caller. Just by the nature of talking about sports, people are going to be wrong often so don't use incorrect opinions or predictions as some way to downgrade their knowledge. Look no further than drafts or picking winners by teams or sharks. There is no question that I put much more value in what Bernstein, Parkins, or Speigel has to say about sports than some random caller. I can't believe that is actually in question.

And why would you listen to a sports talk show for 4 hours? Listen to some podcasts and break it up. I listen to a number of Athletic podcasts, hockey podcasts, and politics podcasts in addition to the afternoon show. It's probably a 50/50 mix of podcasts and the Score overall.

_________________
Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

I forgot they are on Twitter.

_________________

"Hi, I'm Danny Parkins, board-certified Sports Knower"

_________________

There's no Larry Horse without callers.

That is all.

ESPN's national model of sports talk is hosts talking to guests. That's why its been a failure here. Engagement with fans is what drove the popularity of the Score and MJH.

_________________

One of those Radio Faces documentaries had a segment on the original WMVP, which, even before ESPN took it over, was trying to be the Tuxedo Pooh to then-820 The Score. Smash cut to North & Jiggetts, who sent 1000 running back to simulcasting the Loop until they could dream it up again.

Oh, here it is. https://mediaburn.org/video/radio-faces-9/ Good Chet Chitchat appearance at the beginning. 20-minute mark.

EDIT: lol at North, "we got white, black, Asian, Hispanic, Pakistanian..."

_________________

North was great.

_________________

that was great, thanks for posting that.

Man I miss those days.

Interesting comments from Lance McAllister...he was sort of Bernsie before we knew what Bernsie was....

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

I thought the same thing. We may have even said something to that effect the first time I posted it. Imagine being the rough draft for Dan Bernstein. Chicago wasn't ready to Appreciate Greatness in 1995.

_________________

Nice memories...though obviously they were mistaken that they would succeed nationally in syndication.

Basta Pasta!

_________________

There was an attempt to syndicate Steve & Garry, right? Milwaukee and Detroit? It just doesn't work. You can syndicate a show from New York or a show from nowhere, but not Chicago.

_________________

Yeah i remember that. Also Mac and Terry almost went to Minneapolis but not to simulcast.

_________________
Elections have consequences.

It's weird to stumble upon those shows that are clearly syndicated but market themselves as being "customized to your market." Very modular broadcasting. That Brooke & whoever show on 100.3 is like that -- they really keep kayfabe about it being a Chicago show but it's national out of Portland or something.

_________________

An interest technique, remember reading that call centers in India used to assign staff to certain parts of the USA and have them read local news from the areas to make them sound local and improve sales. This was about 10 years ago, so not sure if they still are using that technique.

If you've been listening since the beginning then you know that the bernsteinization of the Score changed the dynamic from hosts and callers sharing and discussing common interests to callers being used as a punchline for hosts' pseudointellectual analysis.

_________________
General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

Jeanne Sparrow is still a nice looking woman, but she was a babe back in those days.

_________________
General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

Have always thought the dry, guest oriented show was great in small bunches. An hour, Or 90 minutes which fits the podcast format perfectly. When I’m consuming radio or pods in those short doses it’s perfect. When I’m in a situation that I’m going to be driving to western Iowa or on a rod trip or in a tractor for 12 hours that format can become monotonous even in switching topics from sports, to history to outdoors stuff I’ll listen to from time to time.

That doesn’t mean there weren’t “classic” score callers that I didn’t care for but the relationships they had with the original programs was better for that all day listener. And yes, I know there are thousands of different choices in podcasts today and people don’t listen the same way they did 25 years ago so why aim for that style. This may be true but why aim for a style that is better suited for podcasts thst you’ll never do as well as a good podcast? Those hosts are far more knowledgeable than what the standard radio host is these days.

a host is just a caller with a Communications degree

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I think the discussion is pretty simple.

What is the best call into a radio station you've ever heard that wasn't unintentionally funny? I think it's highly unlikely it is better than "$5,000 suit" or "Steak Dinner Boom" or "Die Sox White Fan".

Callers are either saying obvious things, or repeating what others are saying. It's not like a guy who watched the Bears game on television and suddenly figured out how to fix the offense by throwing more bubble screens but the guys making millions of dollars on the field and on the sidelines couldn't see it.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Caller driven radio when done right is the best sports talk radio.

Lee Hacksaw Hamilton out of Southern California and Charlie Palillo in Houston are two guys I can recall who did one host caller driven sports radio. Each of those guys did it differently, but the shows were really entertaining. Hamilton got shunted aside during the move toward “guy talk” in the late 2000’s. Dumb.

Agreed. It also takes special kind of hosts to identify the bit and expand on the bit. That's rare. When I think of Boers, I think of Larry Horse. I can't help it. So take a guy like Parkins. If you don't take calls, how can you find a bit. How can you hit a homerun like Larry Horse, if you don't refine your abilities.

Take calls. Take swings. How can you make yourself unique if you are exactly like everyone else.

It's not just for sports. I argue that Stern really lost himself going over to satellite because he no longer had the random listener calling in outraged, or the nut with odd thought or just people who disagreed with him and kept him honest. Now he has people who pay to listen calling in, who will generally fawn over his work. He can't create new wack packers because those people aren't paying for satellite radio. He's stuck trying to make personalities out of Bobo and Maryanne.

Score hosts will pretend its about the quality of the show. The truth is, they hate/are frightened by their public. The reason Scoreheads formed was because hosts like North and McNeil embraced their listeners. Some of you might not remember the absolute loyalty to the station that was present in the mid 90s. Sun up to sun down Score. You think there is anything close to that now, even among traditional radio listeners.

Go ahead and have a guest dominated show, where we hear a blogger followed by a podcaster and watch the audience fade.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.