Thoughts from Beyond the Grave!

-Wow, 4 months between posts? I suck at blogging. This is why I don't Twitter although I can't imagine I would be any more active.

-Never have I looked forward to a hockey season less. Although I suppose PC will exceed expectations as they do every year they're supposed to finish in dead last place.

-Am I wuss for almost crying at Tedy Bruschi's retirement? Oh well.

-The demise of WBCN was tragic, but 98.5 has been a pleasant surprise, mostly because Felger/Mazz isn't a colossal mess. Toucher and Rich is Toucher and Rich, but Kadolfo really needs to find the Chili Guy. The entire show is being carried by Fred making fun of Gary Tanguay. Buffy!

-Texas never seems to lose, but the Red Sox keep gaining ground. Not sure how this is happening either.

-Stupid WEEI never took my advice about the Whiner Line. Giving an award to the Man on the Way up? Reprehensible.

-"Hello, Control." "Hello, Tony."

-Words of Wisdom: "Eating kittens is just - just plain WRONG. And no one should do it! Ever!" - The Tick

-Hi, Mark!

Chad Finn 1 WEEI 0

Another shocking upset from the Globe's OT

The only thing that sucks more than WEEI's recent output is the comments defending the station. "Hey Chad, go listen to NPR!" Is that the best you can do? I will gladly take NPR over 3/4's of the stations in this town.

(I didn't think much of the OT page originally, but we might actually be on the same page. Scary, eh?)

Another modest proposal for WEEI: There's no whining in sports

Every once in a while, I offer my advice (and the implied threat of feline vandalism) to WEEI in hopes that they will take my advice and remain the Number One Sports Station in America. Or at least remain in the top five in one demographic. This time, I feel that a tiny bit of pruning of a short 10 minutes of WEEI's broadcasting would do a world of good. To whit:

I frequently question the thought processes of New England sports fans - both on this blog that no one except Mark reads and in real life - but never more so than the adoration that people have for the Big Show's Whiner Line. For those of you lucky enough to have never heard the Whiner Line, you've probably heard something like it. Basically, the Whiner Line is a "random" catalog of saved voice mails that are supposed to be funny or entertaining. Yes, the same format that exists in every single radio market in North America exists in Boston* (seven times over). And as in the case with the other Whiner Lines, it's not quite as funny as people think. It needs improvement, and I'm here to help.

Why am I so anti Whiner Line? Because all the "whines" fall into five basic categories:

1. Making fun of the hosts. Usually over something said earlier in the show when most of us poor fools are working at our "jobs". If I ever find myself listening to the Big Show at 2 PM for more than 2 days at a time, shoot me. This is supposed to be really funny "meta" humor. Like the "Simpsons", I guess. Except for the fact that Steve Burton laughing like an castrated hyena at 3PM wasn't funny the first time.

2. Off topic political commentary. As if the the morning show wasn't enough, now we have to hear the listeners go off in the same NON-SPORTS tangents. What, can you not get WRKO or WTTK where you live? And if you can't please let me know where you live so I can move there. Commercial talk radio blows. This is why people are driven to NPR.

3. Unfunny song parodies. I'm sure comparing Fred Smerlas to Domenic the Donkey was funny the first time... oh wait. It was never funny.

4. The same five or six idiots giving us their stupid catchphrases. Especially the "Fat Bastard" guy and the Man on the Way Up. If you've heard the Whiner Line, I don't need to say anything else.

5. Actually funny comments that have something to do with sports. Usually happens about twice a show.

As you can see, there a bit of pruning to be done here so we may have the best Whiner Line possible.

My first advice would be to get rid of celebrity callers. For example, Frank from Gloucester calling up and leaving a message about how awesome Glen Ordway is and how he's friends with people who run the Celtics? No one cares. I also don't care that Glen is a "Fat bastard". The schtick is old. And if you really hate the Man on the Way Up so much, stop putting him on the air. It's a simple concept, but it goes a long way. Since most of the "celebrities" are the ones doing awful song parodies, referencing things I didn't hear because I was working, making fun of hosts and whining about liberals, this will speed things up dramatically. These twits shouldn't be on the air period. If they think like the hosts, they should get their own shows. Again, I'm glad to help.

Secondly, ban "Fred the Christmas Donkey" immediately. In fact, ban all music. None of these people will ever be confused with Weird Al. And it will prevent Fred from snapping and killing us all with his bare hands.

Third, set a time limit on these whines. The joke shouldn't require more than 20 seconds of set up time.

Fourth, plenty of amusing things happen in sports. Every day! It shouldn't be necessary to hear a plummer from Everett opine on Pete Sheppard's weight, the weather or whether or not Barack Obama is a communist. What team do they play for? If I wanted that, I'd listen to the morning show. I don't.

Fifth, the Whiney Awards? Stop them. Calling in to a radio show should never net you an award. For any reason.

Hopefully, WEEI will take my advice and the Big Show will continue to be the best program on the station. Okay, maybe the second best, but that's only when Mike Adams isn't fixated on players from the LA Freakin' Dodgers.



*Just to add another layer of awfulness to the proceedings, the Big Show apparently ripped this idea off from Charlie's old pal Howie the Hostage and his Chump Line. Howie ripped the idea off from about 3,000 other people. Of course, the Big Show and the Hostage can't stand each other. This largely because Howie hates all things sports. It also might have something to do with the Hostage absconding with the Big Show's food (this proves two things: a. Howie is a jackanape of epic proportions and b. never steal food from fat guys). Why the Big show needs more food is another problem. If you donated all the food the Big O and company eat to the Sudan, there would be no hunger.


BTW: Sorry, this will be the last time my blog entry has a footnote.

Tuesday randomizer

A few random thoughts:

-Anyone depressed by the end of the Red Sox season (to a team that didn't win the World Series, no less) must be happy with the play of the other three teams in town (shame about the Revolution). The Pats are playing well despite picking up a season ending injury in every game and being down to their fourth string running back. The Celtics are proving that last season was not a fluke by streaking out a 7-1 record. The Bruins are playing fun, exciting hockey and getting great goal tending. This winter might be a lot of fun - save for the listless state of PC hockey.

-Speaking of the World Series, am I the only person who doesn't care that the ratings sucked? Why would anyone care about the ratings? Sorry Fox, that doesn't interest me at all? If there were entertaining baseball games being played, why would you care about ratings?

-I grow weary of the constant whining in college football whenever someone from outside a BCS conference puts together a season with one win or less. The "how dare" they attitude is so elitist it makes me glad that PC isn't fielding a football team. The main goal of a college football team is to win games: if a team from the Mountain West or Sunbelt or MAC or WAC is putting together a good season, they're not doing that to screw over whatever team it is in the Big 12 or SEC that the college football talking heads have fallen in love with that calender year.

I have no proof to back this up, but I've always gotten the impression with the amount of money big time boosters pump into these programs, college football's problems might actually dwarf the Tim Doneghy/Spygate/MLB and Olympic steroid scandals we've been dealing with over the past couple of years. Just a hunch.

-"The Big Show" used to be the best show on WEEI, mostly because with a rotation of a dozen or so hosts meant you weren't stuck listening to the same opinions all the time. Well, now it's just as bad as Dennis and Callahan, and the problem is once again politics. When will WEEI get it through their heads that when all of their hosts are waxing poetic about how awful Barrack Obama is that listeners will eventually start to tune them out? The post election whining from the Big Show (especially the two resteraunteurs they bring in for football season) has been the off the charts and the twits on the Whiner Line have proved to be just as bad. I can't wait to see what other programming gets ruined by this new, boring format!

-Speaking of formerly great radio: Mike Francessa talking to himself for 4 hours every day? Maybe I'm better off not getting that signal on the ride home.

-The shuttering of CN8 doesn't bode well for sports in this region on multiple levels. We can only hope the Emmy award winning John Carchedi ends up getting his due because he's awesome. There, I said it.

Random thoughts from the happily married...

-One last (or at least I HOPE it's the last time I have to go through this!) comment about Bill Simmons crusade against Scott Boras and the Boston media: is WEEI too stupid to realize that they're playing right into the man's hands? The rumors of Simmons attempts to burn all his bridges at ESPN have been swirling throughout the summer and it looks like the Sports Guy is tugging at the cape of the Red Sox Cabal (Globe/Herald/NESN/WEEI/WRKO) by suggesting that Manny wasn't 100% to blame. While I don't buy all of his premise, the Boston media has a reputation of running players out of town and/or bad mouthing them when they leave (Mo Vaughn, Roger Clemens, Joe Thornton, and others). And Boston has a reputation of being inhospitable to non-white athletes. As Manny's trade was a result of his awful behavior (with prodding from Satan Boras, no doubt), I don't think it was racial motivated. It just makes the move look much worse to outsiders.
At any rate, Simmon's ideas do have merit. Whether or not he's 100% accurate, is under debate. The idiots at WEEI who chose to slam him for "defending" Manny - and let's be fair, the Sports Guy comes off as a fan boy of massive proportions - are making his point. Why no one is seriously pursuing the Boras angle is beyond me.

-The Charlie Pierce article I linked to last week generated some of the usual idiotic comments. I was surprised to see many of the nitwits who infest the Herald's comments section have infested the Globe - the great Satan of the "oppressed" MA conservative - as well. I admitted that Mr. Pierce went a bit too far with his anti-Republican sentiment. The problem is that Curt Schilling is just as guilty of inserting politics into everything. Both Charlie Pierce and Curt Schilling should be taken to task for inserting politics into sports, but Mr. Pierce is less guilty because he's REACTING to some of the crazy things he sees on 38Pitches. Does Curt realize he plays for a team in a Blue State? Why antagonize the people who adore you by running around acting like the Giant Forehead? It makes no sense and that was Charlie Pierce's argument. He doesn't have to vote for Obama, but he should at least try not to insult people who do yet root for the Red Sox.
I would say the same thing about Hollywood liberals, but they can't throw a decent curveball.

-And as an added bonus, if Curt and Charlie can post their messages, and commentators who dropped fully formed from the Pink Hamster's anus can post their comments, then I can insult all parties. That's the First Amendment.

-Al Davis used to be kind of a joke. Now he's a complete joke. I don't doubt that he had good reason to gong Lane Kifflin. But why bring up a tampering charge against the Pats 1 year later? Only ESPN and their attendant twits in Hater Nation are buying this. Caveat emptor.

-Let's see: the Mets disintegrate, the Cubs are awful in the playoffs and the Angels can't beat the Red Sox (well, up until this evening, I suppose). Is it still 2007?

-I understand nothing can be done about this, but I absolutely hate the fact that the circus is always in town during the first two weeks of the Bruin's season.

Last word on Manny (for a while)...

The Sports Guy (gasp!) gets it right

I don't often give Bill Simmons credit, but he is right on this issue. Scott Boras has a LOT to answer for. Or, Manny is bi-polar. Either explanation works.

I particularly like the snarky comment about the Globe/NESN/WEEI/WRKO regurgitating the company line. Tee hee.

I apologize for the lack of snark here, but as a married man, I have to start acting like a grown up. (kidding!)

Afternoons in Waltham: Jon's radio adventures part II

So, my mornings on the radio have been mapped out. What of my afternoons?

"Attitude Adjustment Hour" (WZLX): I'm a sucker for classic rock. But not all of it; much like the Dude, I have no tolerance for the Eagles. But if you wait until 7, they play a block of Zepplin.
Versus Jon's Radio: Usually the radio wins. Especially if it's TULL!

"Big Jim" (WFNX): According to the guys on the Sandbox, he's a wookie! Chewie ruled.
Versus Jon's Radio: It depends. There's only so many times the human psyche can handle The Foo Fighters in the course of one hour. And I like the Foo Fighters. In fact, one of their CDs is in my car...

"All Things Considered" (NPR): Like a warm comfortable pair of shoes. Again.
Versus Jon's Radio: The CD player. I'm all newsed out by the time I get out of bed in the morning.

"the Big Show" (WEEI): Tolerable for about half the program, until the idiot callers start calling on the same subject. Over and over again. And then the hosts started talking at the same time. There are more professional offerings on public access.
Versus Jon's Radio: Okay half the time. But the Whiner Line is useless and the "outrage de jour" format can get tiresome.

"The Pink Hamster review" (WRKO): What sadist put Red Sox games on this station? No one who uses the word "moonbat" more than once should be taken seriously. So I don't.
Versus Jon's Radio: My CD player. Liberals suck and public servants are hacks. We get it. Move on.

"Whoever is filling in for Felger" (ESPN): You know what? I heard great things about this show in comparison to "the Big Show". I turned it on one day and it sounded like a more sedate version of "the Big Show". And now Felger is gone. Meh.
Versus Jon's Radio: CD player.

"Mistress Carey" (WAAF): I have no problem with Carey, at least in comparison to the aural train wreck that is Hillman. However, every time I turn on this station it's Nu-Metal. How in Hades did we go from Sabbath, Priest, Maiden, the Big Four of Thrash, GWAR (HAH!), and Pantera to THIS? At least Creed is loooonnnnnggg gone.
Versus Jon's Radio: CD player, usually. But it is funny to hear them play Bob Marley now. Awesome.

"Toucher and Rich" (WBCRadioN): This is the show that brought us the Gunner, Dating on Demand, Burger King Cheryl, Adolfo, and of course, Jojo Weiss aka Jojo Hennigan aka the Whopper the Whopper the Whopper Big Cheese Sandwich. And they play music.
Versus Jon's Radio: The radio. But it should be noted that the wacky shock jock schtick can get tiresome and if FNX overplays the Foo Fighters, WBCN overplays the Chili Peppers. That's much worse.

"Mike and the Mad Dog" (WFAN): Sadly, no longer with us. Sigh.
Versus Jon's Radio: CD player, because I can't get this show in Waltham. And now I really can't get it.

Early morning in Roslindale: Radio choices

As many of you have figured out, I'm constantly waging a battle between whether or not to listen to my CD player or the radio. Given that I'm not about to lavish money on satellite radio just so I can listen to Howard Stern (uh, no), it's either the CD player or the radio for me. So let's match up my CD player with my radio listening options:

"The Takeaway"(NPR)- Maybe it's just me, but I keep hoping an on air brawl takes place between John Hockenberry, Adaora Udoji, and Femi Oki (who has the best name! Let us decide using the Wu Tang Sword Style!). It would certainly make the pledge drives more exciting.
Versus Jon's CD Player: Doesn't matter, since it only runs until 7 and I'm usually not in my car by that point.

"Morning Edition" (umm, also NPR): It's NPR. It's there. Like a comfortable pair of shoes.
Versus Jon's CD Player: Jon's CD player in a walk

"The Tom Finneran Show"(WRKO): Except for Red Sox games, WRKO is so utterly useless it defies description. To counteract the fact that they have the completely irrelevant Rush Limbaugh and the Pink Hamster on their station, WRKO decided to hire the poster boy of entrenched liberal power. And his show is just as awful as every other piece of excrement on this station. Good to see them stay fair and balanced.
Versus Jon's CD Player: Jon's CD player. The only way I could listen to this show would be if I was in a coma

"Opie and Anthony" (WBCN): The caveat is I'm basically listening to hear Jimmy Norton make fun of people. He's hilarious. Opie and Anthony aren't bad, but Norton doesn't get enough credit. Patrice is a riot too.
Versus Jon's CD Player: O and A, depending on who is on

"the Sandbox" (WFNX): Kind of like a more upbeat, happier version of the Toucher and Rich Show. And they play music! Granted, it's not always music I like (please STOP whoring for Coldplay), but it's music.
Versus Jon's CD Player: The radio. Unless it's Coldplay (again)

"Mike and Mike"(ESPN): Hey, it's average guys! Who like sports! What a concept!
Versus Jon's CD Player: The CD player. If I want average people discussing sports, I'll just talk to myself. Hey, I already do!

"Dennis and Callahan"(WEEI): Sometimes, you want to hear about sports. However, I never really want to hear whining about late games, running up the score, Manny bashing, liberal bashing and golf at 7 in the morning. Sorry. However, if they're on vacation, the show really isn't that bad!
Versus Jon's CD Player: The CD player runs up the score like Belichick here

"Imus" (wherever he ended up): His voice would make a sea cucumber murderous.
Versus Jon's CD Player: Take a wild guess.

"Hillman morning show" (WAAF): An awful collision of no music, bad parody songs, whiny self important liberal bashing, the atrocity known as "Mantown" and Spazz - the worst person I've ever heard on radio. Imagine someone as annoying as Mister Opportunity and as stupid as a Adolfo with the worst Boston accent ever. I shudder to think of listening to this for more than five minutes.
Versus Jon's CD Player: CD player. I like music!

"Jazz!" (the Harvard station. Wherever that is...)- Unfortunately, I'm all jazzed out by the time I go to bed in the evening. Thanks to Eric... in the evening. Sorry.
Versus Jon's CD Player: CD player, assuming it's not more jazz

So far, so good...

There are certain moments in the past 6 years or so which lead me to believe Theo Epstein is the luckiest person to ever walk the planet. To whit: the trade for Jason Bay. The Red Sox had two huge problems leading into the trade deadline. 1. The team wasn't hitting and 2. the middle relief was a problem. Since the trade, the Red Sox went 5-1 at home, had a winning road trip (barely) and are 2-0 so far in their homestand against the Texas Rangers. All of this success is in spite of the fact that the trade did nothing to address either one of these areas. In fact, by getting rid of Manny Ramirez and Craig Hansen, the Red Sox might have actually weakened their offense and bullpen. The perfect example is the nightmarish 19-17 victory over the Rangers where the middle relief did everything in their power to give Texas a victory but the supposedly inadequate Big Papi/Yoooouuuukkkk part of the order won the game anyways. Defying all logic to the contrary.

So basically, despite all logic and reason to the contrary, the trade is working. I don't know if Theo is a genius, but I'm glad he's working for my team.

Random comments:

-Unlike the completely overblown Spring Training, no one cares about the NFL pre-season. And no one should.

-I'm glad to see Gerry Callahan is recovering from throat cancer. I thought I should type that given the fact I disagree with him on every issue imaginable and I refuse to listen to WEEI in the morning because of this.

-Scottish football is awesome. Yet another late game involving a Glasgow team (this time, my beloved Celtic) is settled with a questionable late penalty kill. You'd think someone would eventually do something about this, but nope.

The Schmooze

My all time favorite sports talk personality is Steve Sommers out of WFAN in New York. He's funny, articulate, has the ability to put up with a lot of crap from opposing fan (and as a Rangers and Mets fan, he puts up with a great deal) and is generally superior to the most of the on air talent on WEEI in Boston - at least in my opinion. I base this observation on an incident that happened on Saturday.

Steve Sommers was taking phone calls during his usual insanely varied schedule (he tends to be on the air whenever they can squeeze him in) and one of the dumber fans I've ever heard called him. He described himself as an "ex" Yankees fan who had abandoned the team a few years ago before because he didn't like the way the team management was treating Joe Torre and he was sick of Hank Steinbrenner's act. Rather than let him go on with his insane comment, Steve pointed out the logical fallacies in his argument (for example, George Steinbrenner's past misdeeds were even worse) without stooping to personal attacks.

Then I lost the signal. I went over to WEEI and subjected myself to the Mustard and Johnson show. It didn't take me very long to find someone even worse than the "ex" Yankee fan. Instead, we had an "ex" Red Sox fan who went on an 2 minute tirade about how much he hated the Red Sox and how much better things were when Yaz was around and how he was much more interested in his son's college baseball team. Rather than point out that he was an idiot, the two hosts let him rant. In fact, they seemed to egg him on I wanted to reach through the dashboard and strangle this moron and I was rather disappointed that the hosts didn't at least point out that he was a horrible fan - or at the very least hang up on him.

I understand that WEEI is immensely popular, that they are one of the highest rated radio stations in this region - if not the country. I also understand that letting nimrods and jackanapes make asses of themselves on the airwaves is successful business strategy - kind of like how the Romans used to feed people to the lions and stage epic battles for entertainment. Also, I am aware that listening to the Mustard and Johnson show doesn't give me a lot of moral high ground - it is referred to as "Yankee talk" for a reason. Still, I prefer the way Steve Sommers goes about his business and I would gladly trade an entire month of "Boston" sports talk for a 3-4 hour schmooze.

Coming attractions!

I've had some great ideas for blog posts lately, some of which I'll get to:

-I really need to do that Journey/Styxx/Foreigner Battle Royal I promised. I'll get to it eventually. Don't stop believing... (I couldn't resist)

- Joe Fitzgerald from the Boston Herald needs a visit from Charlie Chaplin following his asinine comments about George Carlin's lack of "decency". Apparently, using seven words you can't say on the air is indecent, but choosing the event of someone's death to bring up people's potty mouths is okay? I really don't think so.

- More complaining about WEEI's uselessness. The Red Sox are slumping badly, so why all the reflexive Manny bashing? Actually, I might not need to do this.

-Where should Jenny and I go on our honeymoon? My ideas on the subject will follow.

It's the Jon show!!!!

I do tend to complain about WEEI; this includes message boards, this blog, my friends and family, and the prayers at night I say to God in hopes that Gerry Callahan will let go his hatred of liberals for an entire week and talk sports for 5 hours a day. As you can tell from the fact that WEEI's format has not changed and they still remain the number one sports station in the region, they're not paying attention to me. I believe this is because all I've done is make fun of them. In other words, I'm not being constructive in my criticism. It's one thing to mock Fred Smerlas for being unable to go 5 minutes without talking over his co-hosts, it's another thing to give him advice on how to make his stepping on them more entertaining. So, to keep things positive, here is what I would do if I had my own sports radio show.

(Yes Jenny and the Curious Offbeats, this will be yet another sports entry. Sorry. Next entry I'll suggest we convince Charlie Chaplin that Ann Coulter's head is a ball of yarn. Given her intelligence level, that shouldn't be hard.)

No politics: I don't care, the listeners don't either. Besides as a moderate, does anyone want 5 hours of me waffling about whether McCain is a bigger creep than Hilary? Come on now. (Besides, the answer is obviously Hilary. Just kidding)

Talk about any and all sports: I'm tired of turning on WEEI and hearing nothing but Red Sox and Patriots - with five seconds of talk about whether Kevin Garnett is better than Larry Bird was. What the hell? If I had show, we'd talk about all four major sports (yes, hockey counts) and college sports and anything up to and including NASCAR. I think it would be interesting. I might be alone in that.

No... You could NOT manage the Red Sox better than Terry Francona. Tito get's more criticism than Deval Patrick, yet has a better record. I'm hanging up on any caller who can't understand that he probably wouldn't out manage someone with two World Series rings. What's next, people who think they can out gameplan Bellichick? Out fox Red Auerbach? Out dress Don Cherry?

No celebrity callers: ... because most of them are miserable. Especially the ones on WEEI. Jim the Wrestling Goon? Umm, pro wrestling isn't a sport. Unless he's going to discuss the big Cyclones/Hawkeyes meet in Iowa, it's not sports related. How did he get on the air? Angry Bill is even worse. Here's someone who's criticism of the Red Sox actually INCREASED when the Sox won the world series. And it got even worse this year when they won AGAIN. How is that possible? Then you have Dakota, who moans about the Patriots during the season where they go undefeated (well, kind of undefeated). Huh? No celebrity callers. Every caller will get a chance to get on the air, but no more than once a week. Viva democracy.

I do not have a crush on Hazel Mae: Or Tina Cervasio. Or Amelie Benjamin. Probably not Sonny Watrous either. Because I'm pretty sure she can kill me with a slapshot.

My enterance music: I have a few choices: "Hell Awaits" by Slayer? "This is Hardcore" by Pulp? "A Shoehorn with Teeth" by They Might Be Giants? Lot's of places I could go with this...

The Chili Guy would be my cohost: He's the richest guy through the country baby.

So those are my ideas for the Jon show. Now you know why no program director in their right mind would let me near a microphone.

WEEI vs Jon

So, I'm sitting in the back seat of my buddy's SUV this morning at about 2AM when the conversation turns to WEEI - mostly in an attempt to keep ourselves awake. I'm not going to name names, but one of the people in the SUV works in the local sports media so he had all sorts of fun stories to tell about our local "celebrities". Suffice to say, he had very few positive things to say about WEEI. For those of you who do not live in the Boston area, WEEI is the top sports radio station in the area. They also carry the Celtics games, Boston College basketball and football and the occasional Red Sox game during the season.

When i was young, I enjoyed WEEI immensely. The station carried to the Red Sox games and if I'm not mistaken, they carried the Bruins as well. The shows were entertaining and the hosts had the ability to talk about sports in general. At some point, while I was in college, this changed.

When I graduated from PC, WEEI suddenly lost the ability to discuss the Bruins and Celtics. Of course, both of those teams were horrible so this kind of made sense. Unfortunately, this became a permanent feature of the station. The next thing to go was college sports. The station carries - and continues to carry - live broadcasts of college athletics, but don't even try to discuss those sports on the air. This ability apparently ended when Ted Serandis was booted from the 7PM to midnight shift. Ted wasn't popular guy on the station but at least he gave college athletics a fair shake. He lost points by being a shill for BC basketball and being good pals with Tim Welsh (for some reason) but he could at least discuss them.

But the real problem with WEEI is politics. I have no idea why WEEI decided that they had to emulate WRKO, their sister station. WRKO is one of those useless right wing talk stations that actually managed to find an equally moronic and unlistenable left wing host to "anchor" their morning shift. Add in the completely irrelevant Rush Limbaugh and the agonizing repetitive shtick of Howie Carr and you have Jon kryptonite. Well apparently, WEEI decided that this crap was such ratings gold that they exported it to WEEI. Now, while we're hearing about Spring Training and Kevin Garnett and the weekly interview with Tom Brady, we're also deluged by lame right wing ranting. Great.

The callers actually seem to be getting worse. First off, they seem unable to call BS on any of the silly political/sports crap they hosts are spewing. Secondly, the cult of the "signature caller" has resulted in an influx of nimrods who get on the air every day and add NOTHING to the conversation. And last of all, I point to the existence of "the whiner line". Ugh.

So let's recap: no hockey, politics, and a sea of jackanapes waiting on hold. Gee, sign me up. The fact that this crap was unlistenable during the Red Sox run to the World Series AND the Patriots abortive run at a perfect season AND the Celtic's new found competence is absolutely tragic.

Here are my alternatives to irritating sports talk radio:

-NPR: Yes, I am a public radio geek. I draw the line at "Prairie Home Companion", but I love "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me," "Car Talk," "Sez You," and whatever jazz or blues program they have at night. I can't stand the endless pledge drives, but that's a small price to pay. And I'll argue against NPR being a haven for left wing propaganda until the day I die.

-WFAN: For some reason, while Boston sports radio irritates me, I'm amused by New York sports radio. At any given point in New York/New Jersey, there will be about 5-7 miserable fanbases. Yes, Giants fans are very happy and Mets fans aren't far behind, but what about the Knicks? See, endless fun. Plus, Mike and the Mad Dog haven't annoyed me yet. And Steve Sommers is the greatest radio host ever.

-WFNX: I'm not a huge fan of the "new" alternative scene, but I'm starting to like "The Sandbox."

-WBCN: Ah, my dark secret. I like "Opie and Anthony" better than any other morning radio show. The musical selection throughout the day is just okay. But I am endlessly drawn despite common sense and my own snobbish good taste to the goofy mess that is the "Toucher and Rich" show. And I hope that one day in my travels throughout Boston, I will be able to donate a couple of million eights to the Chili Guy who is, after all, a state police officer in days and years.

As I promised, tomorrow I'll compare the Beanpot teams to the GLI teams as I attempt to bridge the East coast/ West coast bias and make fun of Harvard in the bargain!