The Official Ottawa Sports Radio Thread #3

[FunkySeeFunkyDoo]

Happy I am not the only person who feels this way, Macramella brings nothing to the Friday afternoon show. Mendes seems to have Simmer more toned down than before and then Macramella comes on its back to the old Simmer again.

The Macramella segment on Fridays is the best thing on TSN1200.

 

[Filatov2Kovalev2Bonk]

The Macramella segment on Fridays is the best thing on TSN1200.

Going to disagree on this. He, like Simpson, has a poor radio voice and I just turn him off. He's terminally angry too which is a big anti-bonner when you're trying to chillax on a Friday.

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDoo]

Going to disagree on this. He, like Simpson, has a poor radio voice and I just turn him off. He's terminally angry too which is a big anti-bonner when you're trying to chillax on a Friday.

I disagree with your disagreement!

 

[Stylizer1]

Going to disagree on this. He, like Simpson, has a poor radio voice and I just turn him off. He's terminally angry too which is a big anti-bonner when you're trying to chillax on a Friday.

His legal show is pretty good and I like when he comes on. He gives me a pro-bonner.

 

[Filatov2Kovalev2Bonk]

I think they have done a good job in providing different content. I like "That's what she said" but after 6pm on a Friday I'm not really tuning in. I wish they just did the show live Sunday morning. It's kind of pointless listening to people talk about what going to happen on the weekend when its Sunday morning.

Why no NHL show? That's what TSN radio needs. Every Saturday from 4-7.

I love Basketball but no host knows enough to keep me interested for very long.

TWSS is actually pretty decent, but the opening jingle needs to go down to about 10 seconds, as it's mind-numbing. A new name for the show would be cool too, as TWSS is a novelty catchphrase. Otherwise they are decent if they just stick to the topics and not do novelty stuff.

As for what I'd like...it's mostly fine as it is but I'd really like to address why they haven't had a real rebuild or an outside GM hire that could direct the team through one with fresh eyes.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

To extend the pizza analogy, that is why your base ingredients are so important. You could satisfy a good portion of those 500 with plain cheese pizza is you have good ingredients, prepare it well, and serve it hot. However if your sauce, crust and cheese are all meh, all the best toppings can only get you so far.

It's easy for him to say "you can't please everyone" - nobody expects that, so it is a silly point to make. The issue is could you be pleasing more people, and do you strive to do so or would you prefer to just shrug and mumble "can't please everyone, all the critics live in Mom's basement".

Similarly in sports radio, quality hosts go a long way. There is nothing Todd White could talk about that would compel me to listen to him. I could listen to Ray Ferraro tell stories about his playing days for hours - because to my ear he is good with detail and knows how to tell a story. Some guys have it and some guys don't. Mendes is a pro - it shows. However, he carries a heavy load.

If your talent is bad, all the guests, contests and gimmicks can only do so much.

Exactly.

Quality conversation is worth listening to. For any topic.

I'm not a soccer fan, but if a few folks are having a good, informative conversation on it which is engaging...I will listen to it.

 

[Vaclav Varada]

The Macramella segment on Fridays is the best thing on TSN1200.

Agree 100%.

MarcramelLA possibly has the best show on the station. To me its can't miss radio.

 

[Tuna99]

I think Mendes has become the best media personality in Ottawa because he engages his fans and this sounds totally stupid to be saying this in this age, but he was never afraid of bloggers, comments sections and Internet sports talk. Garricohe and Brennan especially, but many others, about 7-8 years ago came on the radio day after day and used the comment 'some guy living in his Moms basement' to dismiss our comments as completely irrelevant and also to insult us. They have never really recovered from that, people know they are close to the team, people still don't like them or believe they are good journalist because they broke the tie with the hardcores and these are the people that will speak out against them. Brennan and co. Now have made nice and will tweet Sens bloggers etc, but they were 10 years behind the times and it showed us all they didn't understand the media landscape, they broke th trust, so they didnt really understand their jobs or how they fit into to not being the only people with a computer who got to talk about the Sens. Mendes has always been all over this, has always welcomed as many voice, angry or otherwise and we have embraced him for that. Hell he even sent me a shout out to insult him. He's not afraid that his listeners can't handle tough subjects - legal questions, female voices, etc so he has more resoct for his audience and brings a ton more to the table,

also, I want to say this since it was brought up on Twitter , I have or course noticed and wondered where Mendes ancestry is from, but I never thought he's a 'visible minority' (which is a term I haven't heard since 1994 so it feels almost racist saying it now) but I've always just thought of him as a sports nut who was raised properly asking people questions. I guess I just thought he was the best guy for the job, got a degree to help him be a sports journalist and worked hard and made good choices for his career. But I'm happy he's given voice to some Young sports freaks in Ottawa who want to be journalist. Ian's just the kid who's doorbell you'd ring when you wanted to play some hockey because he'd always be there, that's how I see him I guess.

And if anyone hasn't listened to 'that's what she said' these two let it hang out when it comes to the Sens. They are great, they aren't afraid to say really anything within the bounds of fandom.

 

[Flamingo]

Tuna, I agree with your opinion on Mendes. He doesn't dismiss his listeners' opinions.

He's straight-forward, accessible, and doesn't pander to a lowest common denominator. He's entertaining, smart, and brings a genuine sports-fan-through-the-ages perspective of NHL, NFL, CFL personalities and events.

 

[Stylizer1]

Pretty most of the topics from the drive yesterday were topics being discussed here. But still no props? Ian

 

[operasen]

I was driving twice this week when the station flipped to 1200. The first was a full segment (and more before I tuned it off) on Which Team 1200 personality you'd like to watch Grey Cup with. Nothing about the game, either team, the weather, the .... no which announcer ... and on and on with silly comments (except for Avery and Ellingson). Simpson laughing his way through the other hosts names and their failings and Mendes egging him on to fill the time before yet another commercial. And as soon as we come back, we surprisingly ramp it up again. Come On.

Then yesterday's give away - let's combine names with movies (Bruins and Senators) and again, on and on with the inane use of OUR time to listen to silliness instead of anything impactful that might affect the game. How many times do we need to hear Daugevins transformed into a movie title. And its not even funny. Silly is the word I use to be generous about your program content.

So Ian - there are two negatives off the top.

Now a positive thought (and no I will refrain from saying the last time you were off because it was no better).

Why not feature a player/coach/trainer/executive for the week or several days at least, using interviews each day for a segment with them from several different professional sources (including outside Team 1200) that talk about their sport (not who their favourite announcer is or tv show), how they got into it, what their aspirations are, how they train, how they learn/create their role on the team, what it took to get here, what the day to day routine is, what are they working on and how are they doing that, what they want to see in the future, memories, dreams, people that helped them, people they want to play with, what equipment they use and why that brand, ideas to grow the sport, concerns within the sport and how to mitigate them, injuries, healing, diet, etc, etc, etc.

Positive, focused and interesting. Football, Hockey, Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, Golf, Cycling, Curling - professional, amateur; NHL, AHL, CHL, University - there are ton of places to find this type of content and interesting people to learn about. Requires some thought and actual setup work, but would be actually interesting to spend 20 minutes on that instead of what some movie quote is about flatulence.

Back in the heyday of the Rough Riders we knew all about Jackson, Stewart, Tucker, Booth, Kosmos, Thelan, Racine, Washington and the rest of the teams (sorry if I left out your favourite; there are so many that had an impact). There was continuity and we got a chance to follow our local heroes. We became invested in them as a part of the fabric of our sports community in general. When they retired or moved on, it was a thing we cared about because there was a sense of shared purpose towards sports success here in the city. That is no longer the case I think and it could be considered as something we'd like to see return.

So Ian - there is some feedback; positive and negative as requested. I'll turn to 1200 next week to see if there is any difference. Good Luck.

 

[BatherSeason]

Pretty most of the topics from the drive yesterday were topics being discussed here. But still no props? Ian

Funny you mention this, I was thinking the exact same thing when JR decided to devote a whole segment to soccer this morning...

 

[YouGotAStuGoing]

I'm confused – are folks in this thread looking for a wider array of sports commentary? Or are you looking for credit for 'fixing' the station?

 

[BatherSeason]

I was driving twice this week when the station flipped to 1200. The first was a full segment (and more before I tuned it off) on Which Team 1200 personality you'd like to watch Grey Cup with. Nothing about the game, either team, the weather, the .... no which announcer ... and on and on with silly comments (except for Avery and Ellingson). Simpson laughing his way through the other hosts names and their failings and Mendes egging him on to fill the time before yet another commercial. And as soon as we come back, we surprisingly ramp it up again. Come On.

Then yesterday's give away - let's combine names with movies (Bruins and Senators) and again, on and on with the inane use of OUR time to listen to silliness instead of anything impactful that might affect the game. How many times do we need to hear Daugevins transformed into a movie title. And its not even funny. Silly is the word I use to be generous about your program content.

So Ian - there are two negatives off the top.

Now a positive thought (and no I will refrain from saying the last time you were off because it was no better).

Why not feature a player/coach/trainer/executive for the week or several days at least, using interviews each day for a segment with them from several different professional sources (including outside Team 1200) that talk about their sport (not who their favourite announcer is or tv show), how they got into it, what their aspirations are, how they train, how they learn/create their role on the team, what it took to get here, what the day to day routine is, what are they working on and how are they doing that, what they want to see in the future, memories, dreams, people that helped them, people they want to play with, what equipment they use and why that brand, ideas to grow the sport, concerns within the sport and how to mitigate them, injuries, healing, diet, etc, etc, etc.

Positive, focused and interesting. Football, Hockey, Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, Golf, Cycling, Curling - professional, amateur; NHL, AHL, CHL, University - there are ton of places to find this type of content and interesting people to learn about. Requires some thought and actual setup work, but would be actually interesting to spend 20 minutes on that instead of what some movie quote is about flatulence.

Back in the heyday of the Rough Riders we knew all about Jackson, Stewart, Tucker, Booth, Kosmos, Thelan, Racine, Washington and the rest of the teams (sorry if I left out your favourite; there are so many that had an impact). There was continuity and we got a chance to follow our local heroes. We became invested in them as a part of the fabric of our sports community in general. When they retired or moved on, it was a thing we cared about because there was a sense of shared purpose towards sports success here in the city. That is no longer the case I think and it could be considered as something we'd like to see return.

So Ian - there is some feedback; positive and negative as requested. I'll turn to 1200 next week to see if there is any difference. Good Luck.

Very well said.

As per your negative comments above, In the Box the day after the East Final, decided to discuss AJ doing a snow angel for a whole segment. Why he did it, where it was done, what injuries he may have sustained...pretty much stuff no one wants to hear about.

 

[BatherSeason]

I'm confused – are folks in this thread looking for a wider array of sports commentary? Or are you looking for credit for 'fixing' the station?

Sorry, I removed "credit". Its not credit that is needed. If you read any of the tweets abut HFBoards and the replies of those tweets, seems like we are all made out to be a bunch of dummies who have no idea what sports are and that are opinions are absolutely pointless and just basically stupid. Then they go and use the ideas...

I feel like if this thread wasn't discussed as being "such a joke", then nothing would have been said.

 

[YouGotAStuGoing]

Sorry, I removed "credit". Its not credit that is needed. If you read any of the tweets abut HFBoards and the replies of those tweets, seems like we are all made out to be a bunch of dummies who have no idea what sports are and that are opinions are absolutely pointless and just basically stupid. Then they go and use the ideas...

I feel like if this thread wasn't discussed as being "such a joke", then nothing would have been said.

Ahh, gotcha. Then yeah, I can get behind that. HF gets a bad rap for being the place with dumb trade proposals and hyper-aggressive posters. But it would definitely be nice to be mentioned in a more positive light at times.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Ahh, gotcha. Then yeah, I can get behind that. HF gets a bad rap for being the place with dumb trade proposals and hyper-aggressive posters. But it would definitely be nice to be mentioned in a more positive light at times.

HF and Twitter are my go to's for anything hockey related, sure you have to sift through some things and understand that everyone has opinions rightly or wrongly and that trolls will always exist but the core info of NHL events is usually available immediately.

Listening to the pre-game show and specifically how a few of the panel members literally went on and on about the Habs/Price (No joke went on a 40ish minute run and streamed basically was Habs the whole time, thought I was on 690) it donned on me that we really have no current true fans of the team actually covering it. Most have grown up cheering for another team/city which is not their fault because of age, looking forward to the next generation of media which covers them and has been somewhat a life long fan.

Would love to see them bring in some younger folks to not only bring different views, topics etc... but also allow for a transition when the older crew starts to pack it in.

 

[Inkling]

Funny you mention this, I was thinking the exact same thing when JR decided to devote a whole segment to soccer this morning...

As long as they didn't spend more than a minute or so on 'repainting the lines' and actually talked about the games and set up the second leg, then that's progress (actually given the situation, it's probably the least you should expect, but...baby steps...).

 

[Tighthead]

The most intellectually lazy thing that sports media guys do is cite the lunatic fringe of Twitter, online boards, blogs and even the analytics types and just throw out the "mom's basement" ad hominem to dismiss it entirely. If they are ex-players they can add in "you never played the game". This is the easiest way to avoid engaging in any discussion which may actually force them to consider meritorious opinions which are contrary to their well-entrenched views.

 

[Stylizer1]

Here's an idea:

Since the only league with a lot of Canadians is the NHL how about have a segment where the track other Canadian professional athlete's in the other major American sports. There is a real crop of Canadian NBA players that should get more attention North of the boarder and it is up to the media to do that.

We don't need 6-8 hosts who watch hockey and follow their favorite NFL team, we need people who report on sports for a living.

 

[PoutineSp00nZ]

Here's an idea:

Since the only league with a lot of Canadians is the NHL how about have a segment where the track other Canadian professional athlete's in the other major American sports. There is a real crop of Canadian NBA players that should get more attention North of the boarder and it is up to the media to do that.

We don't need 6-8 hosts who watch hockey and follow their favorite NFL team, we need people who report on sports for a living.

I dont give a **** about a bunch of Athletics s whose parents decided to **** on the same side of an imaginary line that my parents ****ed on.

We need no such thing.

 

[Stylizer1]

what happened to sunday mornings? You never get any consistency with this station. They used to play The Reporters and then just stopped.

 

[Tuna99]

The most intellectually lazy thing that sports media guys do is cite the lunatic fringe of Twitter, online boards, blogs and even the analytics types and just throw out the "mom's basement" ad hominem to dismiss it entirely. If they are ex-players they can add in "you never played the game". This is the easiest way to avoid engaging in any discussion which may actually force them to consider meritorious opinions which are contrary to their well-entrenched views.

Here here. They say worse things about the people who Listen to their station and read their articles then they do about anyone else. they get caught up being negative about their own audience and trashing them.

We are the ones asking for more analysis of the team, More in depth. Basically we are begging them for better coverage of the team - if they want to sell us personality get people with personality.

But I do like that Simmer has been saying some good stuff recently and isn't just mailing in his 'heavy feet' paragraph every day. They have real hockey peeps on there, some have the personality, generally most dont, but the one thing they do all have in common, and in common with us, is they love the Senators. Let's do that. Less whatever you didn't watch last night, more what you did which was the senators game

 

[Inkling]

I'm enjoying TSN1200's coverage of the Grey Cup. They've had shows both yesterday and today and it's great getting local content on the weekend when driving around.

 

[Stylizer1]

Here's a thought for JR: Have more questions lined up for Pierre so if he tells you he has time you can extend the segment a few minutes.