Toronto sports media talk (the FAN continues its changes)

[Pilky01]

Landry and Stellick were great. Wish they were still on.

I wonder if Cybulski will get a shot with Brady? He moved over to Sportsnet after TSN got rid of him. Although I think he went west.

In think he went west for family reasons as well.

He came on with Tim and Sid a few months back right when he made the switch (I absolutely loved the nWo themed intro they gave him "where the hell did he come from?!") and I believe he said then that he was going west cause of his wife or something.

I suspect Sportsnet would have kept him in TO for radio if they could have.

 

[Warden of the North]

I changed the title of this thread to reflect discussion of Toronto sports media. Thats where it was going anyways

Rick Nattress was getting on my nerves today. he kept going on and on about how Riellys probably too small for the NHL this season and that hes worried hes going to get crushed. Does he not realize that Rielly is 6'0 and 200+?

 

[Pilky01]

Nattress strikes me as the kind of guy who needs to say stupid and/or controversial things to try and attain some sort of relevance.

 

[david999]

Surprised they got rid of Langly, but kep Brady. I switched to TSN radio and rarely listen to the FAN, unless hockey central with Kipper and McLean is on. Brady is brutal, period.

 

[Warden of the North]

I just switch to whomever has hockey talk going on. Thankfully hockey is getting going this week because I cant stand baseball or football discussion.

 

[The Examiner]

Nattress strikes me as the kind of guy who needs to say stupid and/or controversial things to try and attain some sort of relevance.

He sounds like he's always drunk.

 

[TMLeafer]

So they fired Lang, but kept the man who can't put a complete sentence together without 14 "uuuuhs" in it? Interesting.

In my opinion, both morning shows are sub-par. Mike Richards used to be OK but now he's just a creepy old man on a network that's trying to force NFL and college sports down your throat . Fan590's was a little better.

 

[Rude Dog]

Brady is an arrogant windbag, and Lang offered no insight whatsoever, thank christ Richards is on TSN, those two were unlistenable. Can Brady and you're getting somewhere.....bet their ratings are pure ****.

Never listened to Lang because I can't stand Brady. I use to wake to the Fan every morning. Haven't listened to it since he replaced Stellick. He is the only radio guy I simply can not listen too. I was excited for a brief second because I thought he got canned.

 

[Rare Jewel]

Like most I've pretty much abandoned all morning sports radio. The fan guys for many reasons already mentioned, But also TSN cause I get the "lame uncle" feeling from Richards.

But I'll be honest I'm not a fan of most of the TSN crew so...


Tim and Sid are quality though

 

[Ciao]

good comparison, but berger wasn't the extreme homer wilner is, when times were tough with the leafs berger at least had the balls to stir things up with management

wilner has an amazing ability to piss on your leg while he tells you thats its raining

True on both counts, although I agree Howard is a very apt comparison.

Too bad Wilner is such a homer. I think he actually does have a lot of baseball knowldege and coukd be a very good on-air personality if he would only stop kissing the Blue Jays' ass. Its like he works for them or something. Well, I guess in a way he does.

 

[Pilky01]

True on both counts, although I agree Howard is a very apt comparison.

Too bad Wilner is such a homer. I think he actually does have a lot of baseball knowldege and coukd be a very good on-air personality if he would only stop kissing the Blue Jays' ass. Its like he works for them or something. Well, I guess in a way he does.

In a way? He works for the network which owns the team, and he works exclusively on team related content. If he isn't covering the Jays he doesn't have a job. He flat out does work for them. He is a classic 'company man'.

He does know baseball (albeit only from a pure stats/textbook perspective, his arguments with guys like Jack Morris about things like "pitching to the score" just prove that he doesn't have a clue when it actually comes to playing the game), but he is just such a phoney, water-carrying, company man that I simply can not take him seriously as an analyst, journalist, or anything other than a glorified PR guy.

When things go badly, I already know exactly what all of his excuses will be. And when things go well, I already know he is going to get incredibly smarmy and act as if only victories are indicative of a team's talent/ability.

 

[camperjr]

Fan still dominates for me. Tim and Sid are my favourite radio show out there. Have always liked Prime Time Sports and Jeff Blair has started to grow on me. And with Baseball/Hockey Central at noon the Fan has me hooked from 9 till 7. The problem is the morning show. Have never liked Brady since he first joined, and though Lang made Brady bearable, the morning show was never that good. Think they fired the wrong guy.

As for TSN the only show I have listened to a lot is Mike Richards. He can be hit or miss with his persona, some times hilarious, other time not, but he does bring in good guests. During hockey season used to love Pierre McGuire at 7:30 than Leafs breakfast with Darren Dregar at 8. Other than that I have not listened to the other TSN shows. Mako and Cauz I thought were decent when they filled in for Richards during the summer, but have never actually listened to their own show. TSN Drive with Dave Naylor isn't bad, but it is trying to hard to be Prime Time Sports. They need to figure something to differentiate themselves. They had Dave Hodge as a co-host during the summer, would love for him to get his own show. Bryan Hayes isn't bad, but nothing special either.

Problem is even the Fan's weakest non morning show is better than anything TSN has.

I'd rank them like this
Tim and Sid
Prime Time Sports
Jeff Blair Show
Hockey/Baseball Central
TSN Drive
Mike Richards in the Morning
Mako and Cauz
Bryan Hayes
Brady/Lang(formerly)

 

[Hounsy]

I just switch to whomever has hockey talk going on.

I do the same thing and if neither are on Hockey I switch over to the Funny AM and listen to comics.

 

[satyr9]

Dan Shulman is great.

I also liked Jack Armstrong.

You're absolutely right about Lang (if that's the guy I'm thinking of). Forget about him asking a GOOD question: it would be a miracle if that dope could ask ANY question!

I don't mind Jack, but the other guy I was always okay with was Hubie Brown doing color. He would actually talk about the game and what the teams were doing strategically and tactically. Not super hardcore, but enough to be interesting to a slightly more than casual, but not big time basketball fan.

I will say thinking about asking bad questions, I was at a TIFF movie last night and they did Q&A after and every single person has learned the worst form of question that I attribute to sports press conferences. It's the, "Can you talk about..." followed by a declarative statement of the questioner's opinion, which forces the respondent to treat that person's opinion as fact. It's so awful and it makes me crazy to see it cross over into common vernacular. At least in journalism it serves a purpose - forcing quotes into your desired angle - but IRL it's just plain annoying.

 

[namttebih]

Like most I've pretty much abandoned all morning sports radio. The fan guys for many reasons already mentioned, But also TSN cause I get the "lame uncle" feeling from Richards.

But I'll be honest I'm not a fan of most of the TSN crew so...


Tim and Sid are quality though

Tim and Sid have the best show on either station. I think that Hayes has been improving. O'Neil on the other hand is just terrible. He interrupts non stop and sounds like a thug.

 

[wulfio*]

toronto sports media sucks without onrait

 

[Masked Superstar]

a few years ago Lang said if the Rangers didn't hire Ted Nolan that Sather was a racist. Never took him seriously again. Glad 590 fired him

 

[ihlmvp]

Both morning shows suck and have for a while - reason why I switched to Satellite for Stern. Tim & Sid being wasted in their slot and will be banner carrying morning guys at some point.

 

[Neely2005]

Its clearly a matter of opinion and taste. They try too hard to be funny, and remind me of two young kids giggling at each other in the school yard at lunch when one would say "pee" and the other "poo". The horn is unbeliveably irritating, and the old school rap they play to appease an audience is scripted as I have ever seen. Again, its personal opinion, but due to my career I spend alot of time in my car, and cringe at the 1:00 hour on my radio. It is affixed to the fan. Since when is late 30's not mid life?

I agree with you but I find that Mike Richards is just as juvenile. I'm really don't like him or Greg Brady.

 

[asdf]

I just switch to whomever has hockey talk going on. Thankfully hockey is getting going this week because I cant stand baseball or football discussion.

I do the same thing.

Simmons, Berger, etc. likely wouldn't win any popularity contests, but I actually like it when they're on because it means they will be talking Leafs/hockey.

Summer sucks with baseball (don't mind watching but can't listen to baseball talk on the radio) and football.

 

[Anthrax442]

Funny how everyone's taste so different.

I can't stand Tim and Sid. I switch to TSN now at noon till 4. Hate Brady, Natress also.

 

[Anthrax442]

PS, I didn't mind Sid when he was filling in for Bobcat. No hip hop, horns and his idiot partner and he was alright, actually.

 

[Pilky01]

Both morning shows suck and have for a while - reason why I switched to Satellite for Stern. Tim & Sid being wasted in their slot and will be banner carrying morning guys at some point.

Sid has said on multiple occasions that you couldn't pay him enough to do a morning show. I don't ever expect to hear them in the morning.

 

[Shimso]

Funny how everyone's taste so different.

I can't stand Tim and Sid. I switch to TSN now at noon till 4. Hate Brady, Natress also.

I can see why people don't like Tim & Sid (often far off topic and quite goofy) but that's the reason I listen to them more than any other show. At work, its something to listen to that usually talks about sports but not always. Sid cracks me up (its been weeks/months and I still can't smirk when someone from Environment Canada is on the news), although every time Tim quotes the Wu-Tang clan I want to throw something.

 

[The CyNick]

I can see why people don't like Tim & Sid (often far off topic and quite goofy) but that's the reason I listen to them more than any other show. At work, its something to listen to that usually talks about sports but not always. Sid cracks me up, although every time Tim quotes the Wu-Tang clan I want to throw something.

I like them too, but I can easily see why people not only dont like them, but would hate listening to them.