John Ireland Welches On Lakers/Cavs Bet

[DToTheJ]

This week, expecting the Lakers to top the lowly Cavaliers this week, after nearly doubling them up earlier this season, 710 ESPN's John Ireland was so confident that the Lakers would win, that not only would he walk all the way back to L.A. from Cleveland if the Cavaliers won, but he would also quit his job.

Unfortunately the Cavs defeated the Lakers by five points. And today, Ireland vowed not to execute either of the things he had wagered in the bet, but rather, donate $200 for each point the Lakers lost by - or $1,000 - to an autism charity.

Nice gesture... but in all technicality, he should be in North Dakota buying a new pair of shoes for his long journey home.

710 ESPN was even getting in on the fun this week, running a promo about the Lakers having one more "practice" before the All-Star Break.

http://www.cleveland.com/ohio-sports-blog/index.ssf/2011/02/cavaliers_win_over_lakers_emba.html

 

[radio1015a]

Of course Ireland won't quit, that would mean he would have to show what a no-talent he is when a replacement with actual skill takes his place. Another great example of "who does he know?" Interesting to see if Time Warner is dumb enough to hire him for the new network.

 

[Robnoxious]

Of course Ireland won't quit, that would mean he would have to show what a no-talent he is when a replacement with actual skill takes his place. Another great example of "who does he know?" Interesting to see if Time Warner is dumb enough to hire him for the new network.

Alan Massengale is out there doing next to nothing right now. Betcha a fiver he'll be tapped to steer the TWC flagship.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Of course Ireland won't quit, that would mean he would have to show what a no-talent he is when a replacement with actual skill takes his place. Another great example of "who does he know?" Interesting to see if Time Warner is dumb enough to hire him for the new network.

Alan Massengale is out there doing next to nothing right now. Betcha a fiver he'll be tapped to steer the TWC flagship.

I doubt that. He has been doing next to nothing for a long time now. TWC has one of the best sports properties in all of sports now, they will seek name recognizable talent. No less than a big ESPN name, similar to the NFL network poaching Rich Eisen. A network guy would be even better.

 

[Robnoxious]

TWC has one of the best sports properties in all of sports now, they will seek name recognizable talent.

When Dr. Buss steps down (which will be sooner than later) you'll be witness to he biggest death spiral of a franchise to rival the Dodgers when the O'Malley's sold to FOX.

 

[BMedina]

Of course Ireland won't quit, that would mean he would have to show what a no-talent he is when a replacement with actual skill takes his place. Another great example of "who does he know?" Interesting to see if Time Warner is dumb enough to hire him for the new network.

KSPN is a station full of NO TALENT hacks! And the ratings prove it!

 

[GenXRadio]

I think Max Kellerman & Marcellus Wiley do a great job.

Of course Ireland won't quit, that would mean he would have to show what a no-talent he is when a replacement with actual skill takes his place. Another great example of "who does he know?" Interesting to see if Time Warner is dumb enough to hire him for the new network.

KSPN is a station full of NO TALENT hacks! And the ratings prove it!

 

[BMedina]

Your joking right? Max Kellerman is a loud mouth who only cares about New York and Marcellus only knows football and has very little knowledge of the NBA. Terrible show. Like I said the ratings prove what a disaster KSPN is. With a station that has the Lakers, USC and the ESPN brand can't get above a 1 share something is wrong.

 

[radio1015a]

Your joking right? Max Kellerman is a loud mouth who only cares about New York and Marcellus only knows football and has very little knowledge of the NBA. Terrible show. Like I said the ratings prove what a disaster KSPN is. With a station that has the Lakers, USC and the ESPN brand can't get above a 1 share something is wrong.

So, because I had an hour to waste, I did something I never do - listen to L.A. sports radio. From 570 to 710 to 830, I gave it the full 60 minutes. Did I mention I had the hour to waste? Did I ever. As stated above, Max and Marcellus is sad. One dimensional, tedious, boring, nothing to grab onto so I moved on to the "sister" signal of 830. It might as well be related since it's mostly all ESPN product that doesn't get cleared in L.A. Scott Van Pelt is homogenized, vanilla, syndicated pablum and I found myself thinking, "so this is what ESPN has devolved to?" Really underwhelming. Back up the dial to 570 and I thought "it couldn't possibly get any worse than the other two." I was wrong.

The "Cannons" are looser than ever. The troika of "POB", Hartman and "VTB" are quite possibly the worst programming on any radio station, in any format, in any nation on Earth. How does radio this bad, this horrific, this unlistenable get to be in the #2 market, much less in syndication? Not only has Don Martin lowered the bar (again), there is no bar because it's not possible to go below the mark set by the "3 stooges" to which DM has awarded middays. A bit was so bad near the top of the show that - they replayed it in its entirety. And then reacted as if nothing was wrong. They spent a good part of the hour talking about icons which inevitably disintegrated into the people that Pat knows and the places they had all been and how loud Hartman can talk and how out of his mind Vic can sound and well...you understand. And if you do, you would be the first. Because after giving over 60 minutes of my life to 105,000 watts (combined) of pointless, juvenile crap - I deserve a refund.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Your joking right? Max Kellerman is a loud mouth who only cares about New York and Marcellus only knows football and has very little knowledge of the NBA. Terrible show. Like I said the ratings prove what a disaster KSPN is. With a station that has the Lakers, USC and the ESPN brand can't get above a 1 share something is wrong.

So, because I had an hour to waste, I did something I never do - listen to L.A. sports radio. From 570 to 710 to 830, I gave it the full 60 minutes. Did I mention I had the hour to waste? Did I ever. As stated above, Max and Marcellus is sad. One dimensional, tedious, boring, nothing to grab onto so I moved on to the "sister" signal of 830. It might as well be related since it's mostly all ESPN product that doesn't get cleared in L.A. Scott Van Pelt is homogenized, vanilla, syndicated pablum and I found myself thinking, "so this is what ESPN has devolved to?" Really underwhelming. Back up the dial to 570 and I thought "it couldn't possibly get any worse than the other two." I was wrong.

The "Cannons" are looser than ever. The troika of "POB", Hartman and "VTB" are quite possibly the worst programming on any radio station, in any format, in any nation on Earth. How does radio this bad, this horrific, this unlistenable get to be in the #2 market, much less in syndication? Not only has Don Martin lowered the bar (again), there is no bar because it's not possible to go below the mark set by the "3 stooges" to which DM has awarded middays. A bit was so bad near the top of the show that - they replayed it in its entirety. And then reacted as if nothing was wrong. They spent a good part of the hour talking about icons which inevitably disintegrated into the people that Pat knows and the places they had all been and how loud Hartman can talk and how out of his mind Vic can sound and well...you understand. And if you do, you would be the first. Because after giving over 60 minutes of my life to 105,000 watts (combined) of pointless, juvenile crap - I deserve a refund.

In radio you always get what you pay for.

Your analysis is right on at each of your stops on the dial, particularly with the Canons. Steve Hartman has been doing this show in form or another for many years now. Most hosts improve the programming content of their shows over the years. As for VTB, I have concluded he must have some very compromising photos of some executive which gives him a lifetime pass to this full-time gig. Nothing else could possibly explain it. He looks and sounds like he should be a character in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".

As for Kellerman, I heard a few of his shows last month when he was flying solo and knew that he would be getting a partner very soon. But why, oh why, do they put these retired sports jocks on with these hosts? Talk about taking a bad product and making it worse! Here is a little secret. Except for the sports they are personally involved in, retired jocks don't know any more about the other sports than anyone else. And the vast majority of the time, the program is covering a different sport, even if you come from the NFL. What does Wiley know about college hoops, NBA finals, and baseball spring training that he can add to the show over the next few months? At least there is some expectation for the host to be knowledgeable about all sports. The jocks don't even try. I listened for a few minutes the other day and Wiley was literally echoing everything that Kellerman said, without a single thought of his own to add. It was painful to hear. And Kellerman comes off as (or tries to be) some know-it-all punk from NYC, who thinks he leads the sports world in NY street cred. I can't see that flying here in SoCal. The next person that tells me they like Kellerman, will be the first (well, except GenX above).

 

[JoePyne]

Boy did you walk into this one -- "except GenX above" That's the point isn't it? GenX is anyone born between say 1975 and '82.. that would put them aged between 29 and 36! Certainly you can argue that this demo might not be listening to AM radio however I am sure you can find examples of extremly high levels of younger males listening to AM sports stations.

I am no spring chicken, and I too long for the days of Winn Elliot CBS Sports Central -- but those days are over. They are not programming to us. I chuckle on the constant lamenting of the loss of shows like "Dodger Talk with Al Downing", Jim Healy, Ed Beiler, etc, etc. Folks, NIXON is no longer President. We don't use Compact Cassettes any more. Maude has been cancelled.

In addition, I dont think you can listen to any sports radio station in the country and judge it as you would any other station format. (If you are not of that generation, or a sports enthusiast.) The internet allows you to evesdrop on stations throughout the country -- and I bet you can't name ONE that you would say is a great station to listen to if you are NOT of that town or enjoy the hosts. Just like talk radio -- it is usally host driven. If you don't dig Bill Handel, does that mean KFI stinks? Is everyone a Larry Elder fan?

So yes, you can say, "It's the dumbing down of radio listening" and 'It's not like the good old days" -- but we risk sounding like our granparents talking about their "Victrola" or wondering why Mannix, Barnaby Jones and The Streets of San Francisco (A Quinn Martin Production) are not on Philco any longer.

Peace.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

Boy did you walk into this one --  "except GenX above"   That's the point isn't it?  GenX is anyone born between say 1975 and '82.. that would put them aged between 29 and 36!  Certainly you can argue that this demo might not be listening to AM radio however I am sure you can find examples of extremly high levels of younger males listening to AM sports stations.

I am no spring chicken, and I too long for the days of Winn Elliot CBS Sports Central -- but those days are over.  They are not programming to us.  I chuckle on the constant lamenting of the loss of shows like "Dodger Talk with Al Downing", Jim Healy, Ed Beiler, etc, etc.  Folks, NIXON is no longer President.   We don't use Compact Cassettes any more.  Maude has been cancelled.

In addition, I dont think you can listen to any sports radio station in the country and judge it as you would any other station format. (If you are not of that generation, or a sports enthusiast.)  The internet allows you to evesdrop on stations throughout the country -- and I bet you can't name ONE that you would say is a great station to listen to if you are NOT of that town or enjoy the hosts.   Just like talk radio -- it is usally host driven.  If you don't dig Bill Handel, does that mean KFI stinks?   Is everyone a Larry Elder fan?

So yes, you can say, "It's the dumbing down of radio listening" and 'It's not like the good old days" -- but we risk sounding like our granparents talking about their "Victrola" or wondering why Mannix, Barnaby Jones and The Streets of San Francisco (A Quinn Martin Production) are not on Philco any longer.

Peace.

Not sure where you are going with this one. I have waxed nostalgic for intelligent talk hosts of the past like those you mentioned (you left out Irv Kaze and Tommy Hawkins) on this board in the past, and more recently wrote a scribe about how only solo acts are worth a damn in sports talk radio (http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=181414.10). Those posts can be criticized for being in a time-warp if you like. But my summary in this thread, which pretty much echoed radio1015a's post, was about crappy radio by today's standards. If you need to throw in the guy-talk and obscure references to prove that you're more hipper than the rest of us and that you know what all the cool 90's alternative bands were like Petros and Money, so be it. But to be as completely unprepared as Wiley is, or as completely off-topic and irrelevant like Hartman and crew are, is unlistenable radio, regardless of the  money demo (which by the way, I am still well within). 

 

[BMedina]

Sports radio in L.A. is the worst I've heard anywhere. I find myself tuning in more and more to 1090 out of San Diego whenever I can pick-up the signal or I'm online. Mike Thompson has made some bone-headed moves at KSPN bringing in Max Kellerman and Marcellus Wiley. Hiring Stephen A. Smith and keeping no talents like Beto Duran employed. At KLAC the ratings are at an all-time low and it seems as if Clear Channel can careless. They should have fired Don Martin a long time ago, but since he is married to Robin B. from KFI he stays on at 570. Ridiculous!

 

[JoePyne]

Why so mean? bonehead this, fire this guy, that guy. You think you could do better? Wy dont you run a station? Checking you posts you seem to have a lot of anger man, chill out. Who would YOU put on the air? What is your dream line-up?

 

[BMedina]

Why so mean? bonehead this, fire this guy, that guy. You think you could do better? Wy dont you run a station? Checking you posts you seem to have a lot of anger man, chill out. Who would YOU put on the air? What is your dream line-up?

Mean? LoL In radio people get fired all the time and yes I would do a better job than Mike Thompson and Don Martin. If you think you can judge someone from their posts you have issues Joe. I'll tell you I wouldn't put East coast loudmouths on the air when you have people who know this marketplace better and aren't on the air now.