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Jon Meterparel leaves WEEI/Dennis and Callahan

BoredModerator said:
I think he has a play by play gig lined up. He has filled in during Cs broadcasts I believe, and that team could use young energy. New season starting as well, maybe another NBA team?

Anything going on with Bruins Hub team? Wondering if the strike may have had any impact?

Triple A affiliates?

Would like to see Pete on the morning show now.
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Doubt it's the Bs gig since they're not even remotely close to starting the season. Grande seems pretty entrenched on the Cs broadcast. The Patriots, however, are expected to need a play by play guy for next season. Quitting at EEI now seems a bit soon considering the Hub won't need the new guy until next August and I can't see Meterparel as a frontrunner there anyway. Other than those pro spots, wouldn't BC football/basketball be as high profile a college gig as one can get in the region? Have to think if he's got any play by play gigs in his cross hairs, they're outside the region.

I'm leaning toward they're not renewing his contract because they want to get cheaper in that spot (just like they have with the rest of their shows). After the backlash they experienced with Sheppard's departure, they probably decided to frame it as Meter's choice rather than Entercom's...complete with the phony implication that Entercom begged him to stay and even offered him a raise to change his mind about leaving. And with the BC gigs to hold over his head, they got Meter to go along with it.
 
I don't know what his flash-boy job paid, but it must have been half-way decent. Plus he got a lot of perks like Miltons, etc. The only local PBP job coming up is Gil Santos, but that's not for nine months. Unless something's going on at the Red Sox(with snake Lucchino, one never knows) he's not going there. Even if he did, it wouldn't be until March. Actually, unless he's got an NHL job lined up(which is highly unlikely) no new PBP jobs anywhere are opening for a while. I get the impression that his family is fairly well-off, maybe he's independently wealthy.

If he's leaving on good terms, why such short notice? I can't picture him pulling a "Jimmy Meyers" on the air. There's more to this than meets the eye. It makes me wonder if there's a medical problem with him or a member of his family.
 
This speculation is getting out of control. It's incredibly rare for programming talent to give days or even weeks of notice that it's their last day. Most places, it happens during the last shift. If the person actually has a chance to say goodbye, they're almost always going out on their own. It's pretty rare to fire someone and then put them back on the air. (Ask Kevin Barbare if Entercom Boston fires you then puts you back on the air.)

Listening all day, all of the shows had positive things to say about Meter and wished him well. You can sure bet that everyone in the building knows where he's going. I'd be surprised if they're having such warm fuzzy feelings while he's on his way to the sports hub.

I doubt he's headed to CBS Boston.
 
You know what really pisses me off about these people hating on Meter? You've either A) Never worked full time in the industry or B) Have been out SO LONG that you've forgotten what it's like to work in the business or C) Your crap attitude is a big reason why you're not working in the business right now.

Meter's style may not be your personal cup of tea, but you can't deny that he's a hard worker. The guy put in a solid effort day in and day out, and did a pretty good job. Is Meter a legendary and innovative broadcaster who was the voice of a generation? No. He's one of those solid workhorse guys who put in an honest effort every morning.

I guess haters gonna hate.
 
Oh please. His job was to read sports headlines and he re-read the same stuff every half hour, and if that's not a sign of being flat-out lazy, I don't know what is.

He was the sports equivalent of the traffic bimbo that infects every morning show in every market; a foil for the talent.
 
I'm sorry that all radio programming is not long-form and dedicated solely to your exact personal interests.

Meter worked his ass off. Mornings aren't easy, and in addition to working a full-time gig starting around 4am every day, he does play-by-play on the weekends. You know, working 2+ jobs.

This might be a news flash, but you'll be hard-pressed to find a listener who starts listening at 6am and doesn't miss a beat until 10am. That's why news stories and sports stories repeat. I didn't hear it at 6:30, but I'm in my car at 8. I still care and want to hear what's going on.
 
reelyreal said:
Meter worked his ass off. Mornings aren't easy, and in addition to working a full-time gig starting around 4am every day, he does play-by-play on the weekends. You know, working 2+ jobs.
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And here's a newsflash for YOU... many of us get up in the wee hours of the morning to work a thankless job and also work on the weekends as well. I put in, you know, 60+ hours a week. Why does that make him so special? You'd be surprised just how many people work those kind of hours just to survive nowadays... and I'm sure as soon as he sent in his notice, there were applications piled to the ceiling of people gladly ready to replace him.

This guy has been coddled and babied at that station from day one. Who cares where he's going? I know I don't.
 
BoredModerator said:
If that was true, you wouldn't be posting on this thread! ;)
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No... the reason I am posting on this thread is because he thinks the guy deserves a gold medal for going to work at 4am... and then putting in part-time hours someplace else. Are you kidding me?
 
I didn't say anything about a gold medal. Who shows up at your job and craps all over your work? Do you have people personally attacking what you do online?

You work hard, I work hard, Meter worked hard. What makes him susceptible to attack that doesn't make anyone else susceptible to the same thing?
 
Early on with the D&C show, Meter tried to be the contrarian. He would always pick against the home team. I remember that he picked against the Pats in the three super bowls that they won. That strategy worked for one guy in Boston, but it didn't work for Meter. When he did it, he just was resented. He then reversed himself by being a suck-up, ostensibly to curry favor with local teams for PBP opportunities. The problem is that he really isn't a good PBP guy. It's like he's trying to make every play into a dramatic call. "Take a bow" and "there's an Eagle in the end zone" are never going to be anything more than points of ridicule. He's quick to laugh at John Sterling(it is high, it is far...) but he's doing the same thing.

The way he has been portrayed by D&C as a cheap, conniving little weasel hasn't helped his image much. The poor little rich boy from Weston image doesn't endear him to sports fans either. I actually like him on the flashes and I think he adds entertainment to their show. That might be because I'm one of those people who liked most of WEEI before they changed it.

I don't know Meter, but I hope he isn't going through some sort of mid-life crisis and has deluded himself into thinking he's a good PBP announcer. I seriously doubt if he'd be doing the B.C. games were it not for his affiliation with WEEI. I hope it all works out for him. I know all about mid-life crises. When I went through mine, I bought a hardware store...........didn't work out too well.
 
reelyreal said:
Meter worked his ass off.  Mornings aren't easy, and in addition to working a full-time gig starting around 4am every day, he does play-by-play on the weekends.  You know, working 2+ jobs.

This might be a news flash, but you'll be hard-pressed to find a listener who starts listening at 6am and doesn't miss a beat until 10am.  That's why news stories and sports stories repeat.  I didn't hear it at 6:30, but I'm in my car at 8.  I still care and want to hear what's going on.
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He was done by 9:30!! A PBP gig on the weekend with that kind of schedule should be a breeze, most people in radio with five hour work days pull a weekend shift.

The "flash" reports showed a complete lack of initiative. He and the rest of them never advanced a story. Never broke any news, never so much as made a phone call or developed a source
 
I didn't hear anything official this morning during the time I listened -- is Shepard officially with the show as of now?
 
According to Finn, Meter's contract was not renewed. It was not his choice to leave. In his chat Finn also stated that Meter reached out to a station that would surprise people. No idea what that could mean. The Sports Hub wouldn't be surprising, but what other station could it be?
 
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