MJH will talk to Ron Zook today!

We can only hope it is repeated in the post-game today and at least 2 times after that.

Why do they call it a post-game anyway?

Sounds like they will do a decent bit of college football today.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Thanks NITB. Just flipped it on.

I think I might listen to B*B today then...

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Happy Harry, nice question re living in Champaign. Yeah, I am sure fucking Lawrence, Kansas is really a great place to live....Fucking douchebag. Hope the Cubs now blow the 3 game lead so Harry can get liquored, pass out and choke on his own vomit.

Why ruin the trip for the whole class. You can wish harm on Harry all you want, just leave the Cubs out of it .

ROFL.

Hope the coach was feeling ok today.

Thanks for the warning. Please also let me know when the boys are set to hear from Bruce Weber and his inane excuses about his lackluster recruiting.

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Enough said.

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You know me like that.

[

I have to say all 3 of the guys did a piss poor job on the Zook interview. I just caught the re-rack as I missed most of the show today (sorry Ryan) but I think Mac was off base about hounding Zook about the Comast deal.. How is that Zook's fault Mac ??? And you kept after him about it and I agree with Zook when he said "Im HERE TO WIN FOOTBALL GAMES , not to worry about T.V. contracts.

Jurko painted doom and gloom with the Illini schedule as if they have no chance in beating any of the teams on it. I just felt Zook deserved a little more respect as to the questioning during the interview. Mac might disagree but I felt it was not a well prepared and respectful interview. Maybe the distraction behind the scenes had them off a bit .

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"NEED a friend...Buy a dog"..

Hey STU GOTZ, Comcast is the primary distributor for television in the Chicago market. A nice recruiting tool, don't you think? I didn't say it was his fault, knucklehead... I asked him if it frustrates him to not be on most TVs in Chicago, a hot bed for potential Illini talent and the home of about 150,000 alums.

I saw Illinois mop the floor with Syracuse and beat up Indiana last week. I was as prepared as I needed to be for the interview, without going into detail on members of the offensive line that paved the way for the No.1 rushing offense in the conference last year.

Some of you guys need to think a little bit before you write some crap on here. You're throwing darts at the wall, hoping one of 'em sticks, without really thinking about what the hell you're saying.

Glad you caught the re-rack, though. That's why we do them.

I thought it was a good question. Recruiting has been Zook's bread and butter and now, finally, the evidence of the Illini's slow climb back to respectability has been little more than a rumor in the Chicago area other than a few newspaper articles and radio interviews.

I'm sure Zook is concerned about it but knows he can't do anything about it. Asked and answered - I had no problem with it.

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Mac, I will admit that I was hoping someone would have asked Zook about the health of Dufrene and Pollard for Saturday. Such a question would have showed some real preparedness on the part of the denizens of the Last Neighborhhod Tavern instead of Happy Harry asking Zook the old, paraphrasing, "How are you able to get quality players to go to Champaign?" question.

[Glad you caught the re-rack, though. That's why we do them.[/quote]

Mac...I thought you guys could of done a better job on the interview that's all Im saying. I felt Zook had to defend himself a bit with Jurko and your question about Comcast had really nothing to do with Zook. He had the number 11 recruiting class in the country and the number 3 ranked class in the Big Ten and his blue chippers don't need to see Comcast games to come to Illinois and you seemed to press him and followed the question up twice.

Juice Williams could be the next Mike Vick (without the dogfighting) and you guys skipped over him and their Linebacker Leman is a hell of a football player and I thought the focus could of been about the players and their next 4 games which features Penn State, Wisconsin , Michigan and Iowa.

Let me clear something up with you Mac. First off, this board is about Chicago SPORTS radio and your show is a big focus on it and I appericate that you come on here and mingle with the masses but as a customer of your product I have the right to post a thought about what you and your partners have to say on your show.I have never come here with malice and said a bad word about you and we have a small (funny) history with each other but I want you to understand that I don't come on this board to get a rise out of you and talk shit about you and your show.I really felt that the interview could of had a better focus on the team than outside distractions on some questions.

I took offense that you think I just come on here to bust your balls and I want you to understand that is not the case. I think if you go thru my posts I support you more than I knock you. I have fun with many of the people here and you can figure it out when Im BUSTING BALLS and when Im not and most of my thoughts are well thought out and I don't just throw shit up here for a reply..

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"NEED a friend...Buy a dog"..

You left out Vontae Davis in that list.

I have to admit that there was little on the specific players in the interview, except for the question re Juice Williams being too willing to tuck the ball under his arm instead of waiting in the pocket, which made me wonder how prepared the Last Neighborhood Tavernites were for the interview.

Mac watched them on TV. He was ready.

[quote="STU-GOTZ I have the right to post a thought about what you and your partners have to say on your show.[/quote]

And he has the right to respond to your thought.

Why so sensitive, Stu?

It's funny. I had actually typed out this exact question to email to them during the interview to ask Zook but before I hit send it dawned on me that they don't take questions from listeners on interviews generally so I never sent it.

I would have loved to hear some thoughts on their health or additional thoughts on Will Davis and Vontae Davis' play or when Martez Wilson will be getting more time. But, realistically, the number of people interested in that level of detail on the program is likely minimal.

I'm just glad they're talking about the program.

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I will admit that I am not a radio expert, I am only a consumer of AM1000 who finds myself listening less and less because of what I am hearing coming out over the airwaves. The problem, in my opinion, is that the only effort seemingly being exerted these days is to appeal to what management thinks is the least common denominator. I see the "we repeat topics; i.e. drive them into the ground Dan Patrick style, and replay interviews 2 times, because market research shows that people only listen for 20 minutes at a time" mantra as being indicative of that. It seems that management's view of appealing to the least common denominator often requires simplistic, superficial or repeated discourse.

Stu is absolutely right that the interview could have been much better. Does that make it a bad interview? No. But I think it could have been much better if they had gone into more detail with Zook (provided that MJH had the knowledge to do so, which I am not convinced they did). I think artful, detailed questions re specific Illini players (like the Juice question) and why the injuries to Dufrene and Pollard could be problematic to the team would have gotten interesting responses out of Zook and would have made interesting, as well as educational, radio for the MJH audience. As an Illini fan, I think it is great that they are speaking to Zook, but as an MJH listener I want interesting content that I cannot get elsewhere, such as reading Teddy G or fightingillini.com or watching The Ron Zook Show. I do not know if that is what I ultimately got.

I also do not think we should merely be content that MJH are at least "talking about the program." I may be in the minority, but I believe there is enough air time on CHICAGO sports talk radio to have in-depth discussions NOT ONLY regarding Bears, Cubs or Sox, but the Illini (basketball or football), Blackhawk hockey, DePaul basketball, Bulls, the foibles of one Pat Fitzgerald at NU, ND much enjoyed failure, etc. etc. These are topics that a good host will make interesting to listen to even when I am not personally a fan of a specific team/sport. I know that I find listening to a Sam Smith or David Aldridge talking NBA on the Tony Kornheiser Show or a John Paxson on MJH to be interesting even though I have not watched NBA basketball for years. (On the other hand, I do not believe that Screamin' Stephen A. Smith has anything interesting to say.)

Excuse the stream of consciousness rant....

I agree Peter.

But you have to look at what we're dealing with here. Mackie's panties have been in a bunch ever since he's come back from suspension, Jurko can't read, and Tiny hasn't done an honest day of work in his life.

It's painfully obvious that there is no homework being done other than reading the paper. They contain no more knowledge than the rest of us do.

I can't say I disagree with anything you wrote Peter.

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You know me like that.

[[/quote]


Not sensitive at all . Maybe you should ask Mac that question. He didn't think what I posted was fair and I told him why i thought it was . Simple as that.

I don't get why everyone is pounding these guys all of a sudden. Mac made mention about people throwing shit up here to see what sticks and all of a sudden everyone has a hard on for these guys. Im starting to see his point.

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"NEED a friend...Buy a dog"..

I totally agree with both Peter and Gloopan.

The ratings dropped for a reason, this is just another one of them.

Mac, where are all those promised improvements? All I see is the time change. The show is old, stale and just not entertaining. The arrogance you show leads me to believe that you just can't understand why the ratings dropped and probably will continue to. Oh well, I'm just some fool who used to enjoy the show. Now it's a struggle to listen to, so I really don't bother to very often. I'm also sure you don't give a shit, because you're a radio f'ng genius.

Seriously? What kind of insightful information were you hoping for MJH to get in a brief interview that those other media outlets could not provide for you?

It sounds to me like your Illini fandom is getting in the way of realistic radio expectations.

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I think my criticsim goes beyond just the Zook interview. I do not apologize for wanting knowledgeable questions from knowledgeable hosts on sport talk radio regardless of the topic. Nonetheless:

1. I do not think a question concerning the health of the two running backs backing up Mendenhall was out of the question. I think that would have been at the top of the list from someone who paid any attention to what happened in the Indiana game. As of that time yesterday, there was no real info on Dufrene's or Pollard's status.

2. Any question regarding whether Zook has considered playing Soph. Vontae Davis, who forced Indiana to resort to underneath crossing routes in order to get the ball into Hardy's hands after he had averaged something like 18 yards per catch over his last 9 games and who shut down Ted Ginn Jr. last year, on offense or more as a return man on special teams (he does some return work, but has also has rushed and blocked punts this year) could have stimulated interesting radio that could have been tied into what Mac's beloved Michigan did in 1997 to generate Heisman interest in Charles Woodson.

3. Why Zook does not have a QB coach on staff to aid Juice Williams would have been an excellent question. It would have been a good follow up to the conversation where Zook discussed Williams' penchant for tucking the ball under his arm in lieu of staying in the pocket.

That could have taken up the 5 minutes and been a little bit more interesting than Jurko's analysis of the Illini schedule (I guess he had to tab away from porn on the Internet to find the schedule) or Harry asking Zook how he gets quality players to go to cow town Champaign (because no major colleges are ever located in cow towns).

[quote="Peter PuckHarry asking Zook how he gets quality players to go to cow town Champaign (because no major colleges are ever located in cow towns).[/quote]

Harry is useless, just a sliver spooner with no talent of any kind.

I'm not saying that a little more homework would not make for a more interesting interview, I just don't think you're being realistic by expecting to hear more in depth information here than you would get in a college football column, the team's website, or the coach's own TV show.

I don't expect to hear specific details regarding ANY sport or team on a show that needs to appeal to a wide fan base.

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[quote"Killer V"][/quote]

I think this is just where we diverge in what we think of the medium. I think that trying too hard to be generic is ruining sport talk. I want deeper discussion/info/analysis than I can get elsewhere. I listen to Mac and Jurko on a Monday talk about the Bear and I get something out of it that I do not get from the paper, etc. I just want more of that type of talk across the board. If I cannot get something more or different from sport talk radio than I get from the paper, team website or a coach's show, why bother listening?

How do you get the damned quote thing to work?

I think you're talking about two different things here. You will not likely get any different factual information on MJH that you cannot get anywhere else, barring an ESPN exclusive or breaking news. Ususally, any post-game info is out by the morning after. Seeing as how MJH goes on at 2, the info has most likely been passed around several times.

What you get with MJH is their "take" on that info, to the best of their knowledge. Unfortunately, they do have to appeal to a wide fan base. I, for instance, am not a big college football, let alone Illini, fan. When they get into some sort of deeper college football talk, they may engage you, but they lose me. When they lose listeners, they lose ratings. They don't exist without ratings.

While I understand your point about generic radio, I just don't understand why you thought you'd hear in-depth college talk on a show that's primarily pro football and baseball oriented.

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[/quote]

They have had a few good coaches interviews with NU head Coach Pat Fitzgerald and Wisconsin head coach Brett Bielema V and the overrated Kirk Ference... That's why my ass was chapped a bit after the Zook interview. I thought the interview with Zook was rushed and again I had felt it was not as good as the past coaches interviews.

Mac claims to watch a lot of college football and I have no reason to doubt him and Jurko has played it but I think we have brought up the fact that College sports is not consumed very well here in Chicago. I watch it for the betting aspect of it and I find the SEC games to be the most exciting and fun to watch around the 7pm hour on a Saturday night.

Let me just say it's been a hell of a week for Chicago sports and both B&B and MJH brought the "A" games this week (except for the Zook thing) and we seem to want to bury one or the other and it's getting tiresome. Some of you look like douchbags leaving posts about declining ratings and MJH blows and my station is better than your sports station... That's middle school shit.Post a thought worth responding too. You know who you are.

Debate someone here and let's see if you can hang with the big dogs and have a cogent thought.

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"NEED a friend...Buy a dog"..