July 27, 2006

Jim Pastor
General Manager
WMVP
190 N. State Street
Chicago, IL 60601

Dear Jim:

I'm writing to ask for your consideration in replacing the Salisbury and Rosenbloom show with alternate programming / hosts.

Admittedly, upon reading the May press release that WMVP had signed Sean Salisbury and placed him in the 9AM slot with Steve Rosenbloom, I was encouraged. I liked Sean’s work at ESPN and enjoyed the chemistry he had in football segments with John Clayton. Unfortunately, after listening to the Salisbury and Rosenbloom show for more than 2 months, I have concluded that the show is not “listenable” Chicago sports radio.

One of the reasons that I have chosen this forum to write this letter is to draw your attention to the listener feedback of this show. Certainly, there are a number of inappropriate and unintelligent comments here, but if you are able to weed through these, you will find a number of common complaints about the show.

In short, Sean’s style, attitude and arrogance make the program very difficult to listen to. Some of the show’s repeating themes such as “Do you think I’m hot?” and “Men are Pigs” contribute to an overall uncomfortable feeling that the two hosts are somewhat perverted. Further, Steve and Steve shouting over each other’s (and their guests’) voices, Salisbury’s unwillingness to ever admit he’s wrong and what comes across as insulting guests and callers, is forcing loyal WMVP listeners to turn the dial and listen to other sports talk or music.

As you well know, Redacted enables Chicago sports fans to comment on virtually every area of sports, both locally and nationally. Each significant radio show has its own “forum”. What is common among the forums is that most shows share a number of fans and detractors. From thread to thread you can read someone “ripping” and praising a talk show personality for the same issue! Unfortunately, the same can not be said for the Salisbury and Rosenbloom show. Without exception every post is critical of the program . . .particularly of Mr. Salisbury’s style and approach.

Next Steps:

By way of this letter, I am asking the Redacted community to weigh in, up or down, on their desire to have this show removed from the WMVP lineup. I will summarize the results and include them in a hard copy of this letter which I will send to your State Street offices.

Thank you very much for your consideration, Jim. I love Chicago sports radio and hope to again listen to WMVP between nine and noon.

Please remove the show. Salisbury is the worst.

I have been known (and ripped for it) for liking some radio that others deam to be really bad (Zaidman and Holmes, Tom Shaer, etc.).

But let me tell you something. I can't listen to Sean and Steve. I can't do it. I will listen to the Mike North morning show before I listen to Sean and Steve. I'm sorry, but I can't take Sean seriously when talking about Chicago sports. This guy is not a fan of our teams, nor does he have any passion or true interest in them.

Plus he yells over people and is "never wrong."

I can't stand him... and I'm not a big fan of Rosey either.

I think they are both miserable personalities and I will not listen to any program they are involved with.

I caught the tail end of an interview the other day, and for the first time I did not hear Sean ask the guest if the guest thought he was hot. It was a milestone - or I just could have missed it.

I'm sick of big-shot Sean. Name dropping, talking about getting together with athletes for dinner, offering fantasy football mentoring, etc. It's not that I have a problem with him having a network of friends who happen to be athletes, I have a problem with him feeing the need to display this on the air to show me how cool he is. He's like a high schooler (I know, I teach high school) who wants everyone to know how popular he is and that he's part of the in crowd. You have friends who are athletes. Fine. Talk to them off the air and make your dinner plans. I don't need to hear about it.

Because of all that, Mr. Pastor, my average listening time is about a minute and a half. Sometimes they're on good topics, other times not. More often than not, I'm finding myself punching buttons rather quickly.

Tried it.

Hated it.

Done with it.

Concise.

Accurate.

(Hopefully) effective.

Clueless.

Don't change a thing.

This show rocks.

Sorry they don't let suicidal baseball fans hog the airwaves.

Sorry they don't pander to the 22 regulars of "chicago sports fan."

Sorry people might find Hold em poker and fantasy football enjoyable.

Please don't listen, more than plenty of us to carry this show.

You truly believe that listening to Sean talk down to everyone, ask them if he is hot, and scream because he thinks his points become stronger make a show rock?

Sean hasnt had a critical word to say about anyone who may be offended. He will take on rookies and people who have very little power, but god forbid he even think about firing on a manager or a long term player in any sport. The sooner he learns this isnt one big blowjob like his TV job is, he may gain some credibility in my eyes as well as many others.

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Ah yes, if there ever was an event designed to drive sports talk radio, it's the World Series of Poker. Oh yeah, and much like the WSOP, those who play Fantasy Football just love hearing which RB to start this week; but, fantasy football talk is button punching material for those who don't play it.

In addition, nothing makes a show rock like a loudmouth horndog queer bag of host inviting other men to coffee and belittiling his on air partner.

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Nothing clever or witty to put here.....

LJH - Welcome back man. Your shit has been priceless lately. There's nothing to add to you comments. Dead on. Rack him.

LJH you hit great point in a concise manner. I actually feel bad for Rosey. The poker is tiresome. But the World Series will end soon and I think he is a talent. Cakes is gonna ruin his chances at a long stay. He'll never get another chance once this ends.

[quote="Lebron James's Hummer"]Ah yes, if there ever was an event designed to drive sports talk radio, it's the World Series of Poker. Oh yeah, and much like the WSOP, those who play Fantasy Football just love hearing which RB to start this week; but, fantasy football talk is button punching material for those who don't play it.

In addition, nothing makes a show rock like a loudmouth horndog queer bag of host inviting other men to coffee and belittiling his on air partner.[/quote]

Nothing like understanding what is hot. Much like your name, you are living in yesterdays headlines. Let go of the past, and embrace the future. Almost nine thousand people playing, and over 16 million viewing a sport, really shows you are as out of touch as the hummer. Again, I can't help if you guys if you can't let go of the past, or embrace the future.

"I'm old and grouchy, I don't like anything but Matlock". Abraham Simpson.

Also, there is no 'i" before the "l" in "belittling". You might want to change the bifocals.

I like Texas hold'm. I even like watching it. But there is nothing to discuss on the radio about it. There is no joy in talking about the game. It's only fun to watch or play it.

Explain how this makes it interesting on the radio, please. You need to look beyond your circle of friends and think about the wide array of people who listen to the radio. I never once said the poker is not hot, I said there's no place for it on the radio, on a regular basis. Like WR said, there are more than 16 million people playing Madden '0x (pick your year, don't want to be accused of poor vision again), but how interesting would a radio program dedicated to it be. Odds are there will be a lot of people missing work the day the new Madden comes out, but who, aside from those who bought it, give a shit and would you want to hear strategies for beating the Ravens defense discussed on the radio?



It was a typo, champ.

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Nothing clever or witty to put here.....

hey Hummer, now I understand why everyones response to you is "good post." I don't even have a comeback.

nah, they're just trying to get 50% off on a jersey.

Speaking of which, how's my Sean Salisbury Minnesota Vikings jersey coming along, Hummer? It comes with the commemorative clipboard as well, right?

We're still trying to perfect the fabric. It's a new material. It causes any who wear it to throw interceptions and then blame the offensive line.

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Nothing clever or witty to put here.....

Since you're such a big poker fan, did you hear that Howard David (formerly of Westwood One NFL coverage) is going to be doing a poker only radio show? I think it's going to be syndicated. It would have been better if they got someone younger than Joe Paterno to host it, IMO.

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Nothing clever or witty to put here.....

LOL! Thanks for the laugh Bucket. I'm still waiting for my Moses Moreno jersey, complete with '70's porn stache.

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"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public." ~ H.L. Mencken

Just got a letter back from Pastor. He said he received my letter and would look into the recommendation.

shut up