People are sentimental for "the good old days".

The thing is, when the score was young, the interwebs were almost nonexistent. Updates meant something. WYC had teeth because people hadn't heard the quotes 100x already.

I loved the early days. There were great callers and idiots to be made fun of...tough to pull that off today.

I'd still like to hear more call in segments. It gets so stale listening to them beat topics into the ground...because your listeners turn over every 20 minutes, or whatever the metrics say.

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Early Score the callers were the stars. Now the hosts hate callers. They are all beneath them.
.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

When did you start listening to the Score? I ask because callers were what made the station great back in the day. Jet's right in that we want a return to the "good old days", but I think he's wrong about why they can't return. Have one segment an hour for calls because they can be fun. Argue, make fun of them, whatever. I would rather hear that than Larry tell a wanna be tough guy story, or hear about Parkins stoner days, or hear about Mac watching Once Upon a Time in Hollywood for the seventh time. Calls mix things up.

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I specifically said they should do more call in segments. WYC is what really ran out of gas due to all the instantly available info.

There is absolutely room for more call in segments.

I still laugh thinking about the Score Hello bits they did punking on people calling in to the studio rather than the contest line. I miss Johnathon Hood as a Score guy.

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Callers inject a much needed perspective, especially now when the hosts seem to be in lock step on everything and really need someone to inject a different thought. The producers screen the calls, so they pick who gets on air, it seems the producers like to put idiots on the air in order to verify the callers add nothing mantra, which means more air time for the producers, who are invariably in total agreement with the hosts. Some of the hosts really struggle with people have a different thought and it seems they got into radio to prove how smart they were by trotting out analytic focused guests and then trying to ask the most convoluted questions. This approach targets a very small number of people and would work well for a narrowly focused podcast, but not for an on air general sports talk show.

There is next to zero production value or preparation for shows. This month, just like most Februaries, should be showcases of the entertainment talent of the hosts.

I don't blame a guy like Mully and Haugh. They are just reporters elevated for their ability to talk Bears in depth every morning. They have actually held up what they are supposed to do.

It's just not acceptable for these guys who went to communications school in the hopes of being generally in the entertainment world to throw up their hands and say they have nothing just because there aren't sports. Entertain us, funny men!

They should have a notebook full of ideas and bits they have been forming just waiting for this moment.

Unfortunately, production died when Bernstein became the FOTS. He pulled the Krusty show prep for a decade of rolling in just before the mics went hot and then was in his car a minute after the show ended. This taught all the other young wannabes at the station that this is what it meant to be professional. So this is where we are.

and they will all lament when jobs get eliminated and salaries get cut. Do something that makes you unique and essential.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I said something similar earlier and Crick Ramp told me I was dumb.

Shame on you, Dolphin. We all want to hear Coronavirus editorials on a sports radio station. (lowers my speaking voice) This is....really....important....radio

Now that we've cleared that up....yes...you are correct. This is what separates journalists from entertainers. I really could care less how good of a writer David Haugh is or was.....he's boring as fuck. Same with Mully. Same with Jay Mariotti and the same with all of them. McNeil and Boers were once upon a time entertaining. Totally different skill set than being a journalist. The Score has lacked entertaining personalities for years.

While the yearning for callers....the Score was also successful because the hosts weren't jockeying for our local teams. They weren't afraid to lose credentials. They (with callers) called bad shit out and it was refreshing. That is long long gone. What we could debate is...when did that start. It would appear it was some time during WSCR owning White Sox games circa 2006. B&B were funny....then it stopped. They became too smart and too important for callers. It's just not as good of a product. it's more generic like National radio shows. Boring.

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For a handful of guys a lack of show prep is a feature rather than a bug, but most guys need to prepare in order to put on an entertaining show. I blame Steve Dahl and his influence. These guys should have been influenced more by Coppock. That's the thing about Mac. He obviously likes the "punk rock" aspects of the Dahl method, "fuck it, let's go" but he also learned professionalism and intense preparation from working with Chet.

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Don't take it personally.

The Dolphin and Curious Show w/douchebag as the producer

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Wattabout Kodak Black?

I will show my bias but I can tell you when it changed: when Bernstein was anointed the FOTS. He was very clear to callers that his boss was not the consumer. Instead, his boss was the advertiser. While it may be true, it was a remarkable shift from the mindset of the Score hosts during the golden age.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

But none of them can give out a $50 gift card to Gene and Georgetti to a random assistant coach as well as Chet could.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

With regard to the demise of the Score...”Score is Doomed” joined in 2005

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“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

I listened to the Score from the very first day they were on the air back in Jan of 92. I followed them from 1160 to 820 to 670. I know "you're happy for me". There was a lot which made it good back then. First and foremost were the hosts. Even the back bench guys like Memolo were better than what they trot out these days.

What also made the score special back then was that they actually placed an emphasis on sports. Whatever North was, at his core he was a sports nerd in the beginning. McNeil and Boers were heavy on the Sports then and so were guys like Hanley and Murphy.

Somewhere along the way they lost their way. North started to veer off into politics and social commentary. Boers (along with the help of Bernstein) started to condescend to listeners and callers on a regular basis. They also began to sneer quite regularly about sports and sports figures with Bernstein comporting himself as Keith Olbermann lite.

McNeil began fighting with management (first over being paired with the rather vanilla Jiggetts, then over salary (I believe). He also began to sneer about having to discuss sports all the time with movies, gambling, porn, and music serving as his topics dujour.

They sort of lost their way. What hurt is that they lost their way at a time when sports media consumption was rapidly changing. There is simply too many ways to consume information these days. Why wait on a George Ofman update when I can pull the information up on my phone?

Couple this with less emphasis on interacting with callers and what you have is an over reliance on the personalities of guys (Holmes, McKnight, Bernstein) that are relatively dull.

There is nothing that will "bring it back". 2 to 3 years ago people believed that McNeil was the key to returning the Score to its glory days. 2 years later no one believes that. Think it's best now to simply accept as it is and hope they don't pull the plug on it. All anyone can hope for at this stage.

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Did the same thing; started listening the first day. Would have the Shaer show on as I was getting ready for school. Kept listening just about all the time until the Penn St. stuff got out of hand. Now, I'll look at the podcast feed to see what guest was on or what subject was talked about; never listen live unless its some huge sports story. Has anyone done "Who's your guy" with the NFL draft approaching?

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Sherman remarked, "Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?" Grant looked up. "Yes," he replied, followed by a puff. "Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow, though."

Agreed. I've just put this back to entertainment and fun. Most of the hosts completely lost their sense of humor and interest in having a good time.

Going back to MJH....McNeil said at the time the vibe he was looking for was a group of friends hanging at a bar having fun. All of the original shows were like that. Interaction with callers was a very large part of that....not all, but it was a key ingredient.

If you asked McNeil and Parkins.....or Bernstein...."What is the objective of your show?". They would likely emphasize the sports news delivery as opposed to "group of sports fan hanging at the bar.

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No, you did not...

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@audioidkid

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#Truth

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I think some of it was actually out of their control. When they went corporate I think they were told to tone some of the more edgier stuff down.

It was noticable in the sort of hires that they began to conduct. Much more vanilla.

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That's crazy isn't Frank? I was home for winter break Freshman year in College when they started. I was happy as hell when I learned that they were starting an all sports station here.

I was so much of a nerd with it that I used to get happy that the Score received an extra 30 minutes every month. Particularly the part that directly impacted the Heavy Fuel Crew.

Then Maybe about 12-15 years ago the interest started waning bigtime. I might listen once or twice a year now. Never for more than an hr.

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"JUST FANS TALKING TO FANS...ON THE SCORE"

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Corporatization began killing The Score, and Dan Bernstein finished the job.

I remember I would skip lecture classes in college if there was something interesting that was happening in the sports world. You wanted to hear the reations of everyone on the station (including callers).

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You probably have to attribute some of the decline to North’s program dying. That morning show was pretty bad.

But Bernsie changed the tone of the station to a way too serious and politically correct entity. He took away the joy of cheering for a regular season game or getting excited about a division title. And god forbid you cheer for your university because the NCAA is evil.

I am still amazed with what happened to Goff. As a third wheel, he used to make me laugh all the time. Then he partners with Bernstein and becomes unlistenable.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

There was a time when Bernsie and Boers were still silly and good. The stuff you mention did nto happen until they moved to drive time. I can't really comment on that period as I was loyal MJH. After I moved here and stream had gotten easier I found B&B again and it was not great.

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If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

Howard Burke and the band!

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Dan and Jason were always going to be casualties of the 2010s culture war, there was no escaping it. Sucks!

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When you model your career as college dropout Bomani Jones, who can't keep a show going for longer than 6 months, the road forward will be bumpy .

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

The thing with Bernstein for me started well before Penn State. He ruined WYC with all of his rules, stipulations, texts and ECraps. That was the first thing that I noticed. Then he began to condescend and talk down to people that happened to be hardcore sports fans. He oftened questioned why they cared so much. Then he ushered in all of the "really smart fan" Sabermetrics stuff. Then it was 'only championships matter" stuff. Can't talk about sports unless you incorporate that into the conversation. Then he started shilling for ownership.

His influence definitely pervaded the station. Not necessarily in a good way either..

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This is all true. I remember he would have long speeches talking about how buying a conference championship hat or shirt was really stupid.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

Yeah Only Championships Matter in leagues with 30 plus teams was a radio winner. Forgot that one.

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If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.