*Notice: The following are my opinions and are opened and encouraged to be debated. I do not believe what I write to be the only certain truth on the following subject.*

Anyone else disappointed with WMVP ESPN Radio 1000 this year? Bringing in Salisbury and Rosenbloom for the 9 to noon slot has been a major disappointment. I thought (go figure) Silvy and Carmen were really hitting their stride with their show and then it got yanked away only to have them forced to nights to try a whole new format for their show. I also remember Mac kind of puffing his chest out for WMVP and how strong their "bench" has become. Well, lets see about that. MVP has totally given J Hood the shaft and doesn't allow Hood to take part in MJH at all during a whole week the gang is on break. Correct me if I'm wrong, but he was also stripped from his Saturday show. Then there was the Mac-Harry tiff which has been discussed and it's over with. But again, this to me showed how weak ESPN Radio 1000 is these days. The station lost almost any importance for it to be listened to over The Score. I was one who didn't mind Mike and Mike in the morning. I enjoyed they weren't so negative. I don't really want that at 6am but their buddy-buddy schtick with every single person and never asking a tough question has gotten old as well. And as for Patrick, it'd take like three whole pages to tell you how much I detest his show. I'm finding myself listening less and less to this station. And yea, I still listen and do all the e-mail/calling bullshit, but to me it hasn't been the same this year. I yearn back for the fall of '05 to early '06 MVP days...much better. Anyone else who were big MVPers just not feelin' it with the station these days?

Though I don't have an allegiance to one station over the other, and of course I'm not with you on the Silvy & Carmen sac-smooching train, but otherwise I agree with most of what you said.

Forcing Screamin' A. Salisbury down our throats was the worst thing the station could've done. Coppock is fine, but I was more content with MJH surrounded by the youngsters. Carm & Silvy don't exactly blow me away, but they were much more listenable than North, so I caught their show fairly regularly. JD & Hood were entertaining on the ride home and I usually continued to listen while doing odds & ends around the house after dinner.

It’s too bad they don’t stay local longer. I know the evening market is worth dick in radio, but my job does not require me to be an early riser, so if you’ve got something worth listening to post 10pm, you can count on me tuning in on a weeknight Monday-Thursday. It would be nice if they had JD & Hood following S&C from 10 to midnight or so. I understand it’s cheaper for them to just plug in the “Gamenight” feed from Bristol instead of cutting 2 bench players a check for some part-time work, but there are still benefits to staying local longer. Some people, albeit a much smaller audience, are still listening. Plus these guys will be plugging MJH and other AM1000 programming throughout the evening, so it’s not a total loss.

I could keep bitching, but you get the point. I agree, things are heading in the wrong direction.

Bucket, well put. You focused at something that I forgot to allude to. I feel like the locallity (Jurktionary) of ESPN Radio 1000 is going out the window. This is not because "Salisbury isn't from here" as more it is the content of their show. When I listened I didn't feel it was all that too local unless it was talking dusty and a small mention of the sox. Again, I'm not really qualified to comment on this show soince I don't listen now. Of course, that show is sandwiched in between national programming. For me that station doesn't get interesting or local for all that matter until 3 in the afternoon. What a joke. I hate ESPN/Bristol as it is. I think Sportscenter isn't near the show it was ten years ago. I hate 50-70% of the crap on ESPN TV as well. And now it seems they are taking over the radio airwaves. I get this bad feeling that from 7 - 10 someday we may just get more national crap. And that's what I forgot to mention in my post when I was talking about the bench. Why were they using ESPN national programming here and there when Coppock couldn't do a show from 7-10. Why couldn't we get Hood on during that time with JD or hell, Brian for that matter. I don't want to hear more Bristol thoughts on this station and lately, it seems MVP has no problem going to that national programming when regulars aren't available for their slot.

Agree with most of this Ryan. One year ago, two years ago...I was listening to most of their schedule. One by one, piece by piece, they've lost me for most of the day. But the thing is that they really don't seem to care. They don't view customers/listeners the way most of us do who are running "real" businesses. Most businesses do what they have to do (within reason) to try to keep nearly every possible customer. MVP doesn't appear to even try. Instead, they appear to follow Mac's leadership axiom "We can't be all things to all people". That expression is a classic rationalization of mediocrity and resistance to change. If I ever told my CEO or Board that, they'd tell me thank you very much, we'll go find someone for your job who will at least try. As a result, WMVP is content to be what they want to be rather than what their listening audience wants. MJH now carries the station, but I wonder how much longer the dead weight of the rest of the schedule -- particularly the lack of a decent morning show -- will pull them down too.

Its really funny because when I moved here I was like, "Wow this station is so much better than The Score that I had been listening to." Now, that gap has shrunk considerably and it just sucks. I'm bitching. Must be that time of the month.

yeah Ryan it IS that time of the month....that summertime lull between the John Deere Classic and the Bix Fest

I'd agree that AM1000 is in trouble. My favorite elements of 'MVP in years past (Kornheiser show, Rooney/Farmer/Sox broadcasts, Rob Dibble, Silvy/Carm on the weekends, etc...) are long long gone. The transformation has been gradual. I get that. But what did we, the listeners, wind up with?

Complete shit. Salisbury? Jim Rome? A fueding/sputtering MJH show? Super secretive ninja management? A revolving door of Program Directors? Keep it.

I don't listen to too much other radio. Some Roe Conn. Some NPR. Mostly CDs and iPod. Slowly, the programmers of 'MVP convinced me to stick around longer and more often...even to the point that I grew fond of MJH. But now, I pretty much avoid the station from 6AM to 3PM. And then again from 10PM-6AM. Not much of a window to sell me your ads.

Maybe some of the more radio industry savvy folks on this board can educate me on this - but doesn't Chicago USA deserve/need/want a sports radio station that employs mostly local programming? Are the profit margins so shitty that the mothership would just dump all the national stuff on AM1000? I know there's another sports radio station on the dial, but that station is headed by Mike North. No can do.

So yeah, WR, I think Mac was off the mark by touting the "bench" at his station. The bench on his own show seems shaky these days. There are some talented guys we don't hear enough and probably won't unless they leave for another Chicago radio gig. I never heard J. Hood til he came over to MVP. He grew on me. So has JD. It seems plausible that Silvy and/or Carmen won't be around in the near future. Then what?

If AM1000 withers down to MJH, national shit, and some random Chet Coppock slots, I'm gone. I'll get over it rather quickly, but it does piss me off that mgmt. seems set on pissing it all away.

[quote=]yeah Ryan it IS that time of the month....that summertime lull between the John Deere Classic and the Bix Fest [/quote]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! CLASSIC! ABSOLUTELY CLASSIC! MY PERSONAL FAVORITE POST OF THE YEAR! GOD, THAT WAS GREAT COAST!

I agree Coast. It is also why I think there isn't really a market in chicago for two all sports stations. The ratings show an overall decline and the same tired subjects are beaten to death by people with limited entertainment value.
Here's my list of people who couldn't survive if one station changes formats--C&S, B&B, Murph, Holmes, JGG, JHood, Offman, JD, Hanley, North and crew, and obviously many of the fillins.
Most do the same show everyday, expecting people to care about their constant bashing of the Cubs, the blowing of the Bears and thinking their infantile opinions change any but the most feeble minded's opinions.

The combined ratings of the two stations are declining, which indicates that either the audience is getting tired of the same bullshit or that they want something new and fresh, neither station is providing that now.

You two rascals and your Iowa humor.

I only listen to MJH and occasionally some S&C. I've always been a Score guy, but not necessarily because I think they're better. Where I live, I lose the MVP signal at sundown, which really sucks because for 6 months of the year I only get to hear the first 45 minutes of MJH.(a major reason that assinine suspension pissed me off, couldn't they wait until winter to fight) I would like to hear more Hood, and I think he'd be a good fit for the Saturday baseball show. Don't see it happening though. If MJH ever implode, it's curtains for local programing there.

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

A7X, where do you live? I live in Aurora and my signal used to go to shit at 8:30pm but they have since fixed that.

Shouldn't you be Aurora Ryan then?

I live in Ottawa, and have dealt with the shitty signal for 20 years, all the way back to the Steve and Garry/Coppock days.

Mac did explain in one of his "ask" responses that they are legally obligated to turn the transmitter for part of the year, thus the poor winter reception. Sounds stupid to me, but we are talking about ESPN 1000.

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

Yes, technically Woodridge Ryan deceased a few months ago, but Woodridge was the first place I lived in the Chi-land area so its still home to me...Lots of family there.

Go Pirates. Watch out for Geneseo and Rochelle this year as always.

WR, did you have a favorite radio host to stalk in the Quad Cities?

MVP is definitely on a backslide to the watered-down, low-cost, no-risk radio stations. Remember Kornheiser? He actually deliberately pissed off his listeners by doing his own thing, and saying screw what others want - things like Old Guy Radio, the "I was in bed by 11p so I didn't even see the end of the third quarter" act. Now? That won't fly on 1000 - you have guys like Salisbury, who pretend/claim they watch things like WNBA the whole game through, high school gymnastics, and English Premiere League soccer, just so they can appeal to the broadest base of people. It is like the boobs that be decided that they would lose the "hard-core" (if you can call us that) listeners, in an effort to attract more; basically, they said they can risk losing 200 P-1s if they get 300 people in the 18-45 demo or whatever.

I agree with what has been stated here - I miss the days of Kornheiser, the days when Dibble and Patrick were the best show on, MJH were on their ascent, and a strong local lineup across the board. Even Mariotti (who I absolutely hate) was a decent show just because it focused locally, and if you listened in between Mariotti plugging his appearances on ESPN, you got local issues. You all know how I feel about Carmen and Silvy - when they got stabbed like they did, it was a warning shot to all of us where WMVP valued our loyalty.

I don't know what the logic is behind these changes, but the only thing I know about it is that the people who thoroughly follow this stuff - enough to post on a message board about it - are the most disenfranchised of all.

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Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. ~ Benjamin Franklin

Remember Kornheiser? He actually deliberately pissed off his listeners by doing his own thing, and saying screw what others want - things like Old Guy Radio, the "I was in bed by 11p so I didn't even see the end of the third quarter" act.

Sounds like my main mang T Diddler

Well put Scholar.

GD, no I didn't. I worked with all of them and we are all friends back in the QC.

Did anyone stalk you?

No. However, I did get out of a speeding ticket based on who I was. Big time in East Mo I guess, ha.

Great topic to bring up, Ryan. I was just thinking the last few days about how I can't stand MVP/ESPN anymore. I think the worst thing about MVP is that there is not much local product/conversation anymore--and yes, it has been in decline for a while. Didn't MVP have both the Hawks and Sox at the same time a few seasons ago?

I actually liked the personalities on MVP a lot better than the ones on the Score, but am actually listening more to the Score. Surprisingly nice that MNMS broadcast live from Detroit this week. Also caught North's interview of Mariotti on Monday--not bad at all.

But, the whole trouble starts with Bristol. I've been turned off of ESPN for several years when they stepped up the branding. I can't stand that arrogant, self-important "we are hip, we are sports, we are entertainment" crap--it started on SportsCenter, then spun off into ESPN the Magazine, then with the national radio, then the ESPYs (like what the f uck does it mean to win one of those), then with Mobile ESPN and then ESPN weekend at Disney.

Lastly, I'm getting sick of MJH as well. I like the fact that Mac sticks it to the Man in Bristol and the guys give so much shit to Sucksbury and Pokerbloom, but I've had it with Mac giving so much shit to Harry all the time. As stated many times before, he's a bully (and I'm no fan of the Tiny One) but still entertaining at times--just not as much as it used to be.

Milfs, great point on ESPN and there "we are hip" bullshit. This is why i hate them. They were cool ten years ago or so, but it wasn't so puffy chested conceited 2006 Dan Patrick way of acting like he is so important. Remember the good ol' days? Kilborn and Levy in the mornings...DP and KO on Sunday nights...Berman was fresh and enjoyable. Then they all just got so damn big headed and the way the whore themselves to put their name on EVERYTHING. I could actually write ten pages on this subject, but won't get there. I think I actually did a segment on my show about a year or so ago laying out every reason why ESPN sucks now as compared to the past. There's still some redeeming qualities and people of ESPN. Guys like Chris Fowler and Mike Tirico get my utmost respect. Say what you want about Tirico, but I admire the guy because we've been able to watch him work his way into the position he has now. He put in his dues at ESPN and it paid off for him. He did all of this without acting like a complete moron on the station too. Anyway, I need to stop typing...

My biggest gripe with MVP is that between vacations, suspensions and whatnot, continuity is constantly being broken.

On my drive in, my choices are MM or North.. Straight up, I'll choose MM.. but Casillias, Olney, Dana Jacobsen? Ugh.. I'd rather just listen to the dead air between two channels....

With MJH, even beyond the suspensions.. I know they need to take vacation outside of football season, but who the hell schedules all three of them to be off during the all star break? I want to hear MJH, not C&S 5 days a week.

Of course, If Salsenbloom were on vacation for a few weeks straight, I'd be OK with that.. and if DP took a permanent vacation.. I'd consider that an improvement..

I'm gonna get hounded on this one, but I think Eric Cassilias (however you spell) is really good. I don't always agree with him, nor should I, but I think he brings something none of the other national guys do on ESPN...original thoughts. I know he gets a bad rap because he ripped on the white sox, but unlike a guy like salisbury, he admitted he was wrong and didn't tryo to spin it in anyway. You know slippery Sean Sucksbury would have spun it to where somehow what he really said was the white sox would win it all and go 11-1 in the playoffs.

He is a stand up guy.. but his voice and delivery drive me batty. I will give him credit for being able to have an intelligent discussion with Roger Cossack. When something comes up the needs Cossack, I'd rather have Erik there than either Greeny or Golic..

Great topic and points WR. Nice follow on MILFs. This is probably the most well thought out / well articulated threads on why ESPN sucks.

In the past several years ESPN and national ESPN radio has really begun to annoy me. I call it the Stuart Scott effect. Here are my quick bullet points:

1. Lists. Who really cares who the greatest whatever was at his position / sport. It's uninteresting, boring banter.

2. Steroids / Barry Bonds. Shut the f ck up already.

3. Terrell Owens. See point 2.

4. Yankees/Red Sox. The rest of the country doesn't care.

5. Radio talk shows that spend 3 hours covering 1 topic (that no one cares about).

6. Self promotion. As stated above (ESPYs / Mobile ESPN, etc.).

7. Four hour shows are really two hour shows. Mike and Mike repeat the same shit from 7-9 that they covered from 5-7.

8. The ESPN commercials. Yeah - many of them are funny, but have you ever noticed that it's all about how cool they are (e.g. the Mobile Phone guy getting brushed off by the anchors, S. Scott playing stupid pranks on athletes.

9. The so called expert. Everyone is an expert "Extraordinaire". But in reality, Buster Olney, Tim K., Jayson Stark, are all repeating the same stupid trade rumors and making the same obvious points.

10. Stuart Scott. He tries so frickin' hard, but he's just annoying.

North Shore.. on point 4.. I submit the A-Rod talk. I don't care that NY is booing him.. to me, it just shows that NY fans have a short attention span and forget that he was an all star SS. I'll take 45 HRs and 25 Es a year from a guy playing out of position. But it's all we hear about. ARod this.. ARod that.. Manny.. Papi.. It's a reason to not listen to ESPN National Radio or watch the Mothership.

Solid stuff North Shore. Neil Everett (think thats his name) pisses me off too. I remember when he just showed up on Sportscenter and immediately had this, " I'm the next Kenny Mayne. You better bow to me now" type attitude. I understand confidence, wittiness, and sarcasm helped make Sportscenter great buts it toooo much.

I don't want Sportscenter anymore. I can't honestly tell you the last time I watched that show for more than 15 minutes.

Things I hate about Sportscenter......Next!

1. Every day is an hour long edition. This is not needed. Give me thirty minutes and stop acting stupid the other half of the time. This is why ESPN News is way better.

2. Stop it with the human interest stories that take up 20 minutes of your show. I don't need a Chris Connelly or Jeremy Schapp story everyday. Once a week, more than fine. Put that on the Sunday show...which reminds me.

3. Cut the freakin Sunday/Monday morning show down to an hour. Are you F'ing serious? An hour and a fuckin' half? That is absolutely insane. My god, I just want to catch what happened in the Tigers-Blue Jays game and I have to sit through this shit for God knows how long to get 30 seconds of highlights and stats so Sean Salisbury can do a Budweiser six pack of his fantasy sleepers on the year...which by the way, I don't give a shit what Sean think fantasy football wise. There are much better people, including 20 of us on the baords, who could predict that shit as well as him.

4. Bring back the highlights please. Sometime I think they even forget to report on every major sport's game from the night before. Stop making your show a way to see how many ESPN emplyees can get on an episode telling us things that could happen or they'd like to fantasize about happening. How about what did happen?

5. Fire idiots. Stu Scott, Neil Everett, etc. Control others: Berman, Irvin, Salisbury...

How telling is it from a ratings standpoint that I can't watch an episode of PTI anymore without being baited into watching some amount of SportsCenter? That drives me crazy. If I'm home early enough to catch PTI.. I want to see it through to the end.

Living in the Bay Area during the late 90s, I remember enjoying listening to Jon Miller and Duane Kiper do Giants games on the radio.. cut to ESPN whatever night baseball with Jon and Joe Morgan and it sounds like a completely different human being. They're just another pair in a long list of painful ESPN broadcasters..

don't say you hate lists then type out a list

True, but Deacon this is why so many people get pissed at you. The majority of your posts are just ragging on people without bringing something to the table. Give us some thoughts.