WEEI vs 98.5 - Triumph Of Form Over Content?

[ljs0610@comcast.net]

And that would be the talentless Mike Adams; why EEI hired such a tired retread for it's night slot is beyond comprehension.  One of his recent topics was "How old were you when you lost your virginity"?  He seems to fancy himself witty and cutting edge when in fact he comes across as an unpopular frat boy desperate for attention.  And let us not forget how he "got the job" in the first place.  The lamest of lame radio bits: locking himself in the studio until Jason Wolfe (who will now have to prove his mettle as a programmer now that real competition is in town) until he was awarded the job.  Adams is a turnoff not only on EEI but NESN as well.  He and his very unfunny contributions will hopefully wear thin sometime soon.  As for me and my sportsminded friends, the new alternative for local sports has quickly become the sports station of choice.  No more having to endure Smerlas, DeOssie, Shepard and Meterparel (I have friends who are BC grads.  They refuse to contribute to the school until Meterparel is removed as the BC football play-by-play announcer). 

Honestly, the only terrestrial stations I continue to listen to are the local sports stations.  And thankfully I can refer in the plural.  EEI's habit of mailing it in and no longer filling the sports need actual drove us to Mad Dog radio on XM.  Not so local, but not annoying, self-indulgent (Smerlas only really wants to plug his steak house or ask why he's not on more often....DUH!)  The SportHub not only presented an escape, but once sampled, proved to be superior.  Dennis and Callahan consider themselves pundits which is astonishing.  Who cares about their opinions on politics or "water cooler topics" (laughable).  Toucher and Rich are not much better so XM it is in the morning.  Can always tune back for actual sports interviews.  Dale and Holley too often digress from sports or are boring (I actually prefer the combination of Tom Caron and Michael Holley...that worked very well when Arnold was on vacation) and Arnold's pomposity it often just too much to stomach.  So Tanguay and Zolak, it is.  Tanguay is a good reporter and Zolak has gotten considerably better as he learns the radio ropes.  And that brings us to afternoon drive and the Big Show.  Once entertaining, and still sometimes so, it has become tired, predictable and way too self indulgent.  The same tired callers, some who so represent the lowest common denominator (Jim the Wrestling Goon, etc.) and who are allowed significant air time to, well, just fill air time.  Bringing no entertainment value and actually providing a very real reason to tune away.  The whiner line is still sometimes funny, but I find that I no longer tune back when something really interesting is being talked about on SportsHub at that time.  Which is happening more and more frequently.  And credit to SH for not trying to copy the whiner line (or anything on EEI for that matter) but find something interesting that works opposite it.  And they are on the right track.  Felger may be an acquired taste but for a guy who was a print journalist he has learned the necessary radio elements very well.  Kind of a natural.   All of the shows on SH are crisp with great forward motion. I am actually grateful the the first choice for afternoon drive with Felger (Lou Merloni) decided to say with EEI.  Good choice for him and allows him to stay with the Baseball Show, which is where he belongs.  Masserotti is a great choice for SH afternoon drive and pairs very well with Felger.  He has sources and inside information, and I find that I am thoroughly entertained while being informed and not feeling as though I'm losing IQ points.  Back to nights: I will be thankful for DA every day; he is the anti Mike Adams.  Now I can listen to sports in the evening, especially when none of the sports teams are playing.  Since Adams assumed the position at EEI, we just would not listen to sports at night.  Period, end of story.  Not easy for DA to go up against Red Sox baseball, but perhaps the Red Sox will find a new home on a station that doesn't sound like it's off the air half the time (up here in the Merrimack Valley when EEI cannot often be heard at all).  Until then, DA does a good job of soliciting calls and staying on top of his game.  And SH has the Pats and Bruins.  Think the sports teams in town are just a bit overjoyed that they now have more than one real choice to broadcast their games?  Other ways in which the SportsHub proved superior?  The day Tedy Bruschi retired, both stations carried the press conference.  Yes, EEI got Bruschi, but didn't ask the right questions so basically Bruschi reiterated what he had already communicated in the press conference.  In a stroke of brilliance, SH got Drew Bledsoe to ruminate on his years with Bruschi.  Immediately intriguing, as we hadn't heard from Bledsoe in some time and everything he said was new because NO ONE in town had talked to him in ages.  Fascinating radio.  As for interviews?  Felger and Masserotti interviewed Gabe Kappler the other day.  EEI has interviewed him before and been just silly, talking about things like his buff body and the like.   F and M asked him questions about club house chemistry, how is it defined, how does it manifest itself...stuff folks have been talking about lately.  Even better, they then pursued the compare/contrast Joe Maddon, Terry Francona managerial styles since Kappler played for both.  The interview was interesting, revealing, and yes entertaining.  Because you really can accomplish all 3.   But that will never happen on a station that insists of having the likes of Fred Smerlas as a co-host or Mike Adams as a host.  

SportsHub really presents a superior product without cowtowing to the prior sports station royalty.  And it is obvious that EEI is looking over its shoulder.  How else to explain the ridiculous promo about EEI doesn't play jingles (probably unable to finance their production) as jingles are lame.  Why call attention to the other guys?  And oh, by the way EEI, one of the first differences we noticed was that very item, and we all agreed we really liked the SportsHub jingle.  The competition between the two will be as interesting a radio story as we've seen in Boston for a while.