CBS SportsMinute

So what do you think?

  • They are great, really improve the experience

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Sometimes I find them entertaining

    Votes: 4 5.7%
  • Eh, whatever

    Votes: 24 34.3%
  • They make me instantly switch stations/device/mute/whatever

    Votes: 42 60.0%

  • Total voters
    70

smastroyin

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I have to admit, I'm not a hardcore sportstalk radio guy.  So I have been very happy with The Sports Hub as an entertaining diversion that happens to be more sports focused.  I'm not a Patriots fan which helps me get through Felger and find him entertaining, admittedly.  But basically, if I have the radio on and there isn't a game, it's on The Sports Hub.
 
But I really really do not fucking understand the decision to add these stupid SportsMinute things.  Let me outline my complaints:
 
1)  Because they are syndicated, they never ever ever ever ever like ever, have anything to do with the topics being discussed on the program I am listening to.
2)  The fucking jingle makes me want to murder people.  
3)  OK, fine, in the morning you get Boomer Esiason, at least he's a name we recognize (even though he really sucks).  The rest of the day it's usually some no-name nobody.
4)  They are labored and boring.  I can't imagine the guys getting paid to do them like to do them, based on what they sound like.  
5)  The hosts, at least on TSH, have clear disdain for them, have probably been rebuked for that disdain (I've heard less of the criticism), and I imagine it goes this way on most of the affiliates.
 
So why do these things exist?
 
Does anyone actually like them?
 
I mean I guess they replace having a CBS specific commercial but frankly I'd rather listen to a 30 second CBS radio spot than these sports minutes.  And basically what honestly happens is that I hate them so much that when they come up (on top of the constant updates), unless there is a segment coming on that I really want to listen to, I switch to the spotify and don't put the radio back on until the next time I'm in the car.
 

Darnell's Son

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Toucher and Rich had Adolpho do mock sports minutes a few months back and they were awesome. I don't want to hear Boomer Esiason pontificate on baseball or any non quarterbacking subject. They are stupid. Oh, and I never want to hear Jim Rome.
 

Average Reds

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Sep 24, 2007
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smastroyin said:
I have to admit, I'm not a hardcore sportstalk radio guy.  So I have been very happy with The Sports Hub as an entertaining diversion that happens to be more sports focused.  I'm not a Patriots fan which helps me get through Felger and find him entertaining, admittedly.  But basically, if I have the radio on and there isn't a game, it's on The Sports Hub.
 
But I really really do not fucking understand the decision to add these stupid SportsMinute things.  Let me outline my complaints:
 
1)  Because they are syndicated, they never ever ever ever ever like ever, have anything to do with the topics being discussed on the program I am listening to.
2)  The fucking jingle makes me want to murder people.  
3)  OK, fine, in the morning you get Boomer Esiason, at least he's a name we recognize (even though he really sucks).  The rest of the day it's usually some no-name nobody.
4)  They are labored and boring.  I can't imagine the guys getting paid to do them like to do them, based on what they sound like.  
5)  The hosts, at least on TSH, have clear disdain for them, have probably been rebuked for that disdain (I've heard less of the criticism), and I imagine it goes this way on most of the affiliates.
 
Agree with all of your points here. They are annoying and irrelevant to local sports. I hate them.
 
 
smastroyin said:
So why do these things exist?
 
Simply put, it's all about the money.
 
Here's what I mean:  What CBS has done here is to take a media product controlled by each local station - the sports update - and turn it into a syndicated national product.  And CBS can make a shit-ton more money by selling sponsorship rights to the CBS Sports Minute reaching a national audience than they can by selling individual sponsorships to the local sports updates across the various stations that make up the CBS radio network. They can also produce the content much more efficiently because it's syndicated.
 
Now, I don't think this will work in the long run, because (for all the reasons you have identified) it's not a great media "product."  But because the local sports update is such dead time anyway, it has a chance of working.  If CBS can test out and refine the approach to the point where people are not turning away from the stations in droves they will have created something with an appeal (for sponsors) that is much greater than the local updates. 
 
Which brings us to your last question:
 
smastroyin said:
Does anyone actually like them?
 
I mean I guess they replace having a CBS specific commercial but frankly I'd rather listen to a 30 second CBS radio spot than these sports minutes.  And basically what honestly happens is that I hate them so much that when they come up (on top of the constant updates), unless there is a segment coming on that I really want to listen to, I switch to the spotify and don't put the radio back on until the next time I'm in the car.
 
If you are reflective of the average listener, this test will fail and they'll go back to the local format.  If you are not or if they can modify their approach enough to prevent this behavior - they will expand the format.
 

soxfaninyankeeland

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Darnell's Son said:
Toucher and Rich had Adolpho do mock sports minutes a few months back and they were awesome. I don't want to hear Boomer Esiason pontificate on baseball or any non quarterbacking subject. They are stupid. Oh, and I never want to hear Jim Rome.
The CBS SportsMinute is terrible, but Boomer Esiason won the 1979 Yastrzemski Award, given to the best baseball player in Suffolk County, NY. So when he is pontificating about baseball, keep in mind that he probably knows more about it than both of us.
 

JayMags71

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soxfaninyankeeland said:
The CBS SportsMinute is terrible, but Boomer Esiason won the 1979 Yastrzemski Award, given to the best baseball player in Suffolk County, NY. So when he is pontificating about baseball, keep in mind that he probably knows more about it than both of us.
Yours is a a fair counyerpoint. However is it possible to say either a.) he hasn't played the game in 30-plus years, so things have changed, or b.)MLB is a different kettle of fish than Suffolk County, NY baseball in the 70s. I don't have a dog in this fight, I'm just spitballing here.
 

Ralphwiggum

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They are terrible but for me they are close to entering "so bad they are good" territory.  At best they are completely boring and devoid of any interesting content and at worst they are offensively stupid.  I have to admit when I hear the jingle I listen out of curiosity to see how bad it is going to be.
 

Darnell's Son

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JayMags71 said:
Yours is a a fair counyerpoint. However is it possible to say either a.) he hasn't played the game in 30-plus years, so things have changed, or b.)MLB is a different kettle of fish than Suffolk County, NY baseball in the 70s. I don't have a dog in this fight, I'm just spitballing here.
Jaymags hit my point with number two. I wasn't trying to say he was a dunce, but he mainly covers football and I just don't care what he has to say about MLB baseball.
 

Koufax

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Similarly, if they supplant one listener call-in from a guy with a room temperature IQ, so much the better.
 

HomeBrew1901

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I always thought they were relatively benign and at worst boring.  Then, the day after the Marathon Bombing tried to compare the bombing with 3 or 4 completely unrelated things that he considered travesties.  I was livid.  I change the station anytime they come on now, especially when Boomer is doing them.
 
Edit: Here it is.
 
http://sonsofsamhorn.net/topic/75344-the-cbs-sports-minute/?p=4644899
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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The CBS SportsMinute is terrible, but Boomer Esiason won the 1979 Yastrzemski Award, given to the best baseball player in Suffolk County, NY. So when he is pontificating about baseball, keep in mind that he probably knows more about it than both of us.
 
Who gives a flying shit.
 
What about the guy who won the 1980 Yastrzemski Award, where's his show? And how about the 82 winner, what does he think?
 

soxfan121

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John Marzano Olympic Hero said:
Who gives a flying shit.
 
What about the guy who won the 1980 Yastrzemski Award, where's his show? And how about the 82 winner, what does he think?
 
What year did Mike "Behind The Mic" Callahan win his award? 
 
As noted in the other thread that dealt with the CBS Sports Minute, the best thing about it was the parody Sports Minutes T&R put together with MBTMC that really shined.
 

NortheasternPJ

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soxfan121 said:
What year did Mike "Behind The Mic" Callahan win his award? 
 
As noted in the other thread that dealt with the CBS Sports Minute, the best thing about it was the parody Sports Minutes T&R put together with MBTMC that really shined.
 
You're missing out the best part. 
 
It's not Mike Behind the Mic, it's Mike Behind the Mike Callahan. Makes it 10x better.
 
http://www.mikebehindthemikecallahan.i8.com/
 

soxfan121

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NortheasternPJ said:
You're missing out the best part. 
 
It's not Mike Behind the Mic, it's Mike Behind the Mike Callahan. Makes it 10x better.
 
http://www.mikebehindthemikecallahan.i8.com/
 
No, that makes it 1000x better. 
 
I thought it was a clever play on words by an obviously weird guy. Now I know it's the utter obliviousness of an obviously weird guy. You made my day. Thank you for pointing it out.
 

soxfaninyankeeland

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John Marzano Olympic Hero said:
 
Who gives a flying shit.
 
What about the guy who won the 1980 Yastrzemski Award, where's his show? And how about the 82 winner, what does he think?
Virtually every day, both of us read and value baseball opinions by people who have played less, and with less quality, that Boomer Esiasion. I found a complaint regarding his baseball chops odd from a baseball message board poster.

1990 winner Tony Graffanino still feels shitty for blowing Game 2 in 2005.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Virtually every day, both of us read and value baseball opinions by people who have played less, and with less quality, that Boomer Esiasion. I found a complaint regarding his baseball chops odd from a baseball message board poster.
Tim McCarver played Major League Baseball in four different decades, was an All-Star at his position a few times and was a member of a couple World Series winners. I'd still rather listen Rob Neyer who played a grand total of zero days professionally. Or Peter Gammons. Or a ton of other people who haven't played the game.
 
Jim Rice was the 1978 MVP and is a member of the Hall of Fame. The next interesting thing that comes out of his mouth, will be the first.
 
Simply saying that you played the game and had some success doesn't make your opinion worth a damn.*
 
* And BTW, I don't think Boomer is that bad. I just think it's strange that you went with the whole "He played the game!" bullshit.
 

soxfaninyankeeland

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I would rather listen to Gammons and Neyer as well. They are certainly better at articulating their baseball knowledge than either Rice or McCarver. I was trying, and apparently failing, to pointi out that Esiason has more credibility on baseball than your average ex-NFL quarterback.
 

Scoots McBoots

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DA started doing these. Just heard one about RGIII and it was 1000% better than Boomer, Rome, etc. Definitely more balanced as opposed to the "white hot sports take" direction they usually seem to go in.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Good gravy Doug Gottleib is terrible. Last week he was bitching about the NBA schedule.

The NBA schedule! Who gives a shit, every team plays each other twice. It doesn't matter who plays who on opening night. He's the personification of a hot sports take.

What does he do when he's not doing sports minutes?

BTW, Tom Tolbert is awesome at these.
 

Alex18

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May 2, 2012
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found it odd that last week when the manziel stuff was coming out about him signing shit they had a jim rome one about manziel being an idiot blah blah blah, but then they had the same exact one at the same exact time the next day. its bad enough that they're all shitty but i shouldn't have to listen to repetitive shitty hot sports takes
 

dynomite

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Hahaha the dramatically misguided CBS Sportsminute reached its apotheosis this morning.

During the brief time I had GRESH! and ZO! on in the car ~11 a.m., they mentioned the Robinson Cano signing in Seattle and talked about the implications.

Cut to commercial: Doug Gottlieb (I think?) gives us his hot take, which unfortunately for CBS was recorded last night: a vaguely racist flogging of Jay-Z for botching the Seattle deal, which almost guarantees Cano will remain a Yankee, how Hal is probably laughing his ass off, how this proves the foolishness of hiring him in the first place. "I guess the street corner doesn't prepare you for the board room," he intoned at the end. Highest comedy.
 

Corsi

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dynomite said:
Hahaha the dramatically misguided CBS Sportsminute reached its apotheosis this morning.

During the brief time I had GRESH! and ZO! on in the car ~11 a.m., they mentioned the Robinson Cano signing in Seattle and talked about the implications.

Cut to commercial: Doug Gottlieb (I think?) gives us his hot take, which unfortunately for CBS was recorded last night: a vaguely racist flogging of Jay-Z for botching the Seattle deal, which almost guarantees Cano will remain a Yankee, how Hal is probably laughing his ass off, how this proves the foolishness of hiring him in the first place. "I guess the street corner doesn't prepare you for the board room," he intoned at the end. Highest comedy.
 
Looks like it was Brandon Tierney (???).  
 
http://widgets.cbslocal.com/player/embed?affiliate=112&pos=side&player=sports