1238 replies to this topic

[ifmanis5]

Glenn now fact-checking the Simmons Manny opus. Glenn's facts are just as off the wall as Bill's facts.
Listening to this is like trying to hit a knuckleball.

[Guapos Toenails]

Ordway being as snarky as possible about Simmons listening to the show via the internet, as opposed to having 'friends and family' telling him.

What a hypocrite.

For ten years Ordway has basically ignored Bill's articles. Because Bill Simmons slams the Big Show and sports radio in general.

But yeah, I believe that Glenn never read those early 2000's articles that Simmons wrote slamming him.

Maybe Brett can print this one out too and put it in Ordway's cubby...

[NomarRS05]

Glen Ordway is shouting down a caller who has the chutzpah to suggest that Tito maybe should have stuck with Lester, using the logic that "THEY WON THE GAME SO IT WAS THE RIGHT MOVE!!!" The smugness is through the god damn roof with this show. Either you agree with their viewpoints or you're 100% wrong. What a joke.

[Swingandadrive]

LARRY FUCKING JOHNSON? I can't believe that after that game last night, today we have Larry Johnson on.

At least Lou Merloni is there.

[Sparky Lyle]

LARRY FUCKING JOHNSON? I can't believe that after that game last night, today we have Larry Johnson on.

At least Lou Merloni is there.

I was going to post something about that fucking idiot being on the show a day after one of the greatest games in Red Sox history. You beat me to it.

Man, does he suck.

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

You know what, I don't like doing this to anyone else because people have slips of the tongue all of the time, but the half hour I listened to (2:00 - 2:30) he called Kazmir, Cash-mire. Cashmire. What the fuck?

Then he relayed a story about how Joey from the North End called him at home last night. If Larry Johnson can read this post, you are a fucking loser. Do you think that any of your colleagues give their home phone number to any of the tools that call the station. Larry Johnson is just pathetic.

[Phenom]

Unless McAdam or Bradford is on, I immediately turn to another station when anybody on the EEI airwaves is discussing the baseball "hot stove."

Ordway and Pete need to realize that the decisions made by the Red Sox in any offseason are not as "black and white" as "this guy sucks, and this guy is good." I don't know if they're not intelligent enough to comprehend that, or if they feel their audience isn't intelligent enough to. But it's just excruciating to listen to, for even a few minutes.

Ordway was bringing up Varitek's selection to the All Star game as the primary reason to resign him. He should know better, and at least think his audience should know better.

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

I heard that. He was saying that since Varitek's peers voted him into the All-Star game and they're professional baseball players, they know more than us. And if they think that he's good, they must be good. Because baseball players are never wrong or biased towards the status quo.

The guy that was trying to argue the point was so overwhelmed, *I* was getting frustrated with the topic.

[HomeBrew1901]

I heard that. He was saying that since Varitek's peers voted him into the All-Star game and they're professional baseball players, they know more than us. And if they think that he's good, they must be good. Because baseball players are never wrong or biased towards the status quo.

The guy that was trying to argue the point was so overwhelmed, *I* was getting frustrated with the topic.

Merloni and Daubach were absolutely horrible yesterday and now I know why ex-pro athletes aren't as good in the studio. Merloni is great when he is breaking down the game, but when it comes to players on the Sox they should all be given the benefit of the doubt and re-signed for big money.

It was really unlistenable yesterday.

[Phenom]

Merloni and Daubach were absolutely horrible yesterday and now I know why ex-pro athletes aren't as good in the studio. Merloni is great when he is breaking down the game, but when it comes to players on the Sox they should all be given the benefit of the doubt and re-signed for big money.

It was really unlistenable yesterday.

Merloni and Daubach's attitude was, "We played the game of baseball, you didn't, so we know more than you." And what was even more frustrating, was that Ordway's attitude was, "I occassionally get to sit in a studio for 4 hours a day with ex-baseball players, so I know more than you."

To be clear though, the caller wasn't making any good points either. He cited Rod Barajas as the primary Varitek replacement. Not ONCE did anybody mention trading for a young catcher, or any sort of alternative to signing dreck on the free agent market.

The only thing worse than that brief exchange yesterday, is when Butch Stearns dabbles into the baseball "hot stove" on those November weekends...

[ifmanis5]

Merloni and Daubach's attitude was, "We played the game of baseball, you didn't, so we know more than you."

That's the most common attitude on that show, no matter who the co-hosts are. I tried to listen yesterday and got turned off just like everybody else who posted here did.
There are no smart callers to The Big Show because why would they bother? You're just going to get shouted down by a bunch of fat blowhard bullies.
The show fosters a with-us or against-us mentality, especially with Pete. If you say something he disagrees with (no matter what the facts, stats or previous history might imply) you will get shouted down, berated and blown up. Very mature.

[dcmissle]

Because of the bullying, they are caught in a downward spiral. Sensible people won't put up with the treatment, so callers for the most part are self selected fools who, ironically, sometimes deserve the bullying.

I'm done with them -- except on days like this where the news might induce cardiac arrest in Glen or Pete. The cross examination of callers by Smerlas and DeOssie -- "Just answer the question" -- pushed me over the edge.

[alrusso]

Informative and often very funny. Quite solid as these shows go. Criticisms:

-- Big O uneven. Good with most guests, but exercises almost no control over the football guys, which hurts the performance of those guys.

-- A lot of football knowledge resides in Smerlas and DeOssie but is overshawdowed by their big timing callers and general thug behavior (servicing their demographic?).

-- Blatant Patriots' fanboyism so widely known, it's harmless cause few take them seriously. But it's goddamn irritating when they then turn their attention to other franchises in town and nitpick those teams to death. As they consistently did with the RS, for example, before October of last year.

-- Need to clean the stable of some weak guests.

I love to listen to sports talk radio but these guys are very annoying. I try to listen on occasion, but I have to change it. Talking over each other, off topic, for me it is unlistenable. They have a great time slot or they would all be looking for another job.

[HomeBrew1901]

I was thinking about this on my commute home last night trying to listen to Smerlas and Merloni, Ordway better not over value his worth in his upcoming negotiations because while people might tune in to listen to D&C, I don't think anyone tunes in in the afternoon to hear what Ordway has to say. My options on the ride home are either The Big Show or Toucher and Rich (who suck) so I typically go with the Big Show.

People tune in to hear the co-hosts and interviews, and unless Ordway is THAT influential in getting these guys on the air it is hard to see why they Entercom would pay him big bucks.

Let's say Felger takes over, co-hosts will still come on the air because they are getting paid, Belichick and other players will still come on the air because they are getting paid (or a charitable donation is being made). There are no other options and I highly doubt that if Ordway goes to another station, aside from Smerlas and Johnson, how many co-hosts are going to take the risk of alienating EEI and go on Ordway's new show.

I like Ordway for the most part, but I fail to see what he brings to the show.

[ifmanis5]

So, you're saying he has a low VORP. Gotta agree with you on that one.

[BoSoxFink]

One thing that definitely drives me nuts is when they act like they are so much smarter than you and then later are proven wrong and never mention it. A called called the other day and suggested that the Sox sign Teixeira and they jumped all over him and said where are they going to put him blah blah. The guy responded by saying we could tade Lowell and put Youk on third. Pete Sheppard proceeded to go on a tirade calling the guy an idiot and that would never ever happen and he knows nothing about baseball and must have just started watching.

Then the next day is when Mazz wrote the piece and the rumors came out that the Sox would possibly make him their number one target and may have to move Lowell to sign him. Pete then said the next day well it could happen and Theo could pull it off and it would solve thw power issue. I felt like calling and saying what about yesterday when you called anyone a moron who knew nothing about baseball when they brought this idea up.

To sum it up, they act like they are above it all, when in reality I honestly feel like half the people on this board know more then them including me about baseball

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

Aside from his occasional habit of big timing callers, I've enjoyed the dawn of the Lou Merloni era.

he was on yesterday's show and one thing that I found funny is that Fred Smerlas was talking about someone, he may have said something like, "San Francisco's quarterback" and Merloni immediately piped in "J.T. O'Sullivan" (this wasn't the example, but it was something like this). Basically my point is this, Lou Merloni (the baseball guy) seems to know more about today's NFL than Fred Smerlas (the football guy). That can't be good for business.

Furthermore that's pretty fucking weak sauce on Smerlas' part. I don't know what he does all day, but on days that he's going on EEI he should at least be familiar with the league and have a general knowledge of who the players are. They have an easy ass job (and please fucking spare me the whole, "You don't know what it's like to be on the radio" bullshit -- these guys aren't doing half the work needed to get the job doen) and they do a piss poor job. On WFAN Merloni would probably be seen as an average host, but on EEI he's a star because you can tell he does some sort of prep work.

[The Four Peters]

On WFAN Merloni would probably be seen as an average host, but on EEI he's a star because you can tell he does some sort of prep work.

The sad part is that a lot of the stuff you cite isn't even prep work. It's just common sports knowledge that any sports fan, and especially any sports talk show host, should know.

If it's a hot storyline or breaking news, that's prep work. If it's preparing evidence for a position you know you'll be arguing that day, that's prep work. If it's knowing a team's QB when you're the "football guy", that's basic shit, and there's no excuse for it.

As far as the big-timing goes, it can be annoying, but I'd rather that than the alternative. If that's the worst quality Merloni has, I'll gladly endure it to hear his analysis over someone like LJ or Butchie Stearns.

Edited by The Four Peters, 24 October 2008 - 12:54 PM.

[Dwayne Hosey For President]

I was thinking about this on my commute home last night trying to listen to Smerlas and Merloni, Ordway better not over value his worth in his upcoming negotiations because while people might tune in to listen to D&C, I don't think anyone tunes in in the afternoon to hear what Ordway has to say. My options on the ride home are either The Big Show or Toucher and Rich (who suck) so I typically go with the Big Show.

People tune in to hear the co-hosts and interviews, and unless Ordway is THAT influential in getting these guys on the air it is hard to see why they Entercom would pay him big bucks.

Let's say Felger takes over, co-hosts will still come on the air because they are getting paid, Belichick and other players will still come on the air because they are getting paid (or a charitable donation is being made). There are no other options and I highly doubt that if Ordway goes to another station, aside from Smerlas and Johnson, how many co-hosts are going to take the risk of alienating EEI and go on Ordway's new show.

I like Ordway for the most part, but I fail to see what he brings to the show.

I agree, but I also see Ordway asking for the moon and getting it. I don't think he has much respect for "the soccer-moms in the morning" and that the amount of money they got sticks in his craw. No way to know that for sure, of course, but when he talks about them he seems genuinely contemptuous of them, unlike when he goofs on Dale or Adams. I bet he really wants to make more than they do if he doesn't already.
As for the station's perspective, the fact that they paid big money to D&KKK last year at a time when their replacements were maintaining the same ratings suggests that they're terrified of messing with success. Even if they think they don't need Ordway at all I don't think they're willing to take the risk of their ratings going down even a little bit.

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

As far as the big-timing goes, it can be annoying, but I'd rather that than the alternative. If that's the worst quality Merloni has, I'll gladly endure it to hear his analysis over someone like LJ or Butchie Stearns.

Definitely. I agree 100%, the big timing is a small price to pay considering you have idiots like Butch Stearns and Fred Smerlas big timing people and they don't have a clue as to what they're talking about.

I don't think he has much respect for "the soccer-moms in the morning" and that the amount of money they got sticks in his craw.

I think that much like everything else at EEI, this "dislike" is an act. Ordway gave Callahan his start on the radio and I think he may have been the program director when those two were paired together for their two-hour show following Imus. Conversely, I do think that Pete Shepperd's dislike of Meterperrel is not an act though. I think that Shepperd is jealous of Meterperrel's jobs with the Revolution and the Eagles as well as his fill in on the Sox game this past spring.

[Phenom]

I was thinking about this on my commute home last night trying to listen to Smerlas and Merloni, Ordway better not over value his worth in his upcoming negotiations because while people might tune in to listen to D&C, I don't think anyone tunes in in the afternoon to hear what Ordway has to say. My options on the ride home are either The Big Show or Toucher and Rich (who suck) so I typically go with the Big Show.

People tune in to hear the co-hosts and interviews, and unless Ordway is THAT influential in getting these guys on the air it is hard to see why they Entercom would pay him big bucks.

Let's say Felger takes over, co-hosts will still come on the air because they are getting paid, Belichick and other players will still come on the air because they are getting paid (or a charitable donation is being made). There are no other options and I highly doubt that if Ordway goes to another station, aside from Smerlas and Johnson, how many co-hosts are going to take the risk of alienating EEI and go on Ordway's new show.

I like Ordway for the most part, but I fail to see what he brings to the show.

Ordway is an instigator, plain and simple. His job as host is to "stir the pot," and mesh with his co-hosts. If Smerlas is on, then it's going to be very juvenile. If McAdam is on, the show will be more about the analysis than the "characters" on the station.

I do agree that Glenn has to be careful in these upcoming contract negotiations, especially with Felger back in the fold. But Ordway also strikes me as a savvy guy. He knows that he has the cushiest seat in Boston sports media. I don't think he'll negotiate himself out of it.

[fenwaypaul]

Long interview with Dan Duquette on yesterday's Big Show:

Part 1
Part 2

Part 2 has the more interesting tidbits, including confirmation (~5:00 mark) of the story about Manny's initial refusal to sign the contract with the Red Sox because he couldn't bring the assistant Cleveland clubhouse manager with him (per Duquette, it took about 20 minutes to convince Manny to sign anyway); and an anecdote (~11:00) about how Roger Clemens "resisted" participating in the body fat-monitoring program Duquette brought to the Sox from Montreal.

(Sorry, I can't provide exact quotes; the text transcript reads as if it's been cycled by Babel Fish from English to Martian and back to English.)

[ifmanis5]

I heard that yesterday and was amused by the Clemens stuff- you could practically hear Dan screaming in his head "I FRIGGIN' TOLD YOU SO!!" Dan is also still pretty bitter about not being hired by another MLB team.

[HomeBrew1901]

Dan is also still pretty bitter about not being hired by another MLB team.

IIRC, the guy was a prick to other teams as well, he has no one to blame but himself.

[ifmanis5]

IIRC, the guy was a prick to other teams as well, he has no one to blame but himself.

Oh, no doubt.
He also mentioned on the show that he did get some offers from teams that didn't impress him. That roughly translates to 'I fancy myself as a big deal and if the Washington Senators or Pittsburgh Pirates call, I'm not available'

[HomeBrew1901]

Oh, no doubt.
He also mentioned on the show that he did get some offers from teams that didn't impress him. That roughly translates to 'I fancy myself as a big deal and if the Washington Senators or Pittsburgh Pirates call, I'm not available'

I wish I had heard that interview, because that's probably exactly what happened. He probably still sees himself as too good to deal with those teams.

[Spacemans Bong]

Oh, no doubt.
He also mentioned on the show that he did get some offers from teams that didn't impress him. That roughly translates to 'I fancy myself as a big deal and if the Washington Senators or Pittsburgh Pirates call, I'm not available'

That's what it sounded like to me too. He'd probably be a GM somewhere (he wasn't a bad GM, he probably still isn't a bad GM) if his ego would let him. He also seemed a little too eager to take credit for 2004. It's absolutely true a lot of the roster was bought in by him, but modesty would make me feel uncomfortable taking that much credit.

Edited by Spacemans Bong, 07 November 2008 - 05:30 PM.

[HomeBrew1901]

5 minutes in and Butch Stearns is already annoying me. I think it is just the sound of his voice.

[Sparky Lyle]

5 minutes in and Butch Stearns is already annoying me. I think it is just the sound of his voice.

What did you think of that interactive flash that Pete the Meat did? About the Gay Games. I wanted to kill them all.

[mabrowndog]

What did you think of that interactive flash that Pete the Meat did? About the Gay Games. I wanted to kill them all.

Embarrasingly harsh and over the line. But that's par for the course with this station. Hope you didn't catch the first 5 minutes of the whiner line, Sparky. That might have prompted you to show up at Entercom with your service revolver.

If the NAACP announced they were holding the African-American games in Boston, these broadcasting morons would be singing a different tune. The Imus flap and Callahan's suspension have pretty much ensured that. But no real dustups of note have occurred between the station/parent company and gay/lesbian advocacy groups. At least none that I can recall. Any that have happened have either had a limited shelf life or were swept under the rug.

[Sparky Lyle]

Embarrasingly harsh and over the line. But that's par for the course with this station. Hope you didn't catch the first 5 minutes of the whiner line, Sparky. That might have prompted you to show up at Entercom with your service revolver.

You're not kidding Dog. And because of that silliness I had no intention of listening to the Whiner Line, fully aware of what it would be. You know, I listen to "EEI every day, especially The Big Show, so I've grown accustomed to the general, and most times, subtle homophobia that comes over the radio waves. I suffer through Fred Smerlas's juvenile homophobic innuendo for most of the show because he knows a lot about football and I don't so I learn from him. I ignore that he is abetted in his puerility by Steve DeOssie, Andy in the booth, and Brett in the booth. But the last name mentioned surprises me the most. He's a man who has suffered, and will continue to suffer I suppose, various forms of racial prejudice and indignity for all his life, yet he seems quite comfortable in participating quite boldly and openly in what has become for me the last refuge of the bigot.

[HomeBrew1901]

I turned off the radio before the gay games thing started but turned it back on on the drive home for the whiner line which is usually my favorite part of the show.

I was amazed that they had as much of the gay bashing on the whiner line that they had. A lot of that shit was wayyyy over the line from mildly humorous to outright offensive.

[bsj]

OMG...this is funny...

Some guy is calling in saying that the person that "calls" the coin toss has a greater chance of winning the coin toss in overtime.

He keeps yelling a them to "Google It"

LMAO

I hate these guys but this guy is retarded.

[Salem's Lot]

Big O is hammering the writer that left Pedroia off the ballot. hilarious stuff

[bsj]

Damn I missed the start of the interview...

[Phenom]

Sports talk radio is supposed to be entertaining, right?

Well, though this interview with Evan Grant has probably gone a tad too long, and though it's probably in low-taste, this is incredibly entertaining!

I loved Lou's line at the end, "Where you drinking when you inserted your ballot?"

[PC Drunken Friar]

I was hating this interview. Yea, the guy fucked up, but he said like 5 times thathis opinion was probably wrong and he had to live with it. that should have been the end of the story.

[RedOctober3829]

Pete came across as someone who has no idea about baseball(which is true) in this interview. He brought up the fact that Dustin has a low K rate and that should be factored into the voting. The writer comes back with the Ryan Howard argument and they have nothing to say. This show sucks.

[bsj]

In their defense...the guy kept qualifying his statement...I kind of wish he either went full bore and defended his viewpoint, or just came out and said I fucked up, I was wrong, I just forgot about him.

He kind of took this middle road that was irritating me. I didnt like the way they handled him, but I think they were getting annoyed by that too.

[twoBshorty]

I didn't understand why he got all huffy about them questioning his integrity. Nobody was questioning your integrity, Mr. Grant. They were saying that you are an idiot. Earnestly, honestly stupid. Of course, that may be the pot calling the kettle black, but just because it's the pot saying so doesn't mean the claim is invalid.

[gingerbreadmann]

Possibly, but we have our first MVP in 13 years, why focus on the one person who left him off? Who freakin' cares? This should be a celebration. I tell you, I got home and turned on the radio at about 2:30 and all they were talking about was that Pedey was left off one of the ballots. They neglected to talk about, oh, the winner, who happened to be Pedroia but you never would have guessed. I just figured he had lost by a small margin or something but when I saw on Yahoo, I was in shock.

Why do they focus so much on the one guy who left him off? Idiots.

[Foulkey Reese]

I downloaded the interview with Grant on iTunes last night because I wanted to hear him get slammed, but ended up almost feeling sorry for the guy after listening to the fucking idiots on WEEI berate him.

The shock in their voices when they found out that he didn't take Pedroia's low strike out total into consideration made listening to the interview worthwhile though. Like Red October said, they had absolutely nothing to say when he brought up Ryan Howard.

What a tard carnival that was.

[Salem's Lot]

The worst and most unprofessional part of it was Lou Merloni calling the guy an idiot, or a moron, or asking if he was drunk when he filled out his ballot. I wish he knew who Lou was so he could fire back with something like "Is that Lou Merloni? don't you have a bench to warm somewhere?, or "Lou, I'm glad you could take time off from sniffing Nomar Garciaparra's jock strap to join the show today. Surely all the time you spent watching major league baseball from the bench makes you the authority on which other observers of the game are idiots. When do you have to report to the Nippon Ham Fighters for spring training buddy?" For a guy that was a scab player he's real quick to question someone else's character.

Edited by Salem's Lot, 19 November 2008 - 09:48 AM.

[shawnrbu]

Is it true The Globe EEI ban has been lifted? Or were the guys on The Big Show just horsing around by saying next week Fred Smerlas would be in studio with Amalie Benjamin of all people.

[Metrician]

[quote name='shawnrbu' date='Nov 21 2008, 06:59 PM' post='2006410']
Is it true The Globe EEI ban has been lifted?

Haven't heard that, I doubt it.

Big Show was pretty good yesterday with Butch and McAdam (LJ too). The station has been very light on Bb talk lately. Bullworth didn't seem to like the Teixeira --potential-- deal fearing it would tie up too much cash. The total value of the contract was prohibitive.
McAdam agreed eight years+ was a risk, but didn't doubt the FO would go all out to try to do this deal. He also said the 'Tek situation is going to drag out, and Detroit doesn't look like a possibility for him.

[Sparky Lyle]

[quote name='Metrician' post='2012900' date='Nov 27 2008, 02:13 AM'][quote name='shawnrbu' post='2006410' date='Nov 21 2008, 06:59 PM']




(LJ too).[/quote]





Do you drink?

Edited by Sparky Lyle, 27 November 2008 - 03:21 AM.

[HomeBrew1901]

[quote name='Metrician' post='2012900' date='Nov 27 2008, 02:13 AM'][quote name='shawnrbu' post='2006410' date='Nov 21 2008, 06:59 PM']
Is it true The Globe EEI ban has been lifted?

Haven't heard that, I doubt it.

Big Show was pretty good yesterday with Butch and McAdam (LJ too). The station has been very light on Bb talk lately. Bullworth didn't seem to like the Teixeira --potential-- deal fearing it would tie up too much cash. The total value of the contract was prohibitive.
McAdam agreed eight years+ was a risk, but didn't doubt the FO would go all out to try to do this deal. He also said the 'Tek situation is going to drag out, and Detroit doesn't look like a possibility for him.[/quote]
Seriously??? It sounded like McAdam wanted to slam his head against the wall, he was great, but Stearns and LJ were horrible.

[Phenom]

Question:

With the Bruins now "relevant" again, does "The Big Show" acquire a more a "hockey-centric" co-host, as they did with Maxwell when WEEI obtained the Celtics rights?

I know that Pete is a pretty big Bruins fan, but I wouldn't consider him an expert by any stretch of the imagination. (Which can be said about several hosts, on several sports, but I digress)...

McAdam seems to be interested in hockey as his number two sport, so does this maybe open up more Sean McAdam appearances? Or do we now see a guy like Joe Haggerty make his "Big Show" co-host debut?

Edited by Phenom, 29 November 2008 - 08:34 PM.

[shawnrbu]

Felger is the EEI hockey guy.

[The Four Peters]

I would love to see the Big Show get a hockey guy (Kevin Paul Dupont would be perfect were there no Globe-ban). As it is now, I'd rather them not even mention the Bruins, because they are painfully uninformed. Pete is kind of a fan, but that seems to almost be a running joke, because he really doesn't know anything about the team. Big O knows even less.

McAdam brings up hockey half because he seemingly is a fan, and half as a way to needle Ordway. I'm curious how much McAdam knows about the current team, and if he could bring something to the discussion. I'm guessing he could, and would welcome it.

Felger is the EEI hockey guy.

Not really. He is a hockey fan due to growing up in Wisconsin, and covering the Bruins until he got pulled from the beat. That makes him the most knowledgeable guy on the station almost by default, but he is not the "hockey guy". A show with McAdam and Felger could be passable hockey talk though.

Any chance they could bring Neumy back?