Finn: Ordway gets the boot; Replaced by Salk

steveluck7

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JayMags71 said:
He's roughly the same age as Felger, Toucher, and Rich. I think either Mut or Bertrand's the youngest.
Really? Funny, If you just listened, you'd peg Felger as at least 10 yrs older than Holley. 
I knew Bertrand is younger but i wasn't counting "flash guys", never listened to Mut
 
I still say Holley should have his own show, not be 2nd seat
 

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JayMags71 said:
JMOH sort of covered this for me, but what really killed the The Big Show for me is when they were banned from having Globe writers like Ryan, Mullen and CHB (before he had devolved into self-parody). Sure they would still have MacAdam on (why isn't he in your rankings, Byron?, but they would talk over him constantly, and kill the flow of conversation.

Then they started the phase where at least one of DeOssie, Burton, LJ, or (worst of all) Smerlas were on every day, rendering the show unlistenable.
 I think this is so true.  With the exception of Borges, who was at the Globe at the time and insufferable.  Listening to Ryan and Jackie M was
great.  Even CHB was worthwhile.  People may not remember but The Big Show around that time could be hilarious, and when the Globe guys were
on it was intelligent.  I have very fond memories of those early years, and Ordway has to be given credit for creating The Big Show format which
worked very well in its prime.  But it became unlistenable with Smerlas and DeOssie and they got lazy.  They couldn't handle the competition. 
The same thing will happen to Felger at some point.  You can do the same schtick for only so long before people get sick of you.  And one last
thought... I hope to God that when their contracts are up Dennis and Callahan are run out on a rail.
 

lostjumper

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H78 said:
Here's how I'd rank Boston sports radio right now (for whatever that's worth):
 
Unlistenable
Dennis
Callahan
Mike Adams
 
I know you don't like Callahan, but you're dead wrong on this one. The best 2 weeks of sports radio I've ever heard was when Dennis was out and Felger and Callahan were paired from 6-10. They blew everything out of the water that I had heard up until then and since. When Callahan focuses on sports, he's actually knowledgeable, and does really well formulating opinions when challenged. That's what Felger did, and he kept the show 100% sports focused so politics didn't come up. 
 
What that means is Dennis is a lazy racist asshole that pulls Callahan down into the gutter and the whole show becomes terrible and lazy. Dennis has to be the worst on air "talent" of anyone in America not only because he's terrible, but he ruins Callahan as well.
 

The Talented Allen Ripley

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Callahan is a miserable human being, but he led an interview with John Farrell this morning that Toucher & Rich couldn't have even approached in terms of Q&A (and I love T&R and listen to them most of the time). Callahan is a very good at sports radio when he doesn't let his bilious worldview creep into the airwaves.
 

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I know you don't like Callahan, but you're dead wrong on this one. The best 2 weeks of sports radio I've ever heard was when Dennis was out and Felger and Callahan were paired from 6-10. They blew everything out of the water that I had heard up until then and since. When Callahan focuses on sports, he's actually knowledgeable, and does really well formulating opinions when challenged. That's what Felger did, and he kept the show 100% sports focused so politics didn't come up.
 
I agree with this statement. The truth is a lot of these guys probably have political leanings closer to what Callahan does. I'm not sure who Fred Toucher votes for, but I'm pretty sure that he's a Libertarian and isn't too enamoured with our President right now*, but you would never know it because they don't really talk politics at all.
 
* And I don't want to get down a rat hole about what a Libertarian believes and what they don't believe. Safe to say, it's not the liberal agenda that many in Mass have.
 
Callahan's a prick. But he's an intelligent prick and paired with someone who gives a crap about sports and making a good show, an intelligent prick can turn into a lovable curmudgeon. The one thing that I never understood about Callahan is how someone who blew a Super Bowl for his high school can be so damn gleeful when another athlete screws up? You would think that there's some empathy there. 
 

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lostjumper said:
 
I know you don't like Callahan, but you're dead wrong on this one. The best 2 weeks of sports radio I've ever heard was when Dennis was out and Felger and Callahan were paired from 6-10. They blew everything out of the water that I had heard up until then and since. When Callahan focuses on sports, he's actually knowledgeable, and does really well formulating opinions when challenged. That's what Felger did, and he kept the show 100% sports focused so politics didn't come up. 
 
What that means is Dennis is a lazy racist asshole that pulls Callahan down into the gutter and the whole show becomes terrible and lazy. Dennis has to be the worst on air "talent" of anyone in America not only because he's terrible, but he ruins Callahan as well.
Scary that I remember those same two weeks and it was years ago, but I used this same situation today at work when a couple of guys were talking about how back D&C were. May never happen, and I know I've said this over a dozen times, but Felger and Callahan in the afternoon would be awesome.
 
 

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teddykgb said:
 
Plus the absurdity of it all is that they had Arnold on air at the time who is the only guy in market that I'm sure loves hockey as much as if not more than the listenership.  Dale was doing the games and on the radio, had crazy access to players and the management, plus loved the topic.  That they somehow parlayed this into getting their ass kicked predominantly on the back of hockey's renaissance in Boston is absolutely mind boggling.
Dale got pissed at the Bruins after NESN gave Jack Edwards the full time play by play gig. He wouldn't have been of much use, he had an ax to grind with the team and didn't let it go until just before taking over for the studio job.
 

richgedman'sghost

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H78 said:
Here's how I'd rank Boston sports radio right now (for whatever that's worth):
 
The Best
1. Felger
2. Rich
 
Good
3. Bertrand
4. Toucher (Doesn't know sports, but is entertaining as hell. My concern with him is in five years his act may be tired.)
5. Flynn
6. Zolak
7. Holley
 
Listenable
8. Merloni
9. Adam Jones
 
Needs work, but good every now and then
10. Mazz
11. Wallach
12. Gresh
13. Mutt
 
Unlistenable
Dennis
Callahan
Mike Adams
Where would you put Dale Arnold? To me he falls somewhere between 5-8.
 

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Living in Connecticut, all I get in terms of Boston sports radio is WEEI and that only happened recently when 105.5 in Springfield and 103.7 in Providence came online.  I generally listen to Ordway's show or NPR on the way home. Ordway is an average to slightly above average sports radio guy. I think Michael Holley is one of the best I've ever heard on sports radio. 
 
Dennis and Callahan should have been the ones to go. I think it's hard for a station to recover when it starts the day with such a terrible show. 
 

H78

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I've always felt like I've heard Callahan rant on politics far more than John Dennis, which is what's always turned me off on him. I'm not a lefty, either, I just hate when you tune in expecting sports and instead hear some semi-racist, homophobic, rich white guy use the sports talk radio airwaves to go off on a Limbaugh-esque rant. Especially when he's talking down at people who have low-income jobs (or no job) when all he does to make his millions is show up for four hours a day and partially deliver his on-the-spot opinions of Boston sports. When you hear all that it's hard not to think, "get a fucking grip, dude."
 
But honestly, if we just want to blame John Dennis for it I'm on board.
 

H78

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richgedman'sghost said:
Where would you put Dale Arnold? To me he falls somewhere between 5-8.
 
Honestly, I forgot about Dale. Right now, I think I'd agree with you (I think he improved over time), but for a long time I would have put him in that Mazz category.
 

H78

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Also, FWIW, I'd rather listen to Adolpho try to read War and Peace than listen to the Dennis and Callahan morning show.
 

JayMags71

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The Allented Mr Ripley said:
Callahan is a very good at sports radio when he doesn't let his bilious worldview creep into the airwaves.
I concede your point, but he seemed so eager to shoehorn his politics into a lot of the show for a such a long time that I stopped listening even before the sports hub went on. The breaking point for me was when he spent an entire segment of his show mocking public libraries as wasteful. Fucking libraries. If it was trolling, it was stupid. If it wasn't (and i think he truly believed it on some level) it was staggeringly ignorant. Even if he focused 100% of his show on sports,I can't listen to him any more because I believe he's such a hateful person.

I realize that probably says as much about me as it does him, but there we are.
 

H78

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Same here - I stopped listening to D+C before 98.5. I couldn't handle it anymore.
 
I used to listed to the 1510 Mike and Mike show before they went off the air. Then, I just turned to NPR.
 

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I didn't really listen to sports radio in the 90's but was Ordway really the be all end all of the creation of sports radio as he's claiming and everyone's calling in? For the last 2 hours or so if Ordway wasn't around there'd be no sports radio. 
 

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NortheasternPJ said:
I didn't really listen to sports radio in the 90's but was Ordway really the be all end all of the creation of sports radio as he's claiming and everyone's calling in? For the last 2 hours or so if Ordway wasn't around there'd be no sports radio. 
 
Sports Radio in Boston predates Ordway by decades. DECADES. Eddie Andelman on WHDH The Sports Huddle, long before the 850 AM frequency became WEEI (which used to be assigned to 590). Upton Bell & Bob Lobel hosted "Calling All Sports" on WBZ 1030. 
 

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NortheasternPJ said:
I didn't really listen to sports radio in the 90's but was Ordway really the be all end all of the creation of sports radio as he's claiming and everyone's calling in? For the last 2 hours or so if Ordway wasn't around there'd be no sports radio. 
 
There were ALOT of sports radio shows before EEI came into existence.  But I think Craig Mustard had the very first show when EEI switched to an all sports format.  Btw, how LAUGHABLE will it be if freaking Mustard and Johnson is still on the air when all the shows from EEI's hey day are all finally axed? 
 

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mabrowndog said:
Sports Radio in Boston predates Ordway by decades. DECADES. Eddie Andelman on WHDH The Sports Huddle, long before the 850 AM frequency became WEEI (which used to be assigned to 590). Upton Bell & Bob Lobel hosted "Calling All Sports" on WBZ 1030. 
That's what I've always heard and thought was true. But according to The Big Show, it was like 90% Ordway and any one else on Boston sports radio owes their career to Ordway. He's the one that figured it out. Seemed like a bunch of bull. I am sure that he did help some of their careers along but I'd be shocked if many of them couldn't have made it without Ordway leading the circus.
 

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I'm pretty happy about Ordway being out. Like others, I really didn't think it would since he was so closely associated with the EEI brand, but kudos to Wolfe or whomever for realizing it was time to really shake things up. The Whiner Line and all of the character callers that go with it has been so unbearably bad for so long it's shocking to me that it was allowed to continue.
 
Having to hear Holley join in with the faux laughter between each message was genuinely sad. I hope Holley can recover, but he may actually be broken as an on-air host. He just seems completely lost. At the Globe, he was a great writer and I wonder if he could get back to that to refresh his creative energy.
 

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mabrowndog said:
 
Sports Radio in Boston predates Ordway by decades. DECADES. Eddie Andelman on WHDH The Sports Huddle, long before the 850 AM frequency became WEEI (which used to be assigned to 590). Upton Bell & Bob Lobel hosted "Calling All Sports" on WBZ 1030. 
 

Yeah, that's some serious revisionist history if Ordway is claiming that he was a pioneer in sports radio.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Not having listened to WEEI much in a few years, god these callers are awful. The celebrity callers are awful, the normal callers are awful and how they manage callers is awful. Wait, I can't get mad because it's all theater and a sitcom according to Ordway. Woah ho! What fun! They make Mike in Attleboro or Manny in the Truck seem listenable.
 

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Sports talk radio goes back at least to July 1969, when Guy Mainella began hosting Calling All Sports on WBZ, 7 to 9. About that time, Andelman hosted Sports Huddle on the same station on Sunday nights, when he absolutely murdered the Bruins. Afternoon shows were on as early as the 1970s, when Cliff Keane and Larry Claflin, of the Globe and Herald, respectively, had a show named Cliff and Claff; they were the spirtual fathers of Dennis & Callahan, with few soft edges and more than an occasional taste for racial politics in 1970s Boston.

I suppose Ordway's claim to fame is that he was key to the transformation of 'EEI to sports talk 24/7, Boston's version of 'FAN.

EDIT: Further to the last point, Chad Finn notes that Ordway hired Wolfe:

http://www.boston.com/sports/touching_all_the_bases/2013/02/sources_weei_to_replace_glenn.html

This confirms my dim recollection that Ordway was more than a voice in the early days of 'EEI; he was an architect.

Also, note that Salk's reported salary will be in the neighborhood of $100,000, which represents an 80 per cent savings of what Ordway is earning now, 90 per cent less than his earnings during the salad days.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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mabrowndog said:
Sports Radio in Boston predates Ordway by decades. DECADES. Eddie Andelman on WHDH The Sports Huddle, long before the 850 AM frequency became WEEI (which used to be assigned to 590). Upton Bell & Bob Lobel hosted "Calling All Sports" on WBZ 1030. 
 
Sports radio shows predate Ordway and WEEI 850, but an all sports station wasn't really a proven format when WEEI went on the air with it.  And Ordway was the program director and host of the flagship show during the formative and peak years of the station.  It's understandable that he feels a bit of responsibility for the proliferation of the format in Boston.  There's no Sports Hub (not to mention the Zone or any ESPN iteration) and there's arguably no CSNNE (at least not in the form we know it now), etc without the success of WEEI.
 
But at this point, there are a whole lot of stations, program directors and hosts doing it a whole lot better than Ordway is or ever did in his career.  Even if a lot of guys owe part of their career, directly or indirectly, to Ordway's efforts, that doesn't mean this wasn't a long time coming.
 

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NortheasternPJ said:
That's what I've always heard and thought was true. But according to The Big Show, it was like 90% Ordway and any one else on Boston sports radio owes their career to Ordway. He's the one that figured it out. Seemed like a bunch of bull. I am sure that he did help some of their careers along but I'd be shocked if many of them couldn't have made it without Ordway leading the circus.
 
 
I think the Big Show in the 1990s was about as good as it gets for Boston Sports Radio.  It all started downhill when they lost the guests from the Globe.  Years later, a lot of those have lost their fastballs but a regular roster of guests that included Peter Gammons, Bob Ryan, Dan "I'm Contributing" Shaughnessy, Ron "Popcorn" Borges, Ron "The Humble One" Hobson, Kevin Mannix, Dick Radatz, Steve Nelson, and hell even Fred Smerlas and others was pretty special.  They had the guests, the insights, pushed the guy talk element and werent burdened by dimwits like Bill Burt and Larry Johnson.  Honestly, I listened to nothing else in that time slot.  The Whiner Line was good and newish with regulars on there who were practically celebrities in themselves.  I dunno - I dont think I have ever heard better sports radio then back then.  The warts were there, it was never perfect but it hit the exact right tone for a long, long time.
 
As for Glenn, one of his children had some very serious medical issues around 2004 or so IIRC.  I remember hearing about it being touch and go and then seeing him and his wife eating at Legal Seafood at the South Shore Plaza.  They both looked like they were going to cry at their table as they ate quick and left.  I wont revel in his firing - it might be different if I had lived in Boston for the last 7 years - but instead express that I was both a fan of his show and thank him for all the laughs he gave me over the years.
 

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Ok, Cliff and Claff sounds amazing and it's a crime there aren't old shows available for download. I picture callers with thick Southie accents screaming about Zimmers managing and "colored kids" being bussed to public schools.
 

Orel Miraculous

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Red(s)HawksFan said:
Sports radio shows predate Ordway and WEEI 850, but an all sports station wasn't really a proven format when WEEI went on the air with it.  And Ordway was the program director and host of the flagship show during the formative and peak years of the station.  It's understandable that he feels a bit of responsibility for the proliferation of the format in Boston.  There's no Sports Hub (not to mention the Zone or any ESPN iteration) and there's arguably no CSNNE (at least not in the form we know it now), etc without the success of WEEI.
 
But at this point, there are a whole lot of stations, program directors and hosts doing it a whole lot better than Ordway is or ever did in his career.  Even if a lot of guys owe part of their career, directly or indirectly, to Ordway's efforts, that doesn't mean this wasn't a long time coming.
 
Wait, was he really in those positions that early?  I seem to remember Eddie Andelman being the headliner at WEEI for a fairly long period of time before the Big Show came around.  And it's not like EEI was some backwater operation back then.  To a young Orel, WEEI already seemed to be the monster of New England radio when Glen took over drive time from Andelman. As someone said upthread, I think it was ultimately the teams and fans that made made sports radio in Boston what is today, not Ordway.
 

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I think the "first" morning show when they switched over to all sports talk on 850 was Craig Mustard and Tom Doyle.  Andy Moes had a morning drive show for a while as well I think.  IIRC, they were so bad, that at one point EEI started syndicating Imus in the morning drive slot, getting rid of sports. 
 
WBCN was running Stern rebroadcasts at night at that point (they had Charles Laquidara in the morning) and then at some point in the mid 90s Charles moved to ZLX, and Stern was on in the am.  He was crushing Imus, so WEEI went back to sports talk for the morning drive with D&C. 
 
I do not remember Ordway being on much (if at all) until the Big Show started.
 

dirtynine

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John Marzano Olympic Hero said:
I agree with this statement. The truth is a lot of these guys probably have political leanings closer to what Callahan does. I'm not sure who Fred Toucher votes for, but I'm pretty sure that he's a Libertarian and isn't too enamoured with our President right now*, but you would never know it because they don't really talk politics at all.
 
* And I don't want to get down a rat hole about what a Libertarian believes and what they don't believe. Safe to say, it's not the liberal agenda that many in Mass have.
 
I feel comfortable guessing that Toucher and Callahan have very little in common politically - maybe to the extent that their economic views have a bit of overlap, but on social politics it isn't even close.  Callahan, at his worst (when I listene in the mid '00s) just hated everything that wasn't a white, Gerry Callahan-shaped human being.  There is absolutely nothing hateful about Toucher (or Rich) or the vibe put out on the show they create.  Well, they do seem to hate phoniness and pageantry, but it never seems personal or vitriolic.  They seem to celebrate weirdness and being different, in fact.  D+C have always hated it and seemed threatened by it.  
 
Toucher likes whack-pack personalities like Adolfo, Mike "Behind the Mic" Callahan, and (going back a ways) Dungeon Master Jim.  All those people would make a guy like Callahan insane with real rage.
 
Aaanyway, good luck to Ordway.  I hope the Jonathan Kraft guy calls in one last time.
 

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Andelman hates Ordway (not sure if still does, but it wouldn't surprise me) because as the PM Ordway moved Andelman out of the afternoon drive time slot and into the mid-day slot with Dale Arnold. During the 90s there was a pretty strong rivalry between the Big Show and the A Team (Andelman and Arnold). The Big Show used to rip on Andelman pretty bad and used to give his kid shit (I think it was Mike) when he used to have a Saturday morning show. 
 
At the time Ordway and crew were kind of the under dogs doing different things and taking on the establishment, which was Andelman. The interesting thing is that Andelman took to an upstart pretty much the same way that Ordway is taking it now. 
 
Also, D&C were only on for two hours when they first started: 10:00 am to noon. To be honest, that was a pretty good show.

Edit: D9, good point on Toucher's social issues, I don't think he's as closed minded to people different from him as Callahan seems to be. I was referring to his economic views, though I sure that he doesn't like big government. I've heard him say as much on the air.
 

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Reminds me of how I felt when Hostess went out of business. I haven't enjoyed a Hostess cupcake or Twinkie or whatever in probably a decade, but holy crap, Hostess can go out of business?
 

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NortheasternPJ said:
Not having listened to WEEI much in a few years, god these callers are awful. The celebrity callers are awful, the normal callers are awful and how they manage callers is awful. Wait, I can't get mad because it's all theater and a sitcom according to Ordway. Woah ho! What fun! They make Mike in Attleboro or Manny in the Truck seem listenable.
You want unlistenable?  Ordway teamed with Janet Prensky when they first went all-sports: now that was unlistenable.  The gimmick was that she was to provide a woman's, non-sports fan perspective to sports.......except the show was on an all-sports station.  It wasn't that she took a contrary position to Glenn's, she just didn't know the very first thing about sports, and they billed it as a FRESH perspective for their listenters (I still don't know what demo they were aiming for with that gimmick.)
 
And you wanted to hope, because she was so horrible on-air, that she was at least hot looking, to kinda even things out.   She wasn't.........
 
EDIT: and has anyone mentioned that Ordway and company had a live in-house calypso band for a while, taking them in and out of commercials.  Jamba Jive, or something like that.  Yeah, that went over well. 
 

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dirtynine said:
I feel comfortable guessing that Toucher and Callahan have very little in common politically - maybe to the extent that their economic views have a bit of overlap, but on social politics it isn't even close.  Callahan, at his worst (when I listene in the mid '00s) just hated everything that wasn't a white, Gerry Callahan-shaped human being.  There is absolutely nothing hateful about Toucher (or Rich) or the vibe put out on the show they create.  Well, they do seem to hate phoniness and pageantry, but it never seems personal or vitriolic.  They seem to celebrate weirdness and being different, in fact.  D+C have always hated it and seemed threatened by it.  
 
Toucher likes whack-pack personalities like Adolfo, Mike "Behind the Mic" Callahan, and (going back a ways) Dungeon Master Jim.  All those people would make a guy like Callahan insane with real rage.
 
Aaanyway, good luck to Ordway.  I hope the Jonathan Kraft guy calls in one last time.
 
T&R are both determined to keep their views off the air, but Rich is 100% Republican. Fred I'd imagine is somewhere towards the middle based on the show and random comments but leans left.
 

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John Marzano Olympic Hero said:
I agree with this statement. The truth is a lot of these guys probably have political leanings closer to what Callahan does. I'm not sure who Fred Toucher votes for, but I'm pretty sure that he's a Libertarian and isn't too enamoured with our President right now*, but you would never know it because they don't really talk politics at all.
 
* And I don't want to get down a rat hole about what a Libertarian believes and what they don't believe. Safe to say, it's not the liberal agenda that many in Mass have.
 
Callahan's a prick. But he's an intelligent prick and paired with someone who gives a crap about sports and making a good show, an intelligent prick can turn into a lovable curmudgeon. The one thing that I never understood about Callahan is how someone who blew a Super Bowl for his high school can be so damn gleeful when another athlete screws up? You would think that there's some empathy there. 
 
 
You forget the part where Callahan's a terrible human being. He completely lacks empathy, like a Blade Runner replicant.
 

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H78 said:
Same here - I stopped listening to D+C before 98.5. I couldn't handle it anymore.
 
I used to listed to the 1510 Mike and Mike show before they went off the air. Then, I just turned to NPR.
 
D+C is terrible, I'm shocked they've been on for that long. Its a sports talk radio station and aside from a 8am call in from Brady or Boomer during football season its all about politics. You would think that Obama was a running back for the Patriots, I can't imagine the day that those two are still on the air and Brady is running for office...god help us all. Big O wore on me over the years but I'll forever be grateful for all of the good he did on the radio during the 90's. D+C should be thrown out on their asses, never met anyone other than angry old men that like those two. 
 

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mabrowndog said:
Sports Radio in Boston predates Ordway by decades. DECADES. Eddie Andelman on WHDH The Sports Huddle, long before the 850 AM frequency became WEEI (which used to be assigned to 590). Upton Bell & Bob Lobel hosted "Calling All Sports" on WBZ 1030. 
 ah 'Dog, Hi I'm Guy Manilla? 'bz 6-8  in the 70s then WITS where Ordway got his start
 
in my job i spend half my life in my car, and since TSH came on the air the only times I'd listen to 'eei was Sox games, Boomer & Brady on with D&C and BB  on Big Show... this thread has been refershing about when EEI was great with Gammo, Ryan, Manix, Hobson, Nellie, Radaz, etc on the Big Show.. the Globe Boycot toook a lot of the Talent away and we were left with Fred & Steve (and the endless plugs for their steakhouse) Bill Burt and Larry fucking Johnson
 I haven't listened in years on weekends, other then games, out of the fear that I might accidently come across Mustard and Johnson
 
'EEI got fat and lazy and once they had competition, they were the ones that couldn't compete. what Entercom should so is just blow it all up, simulcast ESPN from 850 on 93.7 and call it a day
 

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NortheasternPJ said:
 
T&R are both determined to keep their views off the air, but Rich is 100% Republican. Fred I'd imagine is somewhere towards the middle based on the show and random comments but leans left.
Well, it's obvious Rich is religious, but then, I get the impression that he's socially very progressive. Whether that aligns with the definition of "100% Republican" is a different thread.
 

mikeford

woolwich!
SoSH Member
Aug 6, 2006
29,517
St John's, NL
H78 said:
Yeah, Felger truly loves the sport of hockey. When he and Mazz are talking about it, just tune into Felger because he actually enjoys and knows the sport.
Well... he did say today that he wished the shootout would be in the playoffs instead of never ending sudden death OT... so, I'm not sure statement about this anymore.
 

Sampo Gida

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 7, 2010
5,044
Bobby V's revenge.
 
If WEEI thinks firing Ordway solves anything they have lost touch with reality.
 
Between the asswipes on D&C and the clown Mikey they are a joke.  Merloni is the only one worth listening to and he is saddled with a clown.
 
 

CoffeeNerdness

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 6, 2012
8,713
In Ordway's defense Andelman was fucking awful by the end of his A-Team run.  He was the worst Red Sox fan stereotype- a long suffering, self loathing, Yankee obsessed doofus who didn't know a thing about baseball.
 

Phenom

as if andy gresh and gary tanguay had a baby
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
998
The one moment that epitomizes Glenn Ordway and his brand of radio was the stunt where Mike Adams locked himself in the studio.   Ordway said numerous times today that he went in each day and “played radio.”  To paraphrase Ordway from The Boston Magazine piece years ago, on radio, people aren’t just “fat.”  They’re “enormous.”
 
Ordway viewed “The Big Show” as a sitcom that aired each day from 2-6 p.m.  Every co-host had a character, and almost every co-host was elevated from appearing on the show.  Hell, even Bill Burt from the Merrimack Valley was a big name in media around here for a few years.  And now, many of those guys (Burt, Larry Johnson, Butch Stearns) have fallen back down.  Like most sidekicks in a popular sitcom, they will forever be viewed as their previous character.  You can’t see Michael Richards without thinking about Kramer.  You can’t see Fred Smerlas without thinking, “stuttering-Patriots-fan–boy-bully.”
 
Talk radio, at its core, is entertainment.  These hosts aren’t journalists, they’re job isn’t to gather news.  They’re job is to get the highest ratings possible. 
 
Ordway was fired, and he admitted this today, because the show was failing in the ratings.  Why did Felger and Mazz surpass “The Big Show?”  It isn’t because they talked hockey.  Ordway eventually talked hockey too.  It’s because they were more entertaining than Ordway and his crew.
 
It sounds simple, and it is simple.  Ordway’s act got stale.  He couldn’t be remade with Holley, as he was indebted in his way of doing things. 
 
Ordway’s appeal was tied directly into “The Big Show’s” format.  Few, to my knowledge, listened to hear what Ordway specifically had to say about something.  That’s why Ordway probably took so many vacation days; the ratings didn’t suffer when he wasn’t on the show.

A lot of that can be attributed to WEEI not having legitimate competition until “The Sports Hub" came along.  They didn’t change for over a decade, because there was no reason to change.  When they did finally change, it was reactive, and the masses had already turned over to the more entertaining station.
 
This is a long-winded way of saying, “Glenn Ordway screwed Glenn Ordway.”  Felger and Mazz took an updated version of Ordway's schtick to the FM dial, and did it better than he ever could.  It was younger and hipper, but the biggest difference is, it was new.  Ordway and the same characters had been on the air for well over a decade.

Every sitcom eventually gets cancelled.  “The Big Show” just got cancelled. 



 
 

the1andonly3003

New Member
Jul 15, 2005
4,371
Chicago
WEEI would still be winning the midday battle if it was Dale and Lou, with Holley and Ordway from 2-6...Ordway would probably survive through his contract if WEEI didn't lose in all timeslots
 

Sille Skrub

Dope
Dope
SoSH Member
Mar 3, 2004
5,930
Massachusetts
It's been mentioned a few times, but how the f do Dennis and Callahan stay on, while Orway is fired? They are a bigger problem, IMO.

This is far from Jason Wolfe making a bold move. He fell asleep at the wheel while the Sports Hub passed him on the right.

It might be too little, too late for WEEI.
 

jsinger121

@jsinger121
SoSH Member
Jul 25, 2005
17,676
Sille Skrub said:
It's been mentioned a few times, but how the f do Dennis and Callahan stay on, while Orway is fired? They are a bigger problem, IMO.

This is far from Jason Wolfe making a bold move. He fell asleep at the wheel while the Sports Hub passed him on the right.

It might be too little, too late for WEEI.
D and C have air tight contracts that were pretty much renewed when NESN and WEEI were re-uppped. Once their contracts are up they too will be gone as likely as Mike Adams too.
 

Lose Remerswaal

Experiencing Furry Panic
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Omar's Wacky Neighbor said:
EDIT: and has anyone mentioned that Ordway and company had a live in-house calypso band for a while, taking them in and out of commercials.  Jamba Jive, or something like that.  Yeah, that went over well. 
 
I think one of the shows had the Bo Winiker orchestra, or one of their offshoots for awhile
 
Mustard's show started overnight in mid 1990.  Rebranding to 24/7 sports radio was about a year later, and I'm pretty sure Andy Moes was the original morning guy, as the lead guy with a few regulars.
 
Andelman had a general chat daily show on the station prior to the rebranding, I think it was called "Anything Goes".
 

Red(s)HawksFan

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 23, 2009
20,676
Maine
Phenom said:
Ordway’s appeal was tied directly into “The Big Show’s” format.  Few, to my knowledge, listened to hear what Ordway specifically had to say about something.  That’s why Ordway probably took so many vacation days; the ratings didn’t suffer when he wasn’t on the show.
 
I agree with this, that his success and appeal was the format of the show.  Where the show was at its best was Ordway moderating a discussion with beat guys, columnists and former athletes that could speak intelligently and with a bit of experience about the primary sport of the day.  In summer, it was having Sox beat guys and former Sox on the show.  In fall, it was having Pats beat guys and former Patriots on the show.  And so on.  The worst days were when they had cronies like LJ or generic TV talking head types like Burton and Stearns.  LJ is his own category since he brings nothing to the table...no experience playing a game, no experience covering a game.  But guys like Burton and Stearns were better suited to be moderating or hosting such a forum rather than be a panelist in a position to offer a strong argument.  I'm sure I'm not alone in that I often determined whether or not to listen exclusively based on who was on the show that day.  Burt and Burton...wouldn't bother.  McAdam and Buckley on a July Tuesday afternoon...I'm listening.
 
I thought after Felger and Mazz first went on the air, they tightened things up quite a bit on the Big Show.  There was less cronyism, and a bit more of the quality guests that brought something tangible to the table.  Where I might have been listening once a week at best, based on the guests, I found myself making a point of listening more often because the guest combos were improving.  Less LJ, more Curran and Bradford and Maxwell.  Continuing with that was going to make the "competition" with F&M a real one, I thought.  Then they blew it up by moving in Holley and booting Dale, and ruined the two shows that had the best shot to go toe-to-toe with the Hub.
 
I'll give Salk a shot, but I worry it's going to be more of the same.  A generic talking head without a lot of strong opinions or strong insights on the hot topics.  In baseball season, I'd rather hear guys who know and understand baseball talking rather than the same guys that are going to be butchering discussions about the Pats in the fall and the Bs/Cs in the winter.
 

NortheasternPJ

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 16, 2004
19,271
Red(s)HawksFan said:
I'll give Salk a shot, but I worry it's going to be more of the same.  A generic talking head without a lot of strong opinions or strong insights on the hot topics.  In baseball season, I'd rather hear guys who know and understand baseball talking rather than the same guys that are going to be butchering discussions about the Pats in the fall and the Bs/Cs in the winter.
 
You're pretty accurately describing the Gresh & Zo problem. (Outside of GRESH!) they're not bad during football / bruins season, but during Sox season it's brutal radio.