RIP Toucher and Rich Show ... It was fun while it lasted

JCizzle

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Dec 11, 2006
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You can tell that Fred would be more than happy to for RJ to take over permanently. He and Rich praised him for a great job he did on his last day Wednesday.
When RJ pulled out the lobster bottom feeder reference out of nowhere this week I became fully sold.
 

Mahkis Smaht

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Feb 15, 2023
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Wallach seems like a nice guy, he's just not a very interesting guy....and he's captain obvious.
I know where you're coming from but I think it's a bit harsh. I like Wallach's voice (more than Rich's, actually), his personality, and most of his sports takes. What I don't like is when he decides in advance what he's going to talk about and fires off while Rich or Fred have a banter going. Dan Roche said something like "we'll we back with Fred and his interpreter Wallach..." after Wallach interjected "Connecticut!" during the rehab segment. I didn't think it was that bad but I get the sense that even Roche wants to hear more from Fred and less from Wallach. I really liked that rehab segment by the way, one of my favorites in a long time. Roche doing the fake breaks was hilarious to me. He was really cranked up.
 

dirtynine

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Call me crazy, but base what all the times Fred has said about Nick's baby article, it seems like Fred can't take a joke.
Similar to how he’s constantly complaining about nobody “apologizing” to him because he said the Pats were wrong to go big in free agents two years ago. He can’t let it go. (He’s also not right, not yet anyway - the Pats may well pull off a rebuild without winning less than 8 games in any season, and the Jets who did it “the right way” may continue to underachieve.) I know it’s a bit but it’s annoying that nobody on the show pushes back on stuff like that.
 

hube

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Apr 4, 2010
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They're brutal on Pats talk right now. Part of it is that nothing of note is really happening around the team, part of it is the hosts stink on football in general. I immediately checked out and flipped over to Sirius this morning when they started teasing the owner's meeting discussion. It's not even that they're negative, it's just so boring to hear the same few points relitigated over and over.

I'm glad I tuned back in for the wedding vows and the Gorman call (not particularly insightful but always entertaining).
 

Rusty13

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Nov 3, 2007
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Similar to how he’s constantly complaining about nobody “apologizing” to him because he said the Pats were wrong to go big in free agents two years ago. He can’t let it go. (He’s also not right, not yet anyway - the Pats may well pull off a rebuild without winning less than 8 games in any season, and the Jets who did it “the right way” may continue to underachieve.) I know it’s a bit but it’s annoying that nobody on the show pushes back on stuff like that.
They had Mark Daniels on last week, who calmly destroyed Fred's take and got Fred to sort of back down...only to go right back to the same take later on after Mark hung up. Wallach pretty much gobbles it up too.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Nov 16, 2004
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They had Mark Daniels on last week, who calmly destroyed Fred's take and got Fred to sort of back down...only to go right back to the same take later on after Mark hung up. Wallach pretty much gobbles it up too.
I agree, it's so tired. There's a ton of things to actively complain about the Patriots about but this Fred's take on "doing a rebuild the right way" is awful. I don't know why he's doubled down on this point. There's at least 5 other areas where the Patriots have screwed things up, the FA class wasn't good, but it is not at the top of my list.

Stealing this post from DotB.

The Raiders have played in one playoff game (2016 loss) since 2002.
The Broncos haven't been to the playoffs since they won a SB with Manning in 2015
The Cardinals have been to the playoffs once since 2015, loss in 2021 WC.
The Falcons lost to the Pats in the SB in 2016, won a WC game in 2017, and haven't been back since.
The Ravens have won one playoff game since 2014
The Panthers haven't won a playoff game since their SB loss in 2015
The Bears haven't won a playoff game since 2010
The Browns won a WC game in 2020. Their last playoff win before that was against the Pats in 1994
The Cowboys make the playoffs, win a WC game here and there, and haven't made it to a Conference Champ since 1995
The Lions haven't won a playoff game since 1991
The Packers, with a surefire, HOF QB haven't been in a SB since 2010
The Texans have won 2 WC games since 2012
The Colts have won one playoff game (WC) since 2014
The Jags have won 3 playoff games (2 in one season) since 2007
The Chargers have won 3 playoff games, all WC games, since 2007
The Dolphins haven't won a playoff game since 2000.
The Vikings have won 2 playoff games since 2009
The Saints haven't made the playoffs since Brees retired either.
The Giants have won one playoff game (this year, WC) since the 2011 SB against the Pats
The Jets haven't been to the playoffs since 2010
The Steelers haven't won a playoff game since 2016
The Seahawks have won one playoff game (WC) since 2016
Without Brady, the Bucs hadn't won a playoff game since 2002
The Titans have won 3 playoff games (2 WC wins) since 2003
The Commanders haven't won a playoff game since 2005
 

RedOctober3829

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Jul 19, 2005
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deep inside Guido territory
BB’s seat should be warm though. 1 game under .500 since 2020, no quality wins outside of the windstorm in Buffalo, under .500 in multiple years, a mostly bad FA spending spree after 2020, a disaster of a job with the coaching staff last year. Just as BB tells everybody the past is the past, same with him too.
 

8slim

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Nov 6, 2001
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I'm surprised he hasn't asked Nick to donate his throat to him yet. A doc could do it outpatient while Nick hangs pictures in Fred's house.
 

8slim

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Is it just me or does the show really struggle without Fred? Rich is great at what he does, but he struggles when he has to run the whole ship.
I actually think Rich has improved in terms of leading the show. Unfortunately, it's become a fairly common thing in the past few months. And when he has a strong 2nd chair -- like Ryan Johnston -- or a good hour-long guest like Bert Breer today -- the show can be pretty good.
 

bigq

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Jul 15, 2005
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I’m starting to think Fred does not like Nick after hearing last week’s and today’s segments. Also, his voice sounds fantastic! Lol
Yeah being a dick to the people who help you is not a good look. I tuned in for a few minutes around 7 AM this morning to hear Fred pulling Nick into the studio to talk about an angry text he got from Nick over the weekend. Fred repeatedly called Nick dumb, indicated that Nick should not be feeling the way he was feeling and then made fun of him for taking a day off to take care of his baby while his wife was sick. Some of his commentary may have been tongue in cheek but all of it was cringe inducing bad. For a moment I thought I was listening to Minihane. Maybe Fred and Nick patched things up but I did not stick around to find out.
 

VamonosPests54

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Sep 21, 2016
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Yeah being a dick to the people who help you is not a good look. I tuned in for a few minutes around 7 AM this morning to hear Fred pulling Nick into the studio to talk about an angry text he got from Nick over the weekend. Fred repeatedly called Nick dumb, indicated that Nick should not be feeling the way he was feeling and then made fun of him for taking a day off to take care of his baby while his wife was sick. Some of his commentary may have been tongue in cheek but all of it was cringe inducing bad. For a moment I thought I was listening to Minihane. Maybe Fred and Nick patched things up but I did not stick around to find out.
Rich jumped in and defused the situation.
 

Granite Sox

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I don’t know if Rich defused it, but he certainly defended Nick.

When Rich called a halt to it, Fred said, “So… now we have three minutes [of a 10 minute segment] to figure out what to do.”

Rich didn’t let him off the hook: “It was angry. And it was weird. And I don’t like angry and weird.” Rich also said that Beasley had Nick under pressure to generate clicks on the website in addition to being part of the production crew, so he (Nick) was re-tweeting the baby article to try and generate traffic, not to irritate Fred.

Fred’s always the victim, even when he dismisses his asshole behavior as just “radio”. He was a colossal douche and it wasn’t remotely amusing.
 

JCizzle

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On the plus side, Nick managed to speak through a segment without falling all over himself. The kid is growing before our eyes.
 

8slim

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That segment was shit radio.

“Manifest it on Twitter…”? Fred is so far up his own ass, using therapy words like that.

Fred’s really becoming a tough listen (when he even shows up). He can still kill when he wants — his bit about J Stew reviewing WrestleMania was hysterical. But he’s just annoying and weird way too often these days.
 

Rusty13

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I missed it today and notice Hours 3 and 4 of the show are not being posted on podcast, but apparently there was all sorts of behind-the-scenes drama being brought to the air by Fred today?
 

JCizzle

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I missed it today and notice Hours 3 and 4 of the show are not being posted on podcast, but apparently there was all sorts of behind-the-scenes drama being brought to the air by Fred today?
Basically Rich handles all the boring corporate/management stuff. Reading between the lines, Nick's job is probably under pressure and it's not quite as funny to him anymore when Fred lays into him on the air as he has for years. He didn't know that because Rich took care of it with Beasley. In turn, Rich is stressed because it's chaos with everyone out.

My takeaway is that Beasley is an awful company to work for. Either that or J-Stew is pulling the strings and it's all a work.
 
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yeahlunchbox

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Jan 21, 2008
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I really don't understand what Beasley is doing. You need to make cuts? Fine, it sucks for the people involved, but take a hatchet to the things losing you money/things that aren't as profitable. But why on Earth are they dicking around with 98.5 when they're doing so well in such a big market?
 

Patriot_Reign

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Apr 21, 2011
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I really don't understand what Beasley is doing. You need to make cuts? Fine, it sucks for the people involved, but take a hatchet to the things losing you money/things that aren't as profitable. But why on Earth are they dicking around with 98.5 when they're doing so well in such a big market?
Felger talked about this a bit after the last round of layoffs. Basically they can't be doing any better with regards to ratings, but the company said if they didn't figure out how to make more money then more cuts were coming. Pretty wild.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Basically Rich handles all the boring corporate/management stuff. Reading between the lines, Nick's job is probably under pressure and it's not quite as funny to him anymore when Fred lays into him on the air as he has for years. He didn't know that because Rich took care of it with Beasley. In turn, Rich is stressed because it's chaos with everyone out.

My takeaway is that Beasley is an awful company to work for. Either that or J-Stew is pulling the strings and it's all a work.
Between Fred’s personal life and his voice, the Lockhart bullshit, Wallach being gone constantly, Nick being out with a baby and other shit going on it must suck right now and that’s what we know about. You want to go on and entertain people and there’s a pile of factors interfering.

Beasley does seem pretty bad.
 

dirtynine

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Fred issues aside ("Nobody tells me what's going on" is lame), is there any doubt that if the T&R team just picked up and moved to another station, they'd be #1 in the market pretty much instantly? Does Beasley seriously not get that?
 

joe dokes

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Jul 18, 2005
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Fred issues aside ("Nobody tells me what's going on" is lame), is there any doubt that if the T&R team just picked up and moved to another station, they'd be #1 in the market pretty much instantly? Does Beasley seriously not get that?
Just speaking in pure generalities here, but the issue for an entity like Beasley is likely to be money and only money. My understanding is that these guys are well-paid. If 98.5 could finish 5th in the ratings - or 50th -- but make more money because they're paying the talent minimum wage, they'd do it in a heartbeat.
 

Patriot_Reign

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Deep down I wonder how Rich feels about the whole thing. Dude seems to put so much work into bits and production stuff, while Fred just shows up for the show and is often a moody grump.
 

8slim

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1) Every media company sucks to work for these days. They're all laying people off en masse, cutting budgets, piling up hours on people, and just generally creating a toxic environment. Beasely sounds like they're among the worst of a terrible lot.

2) Fred has become flat out awful. The lack of awareness, empathy and appreciation he exhibited in those 13 minutes is appalling. That it ended with Rich having to say "this is why I don't tell you things" sums it up.

Like I said yesterday, when Fred shows up, is engaged, and tries, the show can be amazing. But those instances are rarer and rarer. If he's there but being an idiot, I'd rather listen to Rich and Ryan Johnston.
 

VamonosPests54

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Sep 21, 2016
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It was mentioned on Twitter, but this feels like the Opie & Anthony show near the end.
O&A literally hated each other. Opie is a notorious sneaky piece of shit. What you have here is a cheap company making idiotic decisions affecting a very good product and causing a toxic workplace. Beasley’s fault.

Also - I really think Fred should go on short-term disability and take as much time he needs to heal his voice. Roll with Rich, Wallach and have a rotating 3rd chair (Lockhart. RJ. Joe Murray. Fuck, even Sarge.)
 
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Granite Sox

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Feb 6, 2003
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Not only that, but Rich, Dan, Mike, and Nick all have to compensate for Fred’s erratic behavior. Fred using the “not my fault” defense is clueless and I’d be infuriated if I was anyone other than Wallach.
 

JCizzle

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Dec 11, 2006
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The show falling apart after all its success because someone wants to deal more with corporate middle management would be…sad? Hilarious? Definitely not a twist I saw coming.