How bad is 97.1?
I was perfectly content watching a couple of great Monday Night Football games when I decided I would piss myself off and wander over to the website for 97.1 The Ticket. Unfortunately I go to medical school at Wayne State and have to drive downtown to Henry Ford Hospital everyday. The ride home often takes way too long and I find myself listening to sports radio in an effort to raise my blood pressure and pass the time. Most of the time I am lucky enough to miss the worst radio personality of all time (Pat Caputo) but I did manage to find this beauty of a quote on the 97.1 website tonight.
"The Rich Rodriguez plot at Michigan keeps getting thicker by the day. New reports are he is delinquent on a loan payment for a condo project in Virginia. It just keeps adding up. What are the odds of Rich Rod coaching U-M past this season? My best guess is they were really good before the past few days. Now, I’d put them about 50-50. They'll go down much further if the Wolverines lose to Western Michigan Saturday."
What is your opinion on the crew of 97.1? Are the likes of Terry Foster and the aforementioned Caputo as terrible as Synder and Rosenberg? Am I a bad person for listening to that station?
"The Rich Rodriguez plot at Michigan keeps getting thicker by the day. New reports are he is delinquent on a loan payment for a condo project in Virginia. It just keeps adding up. What are the odds of Rich Rod coaching U-M past this season? My best guess is they were really good before the past few days. Now, I’d put them about 50-50. They'll go down much further if the Wolverines lose to Western Michigan Saturday."
What is your opinion on the crew of 97.1? Are the likes of Terry Foster and the aforementioned Caputo as terrible as Synder and Rosenberg? Am I a bad person for listening to that station?
September 14th, 2009 at 11:07 PM ^
Before anyone even comments, the guy is short on points. It can be moved to the board later.
September 14th, 2009 at 11:11 PM ^
didn't see the admonishment.
September 14th, 2009 at 11:13 PM ^
Yeah, I tried to get to it as quick as I could, but it happens. It's already been moved, FWIW.
September 15th, 2009 at 4:22 PM ^
so you cant post a diary unless you have a certain amount of points?
September 14th, 2009 at 11:09 PM ^
They have very tough jobs. I am positive if I had to speak authoritatively on the radio 5 or 6 nights a week, I would be universally hated.
September 14th, 2009 at 11:09 PM ^
isnt that like a 2 week old quote? who cares anymore, just let it die...and no youre not a bad person, i listen to valenti and foster almost everyday, today was particularly entertaining, boom ba yay brotha! they kept playing a clip of an announcer saying "lafevre lafevre lafevre" at valenti, it was hilarious
September 14th, 2009 at 11:09 PM ^
if you end a minimally short "diary" with a question, it is better posted as a Board entry. No offense. I agonized about whether to post my game day observations as a diary. I opted for a diary because it was my own thoughts/analysis on the ND game. Even then, I questioned if it really should be a diary. Just my two cents. And for Christ sake, nobody is a bad person for listening to a radio station. You do have independent thought processes, right?
September 15th, 2009 at 4:21 PM ^
Surprising as it may sound, I am able to formulate rational conclusions without outside input. There is a literary technique designated the "rhetorical question," you may have seen it used before.
September 14th, 2009 at 11:18 PM ^
was actually pretty cool today about the events of the weekend. Still miss Stoney and Wojo though.
September 14th, 2009 at 11:25 PM ^
the Stoney and Wojo show - I was very sad when that got the ax.
September 14th, 2009 at 11:18 PM ^
I go to med school at CHM and no longer get the station. This is good (no ridiculous Valenti comments) and bad (no ridiculous Valenti comments). However, the worst part is the fact that I have to listen to the Huge show whenever I want sports, or the East Coast slobknobbing that is ESPN radio.
But to get to your point, 97.1 can only spin their wheels all day talking about the same rehashed news. It's bound to get old, even for the radio personalities. And since most of them are also newspaper reporters, they are in an awkward position to not break someone else's story or steal their quotes, etc.
September 15th, 2009 at 11:02 AM ^
I am a huge Detroit sports fan. I have always been a Tigers fan and have always been a Lions fan. For the Pistons and Red Wings, I am indifferent. I listen to it all the time because they talk about topics I care about.
It starts with Jay and Bill in the mornings. They always have good topics. They talk about sports as well as economic issues. They do a great job of keeping you interested. They also have the offbeat stuff that is hilarious like that d-bags phone call.
Karsch and Anderson are good too. They give their listeners and callers a long leash. They have the champ and chump of the week which is funny. Its the perfect combination of sports and humor.
Valenti and Foster, I always listen to. I have been listening to them for years. While most people don't like Valenti, the guy knows his sports. He dished it when Michigan lost to Toledo, and today he took it from Michigan fans giving him crap. If you want insightful sports talk, Valenti and Foster are the way to go.
Caputo and Fithian, I don't listen to. If you listen carefully, after every caller, Caputo will say "well I don't know". They are just fillers when nobody is listening.
Overall, 97.1 is a great station. Its always entertaining listening to all of those guys (minus Caputo).
September 14th, 2009 at 11:46 PM ^
Check out 1130 The Fan they are back with a local lineup (except Rome at noonish). I enjoy Ryan Ermanni in the late morning...he is a UofM grad and enjoy his show.
September 15th, 2009 at 12:41 AM ^
That's awesome! I interned at Fox 2 Detroit in the sports department in the fall of 2002, and he worked there on the weekends as a producer. Really a nice guy, and the kind of guy everyone gets along with. I don't live in Southeastern MI anymore, but I'm glad to see he's doing his thing on the radio. I know he was working for a Toledo tv station while also producing at Fox 2 when I was there. I didn't always agree with his opinions, but it's good to see him doing well. Take it from me: I'm kind of an asshole, and he's a likeable guy. I hope he's solid on the radio. And yeah, I think he's a 2001 UM grad; definitely true blue. He grew up in Grosse Pointe.
Oh, and on a different note: Woody Woodruff was fucking hilarious off the air. Completely different than his on-air personality. Funny in an "I'm a cocky asshole and I say over-the-top shit" kind of way. I remember being completely shocked to see his "real" personality vs. his "on air" personality. Said the cockiest shit I'd ever heard, but said so in a way that just made you bust out laughing. Like in an Ari Gold kind of way. Seriously.
September 14th, 2009 at 11:48 PM ^
I actually enjoy 97.1, most of the hosts come off as enjoyable people, and its an interesting forum for the general population to get their opinions heard. Yeah, some of them are a little irritating sometime, but most anyone talking that much would be, and you can't hold being a fan against someone. However, Caputo is a complete boob. He knows zero about sports in the modern era and completely disregards the scientific method. One particular instance sticks out, while discussing former NBA players not having much success, Fithian asked him to name 5 good players who where also good Gm's. Caputo responded "Jerry west, Jerry west, Jerry west, Jerry west, Jerry west", because he is a 3 year old on the inside. He's like detroits personal Joe Morgan.
September 15th, 2009 at 4:17 PM ^
He has the mentality of all those old baseball beat writers, where they hearken back to the days of Mickey Mantle and when everything was right in the world. Just because you have been a bad sportswriter for the majority of the life does not make your faulty reasoning any superior. He has no grip on the reality of modern sports and is the most frustrating person in the world to listen to.
September 15th, 2009 at 12:00 AM ^
I listened to WDFN and Ticket since their early days, and I can honestly say THANK GOD for podcasts and Sirius radio. Those shows are not informative, they are like "Today" show for a certain segment of society. I might listen if they had shows specific to sports or teams, or if they offered insight. (I do enjoy Caputo's thoughts on the Tigers, but he drives me nuts with college football talk).
I've learned more from one season on THIS site than I've taken from 10+ years of twenty to forty hours of Detroit sportstalk radio.
September 15th, 2009 at 1:10 AM ^
i dont got a problem with the show like jay and bill, karsch and anderson, and also sparty lacky valenti and foster are good but caputo is a two face condensending host like last week when sparty lacky velenti and doug and terry foster was takin crap for pickin michigan over notre dame they never back down where as pat caputo went to game on saturday was talkin to the fans try to blend in but before game time he took notre dame and the next day a guy called him out on that pick and hung up on him its sad to say i got respect for valenti then pat hes a fake fan and host
September 15th, 2009 at 4:48 AM ^
Yeah. Okay.
September 15th, 2009 at 4:49 AM ^
double post. I guess I was stunned by the writing talents of steve
September 15th, 2009 at 9:32 AM ^
Reading your posts (just noticed that the diary entry seems to have been deleted) is painful.
Please take the time to organize your thoughts, use punctuation, capitalization, and clear sentences.
September 15th, 2009 at 7:36 AM ^
Since the WTKA "listen live" website option isn't always live (for example, I sat through close to ten minutes of commercials last night before realizing that there wasn't going to be any actual content), I try to listen to the Michigan Insider podcasts as often as possible. They are always fun.
September 15th, 2009 at 8:52 AM ^
Coverage is a bit spotty outside of Ann Arbor but Sam Webb is on in the morning and the afternoon is a grab bag of hosts - John U Bacon is usually Mondays and is good, the others are just OK but they do focus on Michigan. I like Karsh and Anderson at 97.1 late morning early afternoon. I miss Stoney and Wojo and Dennis Fithian on WTKA in the afternoons. I don't like Mike Valenti's style so I won't listen to him.
September 15th, 2009 at 12:39 PM ^
I go to med school at Wayne too. You must be a M3.
September 15th, 2009 at 4:12 PM ^
Where is your clinical campus this year?