Local Sports Radio

Submitted by 2Blue4You on
First I'd like to applaud 1050 WTKA for adding two new show of local Michigan content to their midweek lineup. Great to have an option other than the Ticket. With 105.1 changing formats it had me wondering about where you go from there when you are canned or laid off from such a niche profession. I thought Tom Mazawey, Mark Fellhauer, Drew Lane were great local personalities. I assume Drew is settling nicely into retirement, but Tom and Mark are younger with kids. Other guys who were cut loose who were not as endearing in my mind were Dery (Valenti wannabe, bad career move by him?),Drew Sharp (deceased), Sean Belagian (Sparty but mostly fair), Lindsey Hunter (ok, nice enough and prob has enough money), etc. Also, is Foster on sabbatical or what? Good riddance IMO, but I'd think he'd miss his puppeteer Mike. Cheers, enjoy this fall weather before Saturday before Harbaugh et. al get back to winning with cooooold cruelty.
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ijohnb

November 17th, 2016 at 9:02 AM ^

don't think he will come back. Reager has improved the show and is genuinely funny, and from what I understand Foster and Valenti could do without each other. My guess is that he will make appearances but will no longer be a "headliner" going forward.

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ijohnb

November 17th, 2016 at 9:17 AM ^

has been rumored for years. Valenti apparently is not crazy about the caller based format and does not think Foster really has the depth of knowledge to really contribute in terms of substance. I don't have any "inside" info but it was commonly discussed among radio folk a while back. They occasionally discuss it on the air in a "half-serious way."

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freelion

November 17th, 2016 at 8:52 AM ^

They had a great lineup of local talent that covered a full array of opinions and styles.  Whether it was Stoney and the Man, the Sports Doctors, Van Earl & Jennifer Hammond and their many other combinations, it was always heavy sports content and entertaining in those early days. Unfortunately sports talk radio in Michigan has faded to be mostly a few Sparty blowhards except for WTKA and the Huge show on the west side of the state.

I also applaud WTKA for having more local content.  I turn the channel when I hear Jim Rome, Colin Cowherd, or any of the national sports network shows. They are just too focused on New York and LA.

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uncle leo

November 17th, 2016 at 9:01 AM ^

With their radio selections. But when 105.1 was rolled out, they instantly converted me over from 97.1. I really enjoyed the morning show banter with Sean, Mark, Maz. The afternoon show with Rico and Ryan was fantastic, for whatever reason I loved all of their games and conversations about football. Matt Dery could hold his own show. I was completely bummed when they pulled the station off the air.

97.1 morning is tolerable at best. Afternoon has been stale for about 6 years now. Valenti, hate him or not, is entertaining as hell. And for some reason, I think him and Riger work better than Foster. After that, there is not much else redeeming on the network.

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skurnie

November 17th, 2016 at 10:19 AM ^

Difficult for me to listen to as well. Seems like a good guy, Michigan Homer (which I know he plays up when on the show with Valenti) but yeesh. 

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ijohnb

November 17th, 2016 at 9:08 AM ^

is kind of the Mcdonalds of local sports radio. The ticket exists but does not attempt to challenge 97.1 for supremacy. 105.1 went all in be the new big thing and got smacked down. Drew Sharp was not a wise idea either for them. (Not hating, may he RIP.

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ldevon1

November 17th, 2016 at 9:43 AM ^

105.1 never developed an audience because they never really decided whether they were sports talk or just talk in general. Drew was entertaining, but they bounced around so much, it was hard to follow. The Terry and Mike talk is typical of any radio show. Drew and Mike "supposedly" never got along. They get along as well as most people who work together every day, and have a different opinion on things. Rieger is good with Valente, because he has a MIchigan slant to his daily "takes".  Foster just goes with the flow and lets MIke take the lead. I personally like Reiger better, but the ultimate deciding factor will be ratings. Are they up or down in Fosters absence? Who knows. I only like talk radio when my teams are doing well. Typically I listen to Howard Stern. 

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DrunkOnHiggins

November 17th, 2016 at 11:00 AM ^

My take on Valenti has always been, (IMO) he's more entertaining than he is annoying which is why I still listen. I have not listened for a minute this week for obvious reasons. 

I did completely switch to 105.1 for a while but then Drew left and it just wasn't the same. I always liked Drew and Mark because they went until 7pm which is an hour after Valenti and Foster went off.

Such is life.

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Phil Brickma

November 17th, 2016 at 9:13 AM ^

This is just my opinion, so don't read into it like I'm shitting on people who disagree with me, but I gave up sports radio like five years ago and it's one of the best decisions I've ever made. 

I much prefer podcasts that provide a more on-demand nature and there's so much quality content on just about every relevant topic that you always have something good available to listen to.

Podcasts > local sports talk >>> national sports talk

NOTE: I like Sam and Ira and occasionally will check out some of their segments via podcast -- including the MGoBlog roundtable -- but I never hear them live.

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Magnus

November 17th, 2016 at 9:59 AM ^

I've always hated sports talk radio. I will turn on "Mike and Mike" sometimes if I'm writing or otherwise doing things around the house, just for background noise. But I've never sat in a car listening to sports radio. Usually, it's filled with idiots screaming who have no idea about sports, and they're usually too much of homers to give unbiased opinions.

I do listen to the WTKA podcasts sometimes, and they're obviously homers, but it's because I want information about Michigan, not opinions.

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bluewings

November 17th, 2016 at 9:58 AM ^

Moved away from Michigan over a year ago. Would always listen to sports radio. Was in Detroit for the gnr concert and 105 was playing music. Made me a bit sad. Now when I'm in AA Friday before a game I just listen to 97.1. Bubba is best morning radio show in the morning though



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Stay.Classy.An…

November 17th, 2016 at 10:04 AM ^

not a popular opinion. But, I did not like Drew Lane doing sports talk. I always felt Marc and Maz had a deeper knowledge of sports (that weren't baseball, Drew always kills baseball talk). The falling out (so I have read on the interwebz) came because Drew wanted to do more of his city of Detroit, state of Michigan news stories that have nothing to do with sports. I love Drew and Drew and Mike was by far the best radio show I have ever listened to. Dave and Chuck are just awful, I've tried, I just can't do it. I digress, you can't have a SPORTS radio show constantly talking about Detroit city council or how a woman in Romeo was suing the city for people letting their dogs poop in her yard (random example of a story Drew and Mike would follow up on). It was never going to work and it didn't. 

 

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ijohnb

November 17th, 2016 at 10:41 AM ^

7 to 10 on 1130 AM.  It is a nice break from the "forced disagreements" and bickering of the two person format.  He just talks sports and takes calls, and actually responds to the callers with content and gives callers a chance to respond.  Sometimes insightful callers can get like a full segment Q & A as though they are a "guest."  If you don't want to hear any of the hysterics of the typical Detroit show, he is pretty good.  Lots of Pistons and Lions talk, a little less Tigers and Wings.  He will talk college sports but only when there is good reason for it, not like "Is Michigan back" or other stupid topics that you hear on other stations.

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LSAClassOf2000

November 17th, 2016 at 10:05 AM ^

I believe the sudden absence of Terry Foster is health-related - as I recall, he suffered a mild stroke in early August and has been recovering since then. Supposedly (heard from someone I know in Detroit radio), he was going to be back in October but obviously this didn't happen, so I assume that there may have been a setback or the recovery is going slower than anticipated. There is still talk of a return though. 

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Don

November 17th, 2016 at 10:10 AM ^

Except for the brief period back in the '90s when Frank Beckmann had the original SportsWrap show on WJR, I've always found Detroit sports talk worthless. The few times I would catch Stoney and Wojo while commuting to downtown Detroit they'd be blathering about their favorite sprinkle colors on doughnuts.

Hasn't mattered since I only really give a shit about UM sports, and I've been a daily listener to WTKA since back in the mid-90s when Doug Karsch was the lead guy. There's been no better broadcast source for UM stuff anywhere in that time.

The only nationally syndicated guy I've ever liked is Steve Czaban, who was carried in the afternoons or evenings for a while on WTKA; I think it might have been during his stint with One on One Sports from Chicago. I thought he was hilarious.

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Mitchamaniac

November 17th, 2016 at 10:17 AM ^

Terry Foster had a stroke which he's waiting for his health to get better to return. He was supposed to be back in October however his recovery has been slow. He's been on Twitter numerous times he's waiting on good news from the doctor to be able to return.



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Bluegriz

November 17th, 2016 at 1:33 PM ^

Every time I listen to Shawn Beligian I feel like he insults my intelligence: "You know that right?" "I shouldn't have to tell you ..." "Stop, just stop".  Regardless of the topic or point of view, this is how he speaks every day. Passive aggressive. Such a polar opposite from someone like Sam Webb who is energetic, realistic, articulate, professional, etc.  Am I being too harsh on him or have others noticed this too?

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ijohnb

November 17th, 2016 at 1:50 PM ^

came about when The Fan was in its prime, and he was genuinely good for a couple of years.  When he came back from Grand Rapids and was on 105.1 I thought I would give him another go.  Man, he was really, really bad.  Not sure what happenned there.

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