OT: Last LeBatard Show on ESPN
For those of you who listened to LeBatard over the years, today is his last show on ESPN.
It is crazy to think that this show started in 2004- was a mainstay in sports radio. I know a lot of people around here aren't big into sports talk, but this was the best national show on radio, bar none. While I was living on my own, their show got me through a lot of difficult times with the humor they provided after a shitty work day.
I hope they end up landing on Sirius or some other platform. ESPN decided they were much too "risky" for sports radio and decided to add more Greenberg (yay). There's no more room for creativity on regular networks- that's why guys like LeBatard are pushed to the fringes and have to start their own companies.
January 4th, 2021 at 10:55 AM ^
Best show because it wasn't a lame ass sports talk radio show. Assume they'll land on their feet and succeed elsewhere and I'll certainly be there listening. Espn is dying a slow death. Recycled, boring takes on the airwaves is better for them apparently.
January 4th, 2021 at 10:57 AM ^
I started to get nervous when they took an hour away from the show and then pulled them off the TV broadcast.
I hope they get on Sirius somewhere and they don't have to deal with any filters.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:01 AM ^
Agreed ESPN shows are either boring ass Greeny or people yelling at each other for an hour. The only shows that I watch on ESPN are Jalen & Jacoby and Highly Questionable and I'll still watch it but it won't be the same without Dan & Papi
January 4th, 2021 at 11:31 AM ^
ESPN has been dying a slow death ever since Kilborn left Sportcenter.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:36 AM ^
I bet they could get him back pretty cheap.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:53 AM ^
Possibly, but that would mean that ESPN would be changing its whole model to providing entertaining, informative coverage in lieu of being my bro. Not sure that's in the cards.
January 5th, 2021 at 2:20 AM ^
+1 for Kilborn reference. That's back when (at least to me as a kid) SportsCenter was enjoyable. It's been unwatchable for some time now.
January 4th, 2021 at 12:05 PM ^
You mean Dan and Doug from Des Moines?
January 4th, 2021 at 9:35 PM ^
Entertaining show, but let’s be honest, LeBatard didn’t know a lot about sports and wasn’t very insightful. Still better than most of the crap on ESPN.
January 4th, 2021 at 10:57 AM ^
The show long ago became far too interesting to survive on ESPN. Better days ahead I'm sure.
January 4th, 2021 at 10:58 AM ^
Getting let go by ESPN is a blessing IMO
January 4th, 2021 at 10:59 AM ^
Mad Dog Radio would be a nice landing spot, but they have a packed daytime lineup.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:00 AM ^
Very good show. That's a shame. That group was great. Kind of shocking except he wasn't a dutiful follower of the ESPN rules. That is what was great about him and that crew.
Living in West Michigan you have ESPN or Huge. ESPN's morning show is horrible radio. It's like purgatory. I'm not in my car enough to buy satellite radio. Likely follow the path of Jim Rome, only actually quality radio.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:12 AM ^
Our local sports shows are the worst I've ever heard in all the places I've lived or visited. Major sparty slant on all programming and Huge is just a giant idiot. Podcasts of your favorite teams and sports is the way to go. Unless it's the Ace Pod.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:20 AM ^
I find the Ace Pod to be heavy on the feelings side. The last time I listened, he and his two friends described the feelings they had after the latest football loss and how they needed help to sort through it all. WTF? Is that really how 20-somethings talk/think?
Get off my grass, youngster...
January 4th, 2021 at 11:57 AM ^
That shouldn't surprise you.
January 4th, 2021 at 2:28 PM ^
He’s in his mid 30s.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:26 AM ^
I had kind of a love-hate relationship with Big Drew & Jim. They had a lot of terrible takes, but I thought they were better than anything on national ESPN radio. I was bummed when their show got canceled.
January 4th, 2021 at 7:08 PM ^
Our local sports shows are the worst I've ever heard in all the places I've lived or visited.
Your station at least sounds like you could laugh at it. Try listening to a geriatric ramble incoherently about the Cincinnati Reds.
Since my commute times have changed and I can no longer listen to LeBatard, sports radio is dead to me. On the morning commute, I can listen to racist Clay Travis or some local yahoos. On the way home it’s hot-take Doug Gotleib or the Reds guy. I just listen to NPR now.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:01 AM ^
What? I honestly don’t watch espn much anymore, but when I did, it was to watch the afternoon block of shows starting with Highly Questionable. It was alone worth watching to see Dan’s papi rap during commercial breaks while everybody tried not to laugh. What a shame. PTI is about all that’s left aside from college football games. That reminds me, time to cancel the Hulu cable.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:04 AM ^
Between ESPN losing LeBatard and sending Katie Nolan into the abyss to live out her contract in silence from her couch (They had her sign a deal then fired her friend/producer of her show right after without her knowledge). ESPN has lost some of its finest talent. The common thread? Both were edgy and weren't Greenbergs.
However, I figured LeBatard's days were numbered after the Manfred interview. He also wasn't afraid to mention that he was lower on the pecking order of ESPN personalities.
I'll miss Papi.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:06 AM ^
I don't know how anyone liked this show. His breathy, fake laugh while saying something not funny at all is unbearable.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:17 AM ^
It's not for everyone. It is for me and many others and obviously not for you.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:51 AM ^
Agreed. to be fair I don't really like any sports shows except Dan Patrick
January 4th, 2021 at 7:12 PM ^
He’s that guy.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:09 AM ^
I'm guessing that by the end of the year that ESPN will be showing 22 hours of Ridiculousness every day just like MTV.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:11 AM ^
ESPN is slowly imploding their own brand it's fucking sad to see. They've gone from actual sports and journalism to just hot takes, viral videos, and creating narratives around players and teams they want to be good. It feels like the only things they care about are the Ball brothers, DK Metcalf, LeBron, Zion Williamson, and the perennial CFP teams. Everything else apparently isn't worth it to cover
January 4th, 2021 at 11:37 AM ^
They’ve been doing this for 15+ years, but it’s gotten much more pronounced. Its gotten to the point where your team will receive no coverage unless they have one of 3-5 ESPN-selected stars or is in one of a handful of markets. For example, Derrick Henry ran for 2k yards, but is barely even a footnote in their coverage, while the Eagles-Washington shit show from last night gets 10-15 minutes each hour. It’s pathetic.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:41 AM ^
I've been done with espn shows and sportscenter for about that long.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:46 AM ^
And don't forget a heavy dose of politics!
January 4th, 2021 at 1:26 PM ^
It's not even the politics because sports and politics have always been intertwined. It's that ESPN doesn't care about actually providing quality sports journalism anymore. They just want to provide what is going to get clicks and attention
January 4th, 2021 at 7:15 PM ^
I thought the whole reason they fired LeBatard is that they’re afraid of politics. Jalen Rose will be next to go. He’s too good for them and he’s bound to say something that pisses them off eventually.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:12 AM ^
I haven't listened to the show at all, what made it so 'risky'? And what's his schtick? Clearly a talk show, but does he just talk endlessly with co-hosts, or does he have guests daily, talk to callers who hang up & listen? I'm curious, because if he lands on Sirius I may get a chance to listen occasionally.
I sometimes listen to Mark Packers show about college sports ('Off Campus'), but it can go off the rails with callers' love for all things OSU, Bama, and SEC in general. Plus, he's now got Eddie George as a co-host, and the OSU tint is as real as a taint. I choose to pass more often than not, now...
January 4th, 2021 at 11:18 AM ^
So, the entire premise of the show was created to make fun of sports talk because it had been so generic.
LeBatard every once in awhile goes into areas that ESPN does not want it to (politics, racial issues mostly). He doesn't do it a TON, but it happened.
The show is just generally making fun of sports, sports talk, etc. It's a lot of fun, but ESPN wants people who just do boring, neutral talk.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:29 AM ^
It is weird that you say he would go into politics and ESPN didn't want him to, specifically racial issues. I never listed to him, but ESPN has no problem talking politics, the entire NBA bubble they harped on it. Maybe he just didn't promote the same message?
January 4th, 2021 at 7:35 PM ^
He would state actual opinions rather than use a “cowardly sports angle” (his words) to approach political issues but not really take a stand.
ESPN only covers that stuff because athletes force their hand by taking a knee or partaking in some other form of visual protest during games. When LeBron brings up stuff in the press conference, they’re kind of forced to cover it. But the angle is always the same: “athletes do X in reaction to political thing Y.”
LeBatard would discuss the uncomfortable racial elements of sports unprompted, which made ESPN very uncomfortable because unlike LeBron, he’s smart. He would also do other verboten things like compare football to gladiator fights and insist that you could not be okay with football without accepting that it causes irreparable physical and mental harm to the participants, who are often only doing it to escape poverty.
January 5th, 2021 at 12:38 AM ^
LeBatard is not for me. Too much off topic banter. I prefer Mark Packer's Off Campus show where there seems to be less of it. It's a bit annoying when radio hosts go off on tangents that they believe are funny. Perfect example the other day was Brock Huard talking about how much stuff they had to cover and not enough time to get to it all. Then he proceeded to blab about nonsense and took at least 5 minutes doing so. If you had so much stuff to cover then why dive off into stuff that has nothing to do with why you have a show in the first place?
January 4th, 2021 at 11:14 AM ^
Love the show and it will be missed on ESPN radio, which in my opinion lost 50% of its value without the LeBatard show.
I don't understand how ESPN executives can think having the same format, discussing the same issues all day long, is a better fit for the brand.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:16 AM ^
My favorite show on espn. Will def follow them to wherever they go.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:20 AM ^
I really hope he launches his own company, I would subscribe.
One of my all-time favorite bits is the creation of a character called "Pipo" who calls into the Paul Finebaum show, and gets into it with him prior to an LSU-Miami game in 2018.
Pipo is a made up caricature played by Billy Gil (guy in the yellow hat in the background of this video)
January 4th, 2021 at 11:25 AM ^
So many great bits. Pipo, Angel of Nuiance, Grid of Death, Nostradumass, Roy's Court, Roy's Top Ten list. What a great show.
And how could I forget. My favorite single thing on the show- the Greg Cote Clock.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:34 AM ^
Jolly good bam, jolly good bam!
January 4th, 2021 at 11:39 AM ^
I used to listen to this show and loved it. Now I just listen to Sirius. ESPN national radio shows have way too many commercials and I just got tired of that. LeBatard on Sirius with full free-reign of the dictionary would be awesome.
January 4th, 2021 at 11:59 AM ^
ESPN is dead to me. Very little listenable or watchable original production anymore. The Sportscenter Twitter account is completely horrible and tries way too hard, while missing 90% of the time.
January 4th, 2021 at 12:13 PM ^
Why does anybody care about this guy? He has no credibility left. He admitted he wasn't Hispanic and that Papi was a actor paid to play his Dad.
January 4th, 2021 at 12:37 PM ^
What?! Do you know what a "bit" is?!
January 4th, 2021 at 12:37 PM ^
Alec Baldwin is such a dumbass lmao.
January 4th, 2021 at 12:38 PM ^
When did he do this?
January 4th, 2021 at 12:16 PM ^
I watch ESPN only when Michigan sports teams are playing. It's been a sh** show for years
January 4th, 2021 at 12:30 PM ^
I was never a fan of Lebatard. I turn on sports radio for breaking news and interesting in-depth stuff, not just some schtick.
I have satellite radio and listen to ESPN U radio most of the time and B1G radio. I like Mark Packer, but Eddie George is annoying.
The only TV ESPN I watch is Gameday and college football games, other than that, ESPN is unwatchable.
Netflix is a joke radio fills a lot of my drive time as well.