Call this narcissistic, irrelevant, or petty. Because it’s all of those things and probably more. But I loved doing radio in Syracuse both as a student and then professionally for a little less than a year at The Score 1260. It’s where I started my professional career. So I was sad today when I saw the inevitable news that they were dropping local programming in favor of the unbearable Doug Gottlieb show thus putting the final nail in the coffin for local sports talk radio in Syracuse.
Because the sad reality is, despite appearances, Syracuse no longer has local sports talk. And it’s a city that in my opinion deserves some.
Upon Further Review isn’t local sports talk because they are in bed with SU. They are paid by SU, and when you’re paid by someone, but you aren’t a big enough company to not be beholden to a single sponsor, you sacrifice creative and journalistic integrity in the process. In essence, you become a mouth piece. If you don’t know what I mean, think back to how they talked about NCAA allegations, or the toughest question you’ve heard them ask Daryl Gross or Jim Boeheim, or what their coverage of the Bernie Fine scandal was like. How can a show have a guy like Jim Boeheim, who is never shy with an opinion and seems to make news once a month, on their show once a week and never have made news outside of Syracuse with one of their interviews? The answer is they treat him with kid’s gloves so as not to make their business partner upset.
And that’s not in any way a criticism of McManus, or Neikam, or whoever else they have on the air. I went to school with both Chris and Steve and consider them friends. And I think they’re both really good radio hosts who if they want to could both get jobs in bigger markets. They just work in an environment that doesn’t allow them to do what in my opinion is real sports talk radio. They do good 4 hour commercials for Syracuse University. And sometimes commercials can be entertaining, and there are some fans who see everything through orange colored glasses and I'm sure don't mind the positive spin, so take this for what it's worth: which is just one man's opinion.
Not to mention my old station, the Score, which has become a joke since Axe left. The only evidence you need for that is they are putting Doug Gottlieb on the air in Syracuse. It’s absurd. But beyond that, they let Brian Barrett go because Mike Lindsley was a sale’s guy so he generated revenue. Have you heard, I think there are cookies for sale or a studio sponsor to mention? Bud and the Manchild buy their airtime and sell their own commercials. So they, in essence, run a sports talk radio station without paying any money. It doesn’t generate much revenue, but whatever it does, is pure profit for the station. So you can see how that would obviously affect its ability to make competent programming decisions.
I say all this because it frustrated me today reading Axe’s story on the news that Lindsley is leaving and Gottlieb is coming in. He got a statement from Lindsley and Tom Mitchell on their news, then asked Ed Levine and Chris McManus for comment. And understandably, Levine and McManus stomped on their grave and all but declared victory. If I was them, I would have done the same thing. And if I lived in Syracuse and was a fan, their station and show would now be the one I would listen to, so they've won.
The problem is, they won the race by default. No one is there to point out the many flaws and conflicts of interest they have. There is no media critic in Syracuse. Hell, there barely is a newspaper anymore in Syracuse. So they get to mock The Score, which at least for a time when they had Axe, myself, Barrett, BMC, Plavin, and other’s was making an effort to do real, local, uncompromised, sports –talk in a city with passionate sports fans that deserve it. And they now get to do it without competition.
I guess it just bums me out that the station that gave me the start in my career can no longer be considered a local sports talk station and the city I started in can no longer be considered to really have local sports talk radio.
- Danny Parkins
Because the sad reality is, despite appearances, Syracuse no longer has local sports talk. And it’s a city that in my opinion deserves some.
Upon Further Review isn’t local sports talk because they are in bed with SU. They are paid by SU, and when you’re paid by someone, but you aren’t a big enough company to not be beholden to a single sponsor, you sacrifice creative and journalistic integrity in the process. In essence, you become a mouth piece. If you don’t know what I mean, think back to how they talked about NCAA allegations, or the toughest question you’ve heard them ask Daryl Gross or Jim Boeheim, or what their coverage of the Bernie Fine scandal was like. How can a show have a guy like Jim Boeheim, who is never shy with an opinion and seems to make news once a month, on their show once a week and never have made news outside of Syracuse with one of their interviews? The answer is they treat him with kid’s gloves so as not to make their business partner upset.
And that’s not in any way a criticism of McManus, or Neikam, or whoever else they have on the air. I went to school with both Chris and Steve and consider them friends. And I think they’re both really good radio hosts who if they want to could both get jobs in bigger markets. They just work in an environment that doesn’t allow them to do what in my opinion is real sports talk radio. They do good 4 hour commercials for Syracuse University. And sometimes commercials can be entertaining, and there are some fans who see everything through orange colored glasses and I'm sure don't mind the positive spin, so take this for what it's worth: which is just one man's opinion.
Not to mention my old station, the Score, which has become a joke since Axe left. The only evidence you need for that is they are putting Doug Gottlieb on the air in Syracuse. It’s absurd. But beyond that, they let Brian Barrett go because Mike Lindsley was a sale’s guy so he generated revenue. Have you heard, I think there are cookies for sale or a studio sponsor to mention? Bud and the Manchild buy their airtime and sell their own commercials. So they, in essence, run a sports talk radio station without paying any money. It doesn’t generate much revenue, but whatever it does, is pure profit for the station. So you can see how that would obviously affect its ability to make competent programming decisions.
I say all this because it frustrated me today reading Axe’s story on the news that Lindsley is leaving and Gottlieb is coming in. He got a statement from Lindsley and Tom Mitchell on their news, then asked Ed Levine and Chris McManus for comment. And understandably, Levine and McManus stomped on their grave and all but declared victory. If I was them, I would have done the same thing. And if I lived in Syracuse and was a fan, their station and show would now be the one I would listen to, so they've won.
The problem is, they won the race by default. No one is there to point out the many flaws and conflicts of interest they have. There is no media critic in Syracuse. Hell, there barely is a newspaper anymore in Syracuse. So they get to mock The Score, which at least for a time when they had Axe, myself, Barrett, BMC, Plavin, and other’s was making an effort to do real, local, uncompromised, sports –talk in a city with passionate sports fans that deserve it. And they now get to do it without competition.
I guess it just bums me out that the station that gave me the start in my career can no longer be considered a local sports talk station and the city I started in can no longer be considered to really have local sports talk radio.
- Danny Parkins
