Owing to my low down ways and at least 17 bad business moves, I'm in techno-lock. I can't get the hook up to technology developed after 1990. Even then it's the stripped down version, the kind a Luddite laughs at, forcing me to end a sentence with a preposition. Then wait 5 minutes while I see if it loads successfully.
Small market radio, which unbelievably still exists, does for only two reasons - national ads which get packaged with syndicated stale white bread programming i.e. Rush, Glen Beck & Dr. "N word gets pub" Laura; and the all critical, big time college sports. If a local station is lucky enough to get a real big regional team - U of VA, Virginia Tech, or University of North Carolina, the ones in my market, they wet themselves in ecstasy. I have a special place in my heart for UNC. They killed my own radio career, along with the aid of Jesus.
I'm reasonably sure Jesus was only the front man and had no real hands on involvement. Ironically, based on my incredibly vast knowledge of Church art, I resembled Jesus more than the fat white yokels that were taking ad $ in His name. Well, you can't judge a good book by its cover. Hitler said that. But that college sports deal, did terminate me with extreme prejudice.
ESPN moved right in, and the aforementioned management suits (see above - fat white yokels ) signed on the green line. Oh sure, my other former employers down the dirt road tried Fox Sports and Sports Illustrated, until that all finally merged into something else, so they went back to Fox. ESPN is part of Disney now - Fox still be Fox. Regardless, they are monolithic trash, feeding off the NFL and colleges, who are all dying for big paydays from national TV the cherry on top being a bowl game.
Hey, I know it takes a lot of cake to keep academia going. Football revenues support the other athletic programs, which in turn add up to keep the professors on the payroll. For now. And also helps schools get Federal monies for secret stuff. Don't ask. Or shoot first, like they do here in Blacksburg. Nasty bidness.
The result is, I don't get much choice in free listening. I knew leaving the New York Metro area would have some drawbacks - no crullers, no train commuting. But I thought. . .. oh, never mind. The radio is limited. But having ESPN talk football as 90% of its radio content during the baseball season is repulsive. It's so bad, I have to be thankful when a player like Francisco Rodriguez (aka K Rod of the NY Mets) flips out and beats up his common law wife's papi. It gets baseball talk on the air. Instead of say some NFL quarterback who retires then comes out of retirement every other week, in between whacking armadillos. Or the one who gets busted for rape, and gets off. Not necessarily in that order. More than once.
I've filled up enough net space ripping sports talk hosts for their limited intellect. Not that they require any. But if one is a public speaker, one should endeavor to speak in an articulate manner and have a vocabulary consisting of more than Jumbotrons, bumper stickers and catchphrases taken from 5 year old hip hop hits.
Sadly, I wouldn't mind so much if I still had my own show, happily sitting back listening to hillbilly songs. Or if they'd just talk more baseball locally during fucking BASEBALL SEASON! Having a real cruller couldn't hurt either.
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