Brandon Spano huffed and he puffed…

“No desire to start something? I think the epitome of starting something is creating a hashtag #TEAMSPANO and retweeting countless people saying things like “Hope this is a death match…” and “@BrandonSpano v. Sandy. Ring the f***ing bell! Let’s get it on!!!!!!!!””

UPDATE! Scroll to the bottom to read Spano’s statement regarding this incident.

 

Brandon Spano huffed and he puffed and well, nothing happened.

If you were glued to Twitter the other night like I was seeing the drama unfold between the Spano, the excellent Mile High Sports Radio talent and Sandy Clough, the old school mainstay of late night sport talk, you were also eagerly awaiting the smack down that was promised the following night.

But when the time came, nothing happened. Most of us were left wondering what was said that set Spano off onto a late night Twitter rampage where he said “The offensive has begun. Tomorrow the army will stand. The attack will commence and no lives will be spared.” And “Some people start their career on late night radio. Some people end their career on late night radio. #SandyClough”

The rest of his timeline was words of encouragement from his fans and followers salivating at the prospect of the widely viewed stick in the mud Clough getting taken down a notch or two.

And then, nothing.

Spano went on the air and whether he thought better of it or someone got in his ear about the ramifications of getting down and dirty with Clough, he suddenly took the high road. Vaguely touching on it with his Twitter feed. Full disclosure: I did not listen to his broadcast. I, like many people were waiting for the run down on Twitter like we received the night before. But here’s what we got: “Sorry if you were hoping for more. LOL. I want to keep it real and regardless of what has been said, have no desire to start something”

No desire to start something? I think the epitome of starting something is creating a hashtag #TEAMSPANO and retweeting countless people saying things like “Hope this is a death match…” and “@BrandonSpano v. Sandy. Ring the f***ing bell! Let’s get it on!!!!!!!!”

But I think as the time came for Spano to go on air and the call for blood ringing in his ears, he thought better of his still unclear feud with Clough and toned it down a bit.

Spano is great broadcaster and an even better guy. He’s a rising star in the Denver sports media market, excellent at what he does and has always been a big supporter of SouthStandsDenver.com. Sandy Clough is one of the best in the business, but is also a notorious dick on air and I would have thoroughly enjoyed him being dismantled by Spano. But cooler heads prevailed and what should have been the response all along, rolled to a quiet stop last night.

That’s fine, but Spano should never have whipped it up into the frenzy that it became. And even after it took on a life of its own, he should have been honest and admitted it was bad form to act like Clough insulted his mother. Maybe he did, we still don’t know. One response to a listener who said he handled it with class was this: “Thanks Shannon. Just trying to be real about it.” Classy, yes. But is he being “real” when he’s making allusions to armies and no lives being spared? That’s some clough…sorry, “tough” talk only to tone it down when the bell rang.

I don’t care either way. It would have been wildly entertaining to hear him carve Sandy up but if asked, I would have told him to dial down his attack in the first place. If a fading legend attacks you, it only means you’re on to something. I’m all for a measured response, but what fans of Spano’s were promised was not at all what was delivered and he needs to address that. The danger of social media is you have an immediate response to anything. Sometimes that works, but in this case, we saw a media member go ballistic over something (still unclear), rally the troops for a barbeque with Sandy Clough as the special guest, only to settle for a Bic lighter under a can of beans. And if you’re only going to cook beans, don’t sell us the barbeque.

 

Brandon Spano took the time to address this situation and this column by saying:

“Before my show on Thursday night, I was contacted by James Gomez, the producer of Clough talk.

He informed me that, contrary to what a caller and a few on twitter had said, Sandy Clough did not speak negatively about me on his show and had no idea what was going on. 

I came fully prepared to deal with the situation in an extreme fashion. I am not one to stand by while my skill level is at question by another talk show host.

I decided that if this was truly the case and I did not have significant proof, it would not be to my benefit to respond the way I was originally going to.

I was never trying to start something but was instead just trying to stand my ground after what I thought was an attack on me.

I addressed the full situation on air and hopefully the listeners that were hoping for more excitement understand and respect my decision.”

 

There you go. No BBQ this time.

 

Written by John Reidy