Morning sports radio kind of sucks now

“Program Directors do their best to make decisions that benefit their stations, their listeners and the bottom line. Sometimes they get it right and sometimes they totally screw it up.”

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I’m pissed off.

Until about a week ago mornings were great. I had ’em all dialed in. My alarm buzzed at six and the Fan Morning Show was on. I listened to that while I made the kids breakfast, packed up their lunches and combed their hair. Then, at seven, I would start to switch back and forth, listening mostly to the Press Box on Mile High Sports, which aired until nine. Then, during my “me time” before I bolted out the door I would listen to Sandy Clough. The Ayatollah would fill my brain with ideas as I drove and then, if I got lucky, a topic would pop into my head for a blog post like this one.

Morning sports radio kind of sucks now.

Instead of the Press Box, Mile High Sports has Goodman and Pritchard 7-9. It’s not a bad show but it’s not The Press Box. Besides, the new signal at 94.1 is hard to pick up in Englewood where I live. I can get it on the radio in my bedroom but not the one in my living room and it’s not on Tune In Radio yet. That leaves the Fan Morning show – and only the Fan Morning Show – in the 7-9 slot. Then, for whatever reason, the Fan starts running Dan Patrick. Sandy Clough, who inspired me, might as well be gone.  

I can’t stand Dan Patrick – absolutely cannot stand him. It wouldn’t be so bad if I hadn’t seen him on TV. He’s a jackass.  

102.3 ESPN has Cowherd. I can’t stand him either. He’s hugely talented but he’s not talking about topics that matter to me.  

The Press Box has been bumped up until nine which means 1) I can’t listen beyond the first hour and 2) I’m lucky if I can pick it up at all. So that means that in my “me time” I am stuck with syndicated, syndicated or crackly. Even if MHS manages to boost the signal I will still be being robbed of 2/3 of a show I used to get to hear all of every day.

Program Directors do their best to make decisions that benefit their stations, their listeners and the bottom line. Sometimes they get it right and sometimes they totally screw it up.

I believe the Fan screwed up.

The only reason the Press Box moved from 7-9 to 9-11 was so that it could be the only “live and local” sports radio show in a time slot that the Fan basically abandoned by switching from Clough to Dan Patrick. The Press Box moving up set forth a chain of events in the lineups at MHS and I don’t really like any of them – save for Brandon Spano being moved to afternoons.

It’s mind-boggling to me that the morning schedules switched up so radically so fast. It’s even more amazing that Sandy Clough doesn’t have his own show anymore. As Dusty Saunders said, Sandy is an essayist. He’s not a guy you put in a studio with two yucksters. You leave Sandy alone with a microphone and his thoughts and let magic happen.

They say Denver sports radio it’s like Colorado weather; if you don’t like it don’t worry. It’ll change. That gives me some comfort because I don’t like what has happened to mornings at all. 

Written by Colin D.