World Cup? I'll Pass...Since That Is All They Do Anyway

All signs are pointing to this being the end. Yes it has in fact been 4 years already and unfortunately that means that the World Cup of Soccer is now at hand, silly FIFA. Now there is some saving grace that the games are during the morning hours so I shouldn’t accidental trip over a broadcast but that doesn’t save me from the ‘highlights’ on shows like SportsCenter. Even the local sports radio station, the Team 1200 is bending over for this event. Not only are they bringing in the Team 990 soccer guy in the mornings, Noel Butler (who’s show by the way is called Oranges at Halftime..brutal), They are having a former employee call in the afternoon show to talk footy, they are picking up the ESPN soccer wrap up show in the evenings as well. Then there is the regular ‘new’ show called ‘Corner Kicks’ on Thursdays. This is just not cool. You can hardly get baseball coverage on the ‘all sports format’ but your airways are polluted with this garbage, where is the justice.

The only thing worse then watching soccer is listening to people talk about soccer. I understand the interests as it related to kids, it is inexpensive and is good exercise TO PLAY. To follow as a competition, no thanks. Even to gamble on it is not fun, half the time the games look not to be on the up and up and with the probability of a nil-nil draw on the pitch so high one never sees the offensive explosion of a 2-1 game happening, those bastards come out of nowhere!


Here is the soccer breakdown for this month long margarine known as the World Cup in 3...2...1

‘Blake kicks the ball with high hopes that it will enter the goal, but it does not.’

I know we promised you soccer highlights, so let me just tell you that England beat USA one-nothing, Ivory Coast beat South Africa one-nothing, Uruguay beat South Korea one-nothing, and Italy beat Brazil 2-1 in an offensive slug fest. A modest proposal - make the nets bigger.

A tip of the cap to the character Dan Rydell for the inspiration and partial quotes as it relates to soccer.

Remember here at abitofeverythingsports.blogspot.com I’ll bring you the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat, and because we’ve got soccer highlights, the sheer pointlessness of a zero-zero tie.

The Day The Music..Err.. Local Sports Radio Died

It may be time to look for a new TEAM... No I am not talking about Baseball, Hockey, Football or Basketball...I am talking about Sports Radio.

They say that video killed the radio star, but for that to be true there would have to be a star to kill. That is clearly not the case on Ottawa’s Sports Radio, The Team 1200. This little rant/post comes on the heals of the news that there is another change-up in regards to the on-air “talent” that the station will be throwing out on the airwaves.

It is like the management is making a deliberate effort to kill the station putting at least 1 person on each show that make a 3 hour show nearly un-listenable. TGOR (Three Guys On The Radio) has a new look as thy seem to have effectively traded “Stuntman” Stu to BOB FM for former TEAM morning host JR. JR is a fine addition as he is polished and competent but the loss of Stu is not a good thing. If they wanted a good and strong morning show dropping the dead weight would be a good start. “Jungle Jim’s” return following the untimely death of Buzz was one of the worst decisions that could have been made and retaining him is not in the best interest of the station. At the time maybe a familiar voice may have been a good bridge while a new replacement could have been ok, but only in the short term. His inability to be entertaining and his delivery is less then desirable at least in the sports radio format. Steve is a solid radio guy and when he stays on the rails is effective and some what interesting. If they focused on sports and not demeaning the 3rd co-host all the time it would make for a decent show. The only saving grace is Pierre McGuire from 8:08-8:30ish.

Then there is Glen Kulka and Lee Versage the afternoon fill in’s an usual hosts of Over The Edge 9-Noon. Kulka may have done a lot in his athletic career and continues to do so in MMA but that does not qualify him to be a radio host. Radio is supposed to be theatre of the mind, not a headache waiting to happen. When it is a constant battle to use the right words, and not make up words, constant repetition of the term “ Most Defiantly” just drives one up the wall. There is nothing worse on the radio is a host that feels the need to get louder and louder to try to make a point when half the time he doesn't understand the counter position that either other host are making or the callers themselves. If they need that slot filled maybe throwing on the Dan Patrick Show would be a smart decision, he actually has real guests and actually talks about sports. If there is concern that there won’t be enough hockey talk with Patrick 9-12 and Jim Rome 12-3, that could be made up with the morning show and the drive show.

As far as the 3-6 show, The Healthy Scratches with Steve Lloyd and Jason York is actually entertaining. York may not be always be at the best but it is entertaining for the most part. Lloyd does a good job and actually sounds like he should be on the radio.

The 6-7 slot with the Petros and Money guy with Chris Meyers is un-listenable. All it is is one person yelling over the other none really having anything good to say...not a good collection of radio gold throughout the day. During business hours one can get real sports radio on the Internet but in the car during the commute there are very few options. It is getting to the point where satelite radio may soon be the only option.
At least with XM there is all NHL Hockey Games, NBA Basketball, PGA Golf, Indy Car, ACC, SEC, PAC 10 and Big 10 NCAA Coverage. Serius has some interesting perks, most notably NFL Football and NASCAR but that is about it and I don’t think that is enough to get the job done. With Channels that feature the likes of Hockey Night in Canada Radio, CBC sports, CFL coverage, Soccer, Lacrosse, Hardcore Sports leaves something to be desired.

The Pitfalls Of The Summer Lull

Now is the time of the year and things are about to become slow and it will be up to baseball to keep the sports interest intact. Boston playing New York in a series that actually counts is a good start but that is just 1 series. Sure there is NASCAR and the regular Canadian pass time- off season idol hockey speculation and for myself AVP Beach Volleyball. But as far as the games themselves there is a huge drop off at this time of year. The occasional tennis or golf tournament may happen to take the edge off but that is about it. NFL Camps are open now but until the games actually start for real and not the useless pre-season games where the real players play 1 series and then shut it down. Summer hockey camps are starting up but they arn't games and realy don't decide anything so that doesn't help things. Without any other distractions every day is now What will happen Dany Heatley? Also no good comes from that.

Canada Day is always a great day to be patriotic and celebrate living in a great country but sadly it also marked the kick off of the new CFL season. No good can come from this. Over coverage on TSN and overpower the airways with lack luster games with players we don’t know or don’t much care for. Even worse is the coverage that it will surely get from the local sports radio station Team 1200. The afternoon show right now that is almost on the verge of being unsustainable now with the move of the annoying and less then interesting hosts Glen Kulka and Lee Versage will become even worse with the increased addition of CFL chatter to go with the MMA talk. The CFL hour is a write-off in the afternoons as well. Almost as bad as having a soccer show in that slot, which they now have on Saturday mornings (The Team 1200 programing time on a Saturday morning is like a mule with a spinning wheel, he doesn't know how he got it and danged if he knows how to use it.

For a city who is still without a CFL team and not much news happening on that front there relay isn’t too much need for too much focus. We can start to care about the CFL late in the fall, playoff time and the Grey Cup...the only time it really matters.

Most Definitely

Please get Glen Kulka back to the mid morning slot on the Team 1200 in Ottawa! At no time do I ever get a chance to hear that show and i think I am all the better for it. When they moved him and Lee Versage to cover the “Drive Show” 3-6 again this summer it effectively ruined my ride home. Now if i don’t happen to leave early enough to beat the Team 990 from Montreal from turning down the power in the AM transmitter I can only listen to Melnyk in the afternoon half way before it cuts into static. This usually seems to happen during Pierre McGuires segment, which is the most tollerable thing on at that time. I am not a huge fan of JR and Galley but “Most Definitely” they are superior to the Kulkster. FSR never sounded like such a good idea. Chris Myers and the Drive on Fox is not the worst alternative either. The only thing that can be good about Kulka being on after work hours is playing a drinking game...Take a shot every time he says MOST DEFINITELY, you will get messed up faster then a game of Beer Pong! (Not recommended to be played while driving)