Best and worst sports talk radio hosts

[26 and counting]

Who are your favorite sports talk radio hosts, and who do you think are the absolute worst? Lately, I really like Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio. I may not agree with everything he says, but he speaks the honest truth, and he's really funny to boot. He can actually make the steroids controversy entertaining to listen to. Finally, a while back, he defended A-Rod while others criticized him, and I applaud Cowherd for that. I also like Erik Kuselias because he's the only one who will actually discuss hockey once in a while. He frequently invites Barry Melrose onto his show.

I don't really think anyone's terrible, although Mike & Mike are really boring me lately, because they're talking about way too much football even though it's five months before the season starts again. And their "Marriage Madness" segment makes me switch off the radio. Other than that, they're pretty good.

I'm sure that Mike & the Mad Dog will get some hate, but I'll confess that I like them too.

[Panamaniac42]

Your boy Cowherd may be funny but he likes to bite off people without crediting them:

http://deadspin.com/sports/espn/why-your-national-radio-host-sucks-162730.php


Mike & The Mad Dog are a-holes. I'll listen now and then...on days that they have sand in their vaginas I have to turn them off and go back to Kay.

[effdamets]

I'm so convinced that radio hosts are out to "grab ratings", and their views are whatever is controversial, that I don't bother listening anymore....

[AMYanks]

Mike and the Mad Dog are probably "the best", but they act like such idiots at times that it is hard to give them any credit.

[Panamaniac42]

Mike and the Mad Dog are probably "the best", but they act like such idiots at times that it is hard to give them any credit.

Right they would be "the best" but when they do things like bring Jeffrey Lyons on the show for 45 minutes to talk about King Kong, it's a major turnoff. And I really don't care for them ripping callers to shreds. Granted, some of the callers are truly dopes, but M&MD get pretty bitchy and condescending.

[26 and counting]

Your boy Cowherd may be funny but he likes to bite off people without crediting them:

http://deadspin.com/sports/espn/why-your-national-radio-host-sucks-162730.php




Colin Cowherd apologized on air a few days later, giving credit to the people who deserved it.

[JeffWeaverFan]

My favorite sports talk radio guy, by far, was Max Kellerman when he filled in for Michael Kay on ESPNRadio. He was fantastic.

[RhodyYanksFan]

Who are your favorite sports talk radio hosts, and who do you think are the absolute worst? Lately, I really like Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio. I may not agree with everything he says, but he speaks the honest truth, and he's really funny to boot. He can actually make the steroids controversy entertaining to listen to. Finally, a while back, he defended A-Rod while others criticized him, and I applaud Cowherd for that. I also like Erik Kuselias because he's the only one who will actually discuss hockey once in a while. He frequently invites Barry Melrose onto his show.

I don't really think anyone's terrible, although Mike & Mike are really boring me lately, because they're talking about way too much football even though it's five months before the season starts again. And their "Marriage Madness" segment makes me switch off the radio. Other than that, they're pretty good.

I'm sure that Mike & the Mad Dog will get some hate, but I'll confess that I like them too.


How can you listen to ESPN Radio? They have the easiest job in sports. They're in commercial or "sportcenter updates" for like 13 out of every 20 minute segment. There's hardly any show to listen to.

I used to listen to Cowherd, but he really seems like he just plays devil's advocate alot just to piss people off. Plus he's really into college football which I hate.

My favorite has to be Tony Kornheiser. He's got a great radio voice, gets fired up about stuff and can appeal to the average fan.

[ChrisV82]

I like Jody Mac locally. He does a good job, but I can only tolerate some much Philadelphia talk. Of course, when he was on WFAN it was Mets talk, so take it as you will.

I like Beningo on WFAN, even though he spent about an hour today discussing a non-controversy (Enter Sandman with Wagner). I've warmed up to Somers on WFAN as well.

Mike & The Mad Dog are awful. For a call-in show, they never let the callers talk. They can spend hours talking about horse racing, tennis, old movies, etc.; while this is fine in moderation, only a select audience is interested for that much time. They hardly ever talk hockey, even though the Rangers are having their biggest season in years.

Jim Rome is 50/50. His slang always comes off sounding awkward, and he has a tendency to repeat jokes so that if they happened to be funny, they stop being so on the 5th or 6th go around. As an interviewer, he makes a better chef.

Mike & Mike on ESPN I am neutral on, but I'd rather not listen. It seems like they're all rhetoric sometimes. They do not interest me, for the most part.

There's a guy from Delaware named Omar on 1290 that is pretty good, but I can only stand so much Philly sports PLUS Delaware collegiate sports.

Anyone on 610 WIP in Philadelphia is awful.

[yankeesfaninaz]

On sporting news radio, I like Tony Bruno who is on m-f mornings

[TinoFan84]

I love to listen to Tony Kornheiser ... he gets my vote!

[effdamets]

Actually, there was a show that I used to listen to before I got ahold of my satelite radio.

The Jim Rome show. I used to find his points of view, entertaining.

[26 and counting]

Haha. Mad Dog has been talking about hockey almost all day, yet he knows almost nothing about it. It's been the most non-informative show I've ever heard. For example, one caller asked Russo if the Hurricanes would win the Stanley Cup, and Russo said that they wouldn't, but didn't give a reason why. Russo says that Ottawa's going to win the Cup and didn't give a reason for that either. Just 'cause.

Although the Rangers coach Tom Renney is on now, and at least he's interesting to listen to.

I was hoping that Mad Dog would talk about the Yankees game last night, but he hasn't gotten to it yet.

[AMYanks]

I can't believe how bitchy Mike and Chris have been about Rivera and Wagner using the same song. Who cares!?

[26 and counting]

How can you listen to ESPN Radio? They have the easiest job in sports. They're in commercial or "sportcenter updates" for like 13 out of every 20 minute segment. There's hardly any show to listen to.


I switch during the commercials and turn on WFAN. I know that there's about 8-10 minutes by the time the ESPN show comes back, so that gives me plenty of time to listen to the local station.

[PlsDontTearDownY.S.]

I like Stephen A. Smith. He gives callers a chance to say what they have to say, and I like how he does the interviews. Plus he's got by far the best intro song in NY sports radio...the Michael Kay show song sucks! It comes down to SAS and Benigno for me...there's nothing like a good JoeB. rant after a Jet loss to put it all in perspective. As far as worst...probably M+MD. I can only listen to them for a few minutes at a time for the most part.

[Yankeeah]

I'm so convinced that radio hosts are out to "grab ratings", and their views are whatever is controversial, that I don't bother listening anymore....

Definetly. It's annoying. Listen to amateur sports talk, like college radio or online ones. It may not be as professional, but at least their honest and don't care about ratings.

Colin Cowherd apologized on air a few days later, giving credit to the people who deserved it.

Key words being "a few days later." Hes a jerk (for reasons other than this) and only apologized because he was probably threatened with a heavy fine or something.

[26 and counting]

Oh well. Colin Cowherd may be a jerk, but he entertains me, and that's all that matters to me. Besides, all sports radio hosts have to be jerks on some level, otherwise they wouldn't be that interesting. Maybe that's why Mike & Mike don't interest me that much anymore - sometimes they're funny and logical, but I don't see them as jerks (except Golic when he filled out 192 million brackets and then bragged that he had Northwestern St. upsetting Iowa in three of them). Actually, the bigger the jerk, the more compelling the show is to me.

[LloydBanks]

Only guy I really listen too often is Colin Cowherd. Most talk radio and TV sports guys usually all have tha same opinion. Cowherd ain't afraid to go against the grain and he's usually right, and he believes in what he's saying

[26 and counting]

This is precisely how I feel about sports talk radio right now:

http://www.thebrushback.com/sportsfans_full.htm

Just shut up already about freaking football!!!! The next game is that will actually count is still five months away! Don't get me wrong, I love football during the season, but during the offseason I want to take a break from it.

I swear, I think that Colin Cowherd the other day spent 10 minutes talking about the Oklahoma Sooners' spring practice. How many people besides him and Mel Kiper actually care about this?

I love Cowherd's rants, but he talks way too much football, along with all the other guys on ESPN radio. Mike & the Mad Dog may be jerks, but at least they don't feel the need to talk about the Giants and Jets every single day. (Besides, after the season the Jets had, who the heck wants to hear anything about them?:D )

[RhodyYanksFan]

Only guy I really listen too often is Colin Cowherd. Most talk radio and TV sports guys usually all have tha same opinion. Cowherd ain't afraid to go against the grain and he's usually right, and he believes in what he's saying

I get the feeling he says what he says "against the grain" just to be the guy going in the other direction. Just to stir people up. I guess that's his job because if he was boring nobody would listen or want to contribute, but to me it's a turnoff. I'll listen to Tony Kornheiser over him anyday.

[26 and counting]

Is Tony Kornheiser still on the radio? I loved his show. Coincidentally, it was Cowherd who took Kornheiser's place on ESPN radio.

[RhodyYanksFan]

Is Tony Kornheiser still on the radio? I loved his show. Coincidentally, it was Cowherd who took Kornheiser's place on ESPN radio.

He's on locally in DC. Just google DC sports radio and that's the station. It streams online for free. I think he's on 11-1.

[GallegoHasShortLegs]

I usually can listen straight through from Stephen A. and BT through to Michael Kay. I enjoy Mike and Mike a lot. Cowherd gets on my nerves, I just don't like his personality. Overall i enjoy the entire 1050 roster for the most part.

[Why Not?]

He's on locally in DC. Just google DC sports radio and that's the station. It streams online for free. I think he's on 11-1.

http://www.sportstalk980.com/main.html

Kornheiser does his show from 9-11, then it's repeated from 11-1. Pretty strange arrangement. Alas, the show will be gone soon as TK heads for the Monday Night Football booth.

Sports talk in D.C. is about to get a big shakeup. 980 is losing all of its ESPN programming to Dan Snyder's collection of stations. If nothing else, it will be nice to have choices here in the D.C. area.

I've been listening to David Stein. Which comes on Sporting News radio network at, seriously, 2 a.m. It's a little more intelligent than most sports talk. He doesn't answer questions. He refuses to get into X's and O's, instead focusing on broader issues about sports. I've always hated it when some guy calls in and asks the host about the Milwaukee Bucks and that takes up three minutes of my day....especially when you KNOW the host is only repeating when he read off of some website.

[YClipper5]

Oh well. Colin Cowherd may be a jerk, but he entertains me, and that's all that matters to me. Besides, all sports radio hosts have to be jerks on some level, otherwise they wouldn't be that interesting. Maybe that's why Mike & Mike don't interest me that much anymore - sometimes they're funny and logical, but I don't see them as jerks (except Golic when he filled out 192 million brackets and then bragged that he had Northwestern St. upsetting Iowa in three of them). Actually, the bigger the jerk, the more compelling the show is to me.
I used to be a big Mike & Mike fan. I find now that the show has become a lot more "Morning Zoo-ish" in the past year or so. Comedians, song parodies, taped pieces, etc...Plus the fact that Greeny bashes the Yankees at every turn, is starting to grate on me.

I still tune in, but not as much as I used to.

[Kulish29]

JT The Brick is on of my favorites.

I really miss Tony Bruno's Morning Extravaganza. That was my favorite show by for on sports talk radio.

[hellonewman]

Does anyone remember Bob Kemp, who used to do overnights on the now-defunct 1-on-1 Sports Network in the late 1990s? He was mean as hell but unlike Mike and the Mad Dog, actually knew what he was talking about. His best schtick was when he got tired of hearing callers constantly using the word "respect" (as in, "Oklahoma State doesn't get enough respect"), so he banned the word from the show. After that, whenever a caller used the word "respect," he hit the dump button and you heard a brief audioclip of Aretha Franklin singing "R-E-S-P-E-C-T."

[jimmyclark]

Does anyone remember Bob Kemp, who used to do overnights on the now-defunct 1-on-1 Sports Network in the late 1990s? He was mean as hell but unlike Mike and the Mad Dog, actually knew what he was talking about. His best schtick was when he got tired of hearing callers constantly using the word "respect" (as in, "Oklahoma State doesn't get enough respect"), so he banned the word from the show. After that, whenever a caller used the word "respect," he hit the dump button and you heard a brief audioclip of Aretha Franklin singing "R-E-S-P-E-C-T."

I remember Bob Kemp being on Sporting News radio a few years ago on 620. He was pretty good. I am a big Beningo fan (still treasure being called an arrogant Yankee fan for saying winning 4 championships in 5 years was "okay, not bad". Sorry Joe, it was my ex's favorite saying. 4 in 5 years is Tony the Tiger GREAT). Kemp had certain boundaries..no "Pete Rose in HOF" calls but was interested in people's opinions.
M&MD can be good when their egos are not on display..which is as seldom as wins by the Dolan-Marbury-Thomas-Brown Knicks. If Mike wants to, he can totally undressed an interiewee, like he did to Scott Layden a few years ago (Russo had several months earlier just kissed up to him, causing Beningo to call in and rip Russo).
I find Steve Somers "I'm so cute and witty" schtick to be totally uniteresting. Mike Greenberg is from the Lupica-school-of-stupidity-and-Met-fan-arrogance so he is the worst.

[NYYFAN]

I loath Steve Summers...

[In Mo I Trust]

I can't stand Cowherd, he thinks Jose Canseco should be in the Hall of Fame because he is "Famous."

http://firejoemorgan.blogspot.com/2006/01/12-minutes-of-hell-with-colin-cowherd.html

[DontHateOnNumber2]

I can't stand Cowherd, he thinks Jose Canseco should be in the Hall of Fame because he is "Famous."

http://firejoemorgan.blogspot.com/2006/01/12-minutes-of-hell-with-colin-cowherd.html
Cowherd really got to me when Eddie Guerrero died and he was more or less bashing him, also Mike Greenberg is annoying. He just makes it seem like he knows all and everything about the sports world sometimes.

[DontHateOnNumber2]

I didn't see "the best" in the thread title. I'll steal someone elses guy and say Tony Kornheiser, I haven't heard much of him over the airwaves but he reminds me of some guy I'd talk about sports to in school or at work. He sounds really comfortable on the air and doesn't really seem to make himself out to be a character rather than just a regular ol' radio personality.

[Yankyfan]

Sommers is the funny as hell.I liked Jodie Mac for his scouting insite (Father was GM ) .I also agree Kellerman was good .I wish he had his own show from 10 -4.JMO

[YankeePride1967]

I listen to XM's Home Plate now as baseball is the sport I really care about. Love the afternoon Dibble and Kennedy show. I don't mind the show, but Mike Greenburg knows NOTHING about sports.

[26 and counting]

I like Michael Kay's show, but he has the worst song ever.

[PlsDontTearDownY.S.]

I like Michael Kay's show, but he has the worst song ever.

Absolutely. I HATE that song. Steven A's song is the best.

[LloydBanks]

I get the feeling he says what he says "against the grain" just to be the guy going in the other direction. Just to stir people up. I guess that's his job because if he was boring nobody would listen or want to contribute, but to me it's a turnoff. I'll listen to Tony Kornheiser over him anyday.

Nah, he's usually right. Ever notice how just about everyone in the media agrees on everything to an extent? Cuz they wanna shove what sounds like the best story down everyones throat. Colin and will tell you exactly how they feel and they're usually right. Colin is one of the few unbiased sports talk guys out there. Think bout this...everyone piled on Kobe for everything he did all year, and none of these sports know it alls had anything to say about him having no help. Cuz no one cares about the other guys. Those guys don't make headlines. Thats how media bias works and millions of people buy into it. Colin will stick up for guys like Kobe and A-Rod and he's right in doing so

[LloydBanks]

I can't stand Cowherd, he thinks Jose Canseco should be in the Hall of Fame because he is "Famous."

http://firejoemorgan.blogspot.com/2006/01/12-minutes-of-hell-with-colin-cowherd.html

Thats not what Colin said. Colin said Canseco should be in the hall of fame because of how he affected history of the game. Thats a good point he made. You just misunderstood

[whiffleball]

How about Steve Czaban? I enjoyed his show when he was on nights before JT the brick but they moved him to mornings and I haven't listened since. They offer a different spin on sports but they also talk about TV, movies or whatever. Very entertaining.

[Yankees1962]

Does anyone remember Bob Kemp, who used to do overnights on the now-defunct 1-on-1 Sports Network in the late 1990s? He was mean as hell but unlike Mike and the Mad Dog, actually knew what he was talking about. His best schtick was when he got tired of hearing callers constantly using the word "respect" (as in, "Oklahoma State doesn't get enough respect"), so he banned the word from the show. After that, whenever a caller used the word "respect," he hit the dump button and you heard a brief audioclip of Aretha Franklin singing "R-E-S-P-E-C-T."
Kemp was the man and he knew his stuff, particularly about baseball.

Any of you guys remembered back in the day when Marv Albert and John Sterling had their sports talk shows?

[26 and counting]

Absolutely. I HATE that song. Steven A's song is the best.

I keep forgetting to check out Steven A's show. Isn't he on 1050 ESPN Radio from 12-2? I heard that he's really good.

Also, it looks like Tony Kornheiser isn't on DC Sports Radio anymore. I checked their website last week and it looks like they rearranged their format.

[NYJets37]

Best: Mike and the Mad Dog
Worst: Michael Kay

That's only out of the New York guys. I don't really listen to much else talk radio.

[Sam18]

My friend is an intern for Steven A, he said he's a total prick,

[Yankeeah]

I work on the same floor as Steven A. I bumped into him once, didn't exchange any words, but everyone says hes a dick

[NYY EcKo151]

Nobody has mentioned the man! Joe Benigno. A little homerism since i'm a Jets fan...

But I like his pessimist attitude, he answers alot of calls and he's someone I like to listen to.

Dan Patrick, Jim Rome Tony Bruno and JT The Brick get some love from me as well...Mike and Maddogg I can tolerate, but not the full 5 1/2 hours they're on.

[In Mo I Trust]

Benigno gives off the vibe of a common fan and not a snooty talk show host, I like him too

[sharoncass]

My friend is an intern for Steven A, he said he's a total prick,


Who is it that calls him "Screamin A. Smith"? That's the perfect name for him.

[JeffWeaverFan]

I loath Steve Summers...
He seems like a nice guy but he's incredibly annoying and seems like he knows nothing.

[RIyankee]

My personal favorite, for a variety of reasons, is the morning team of Gresh and Zo (Fatman and the Freak) on 790AM/99.7FM WSKO The Score in Providence, RI. Andy Gresh is a former URI football player and Scott Zolak was Drew Beldsoe's backup QB in New England in the 1990s. Gresh is from the Pittsburgh area and has no Boston bias in any sport. Moreover, despite being in the rock bottom of the NFL offseason, they still do a daily football segment (Football 101). Gotta love that. The Score continues to survive in spite of the WEEI/Boston invasion of RI on 103.7FM. The late afternoon show has Brian Morry, formerly of Patriots Football Weekly.

BTW, WSKO The Score broadcasts Yankees games in the RI-MA-CT area. :D

[YClipper5]

My personal favorite, for a variety of reasons, is the morning team of Gresh and Zo (Fatman and the Freak) on 790AM/99.7FM WSKO The Score in Providence, RI. Andy Gresh is a former URI football player and Scott Zolak was Drew Beldsoe's backup QB in New England in the 1990s. Gresh is from the Pittsburgh area and has no Boston bias in any sport. Moreover, despite being in the rock bottom of the NFL offseason, they still do a daily football segment (Football 101). Gotta love that. The Score continues to survive in spite of the WEEI/Boston invasion of RI on 103.7FM. The late afternoon show has Brian Morry, formerly of Patriots Football Weekly.

BTW, WSKO The Score broadcasts Yankees games in the RI-MA-CT area. :D
Gresh was recently one of the finalists for the WFAN overnight gig. IMO, I thought he was the most opinionated and informative out of all the candidates.

I was disappointed when he didn't get the job.

[RhodyYanksFan]

My personal favorite, for a variety of reasons, is the morning team of Gresh and Zo (Fatman and the Freak) on 790AM/99.7FM WSKO The Score in Providence, RI. Andy Gresh is a former URI football player and Scott Zolak was Drew Beldsoe's backup QB in New England in the 1990s. Gresh is from the Pittsburgh area and has no Boston bias in any sport. Moreover, despite being in the rock bottom of the NFL offseason, they still do a daily football segment (Football 101). Gotta love that. The Score continues to survive in spite of the WEEI/Boston invasion of RI on 103.7FM. The late afternoon show has Brian Morry, formerly of Patriots Football Weekly.

BTW, WSKO The Score broadcasts Yankees games in the RI-MA-CT area. :D

I wake up to Gresh & Zo. I like that team better then their old lineup. Andy Gresh is very well balanced. He knows alot about alot of teams and I think that's why WSKO is getting by because WEEI is such a homer station. I compare it to BDD.com. Just appeals to the lowest common denominator of the fan base.

[Yanks Lifer]

Colin Cowherd and Mike and Mike are my picks. I also have grown to like Rome who seems to have become a bit more subdued. For whatever reason, I do not like Dan Patrick.

[fredgmuggs]

Friends of mine say Sterling had a talk show on New York radio back in the 70's. Did anyone hear that show? That must have been painful radio...

[FoodNetwork]

JT The Brick is on of my favorites.

I really miss Tony Bruno's Morning Extravaganza. That was my favorite show by for on sports talk radio.

He's on the Sporting News radio network in the mornings.

[PirateChief]

I cannot stand Cowherd.

He just doesn't make any sense when he talks. A few weeks ago he spent at least a half an hour repeating the same platitude regarding Fenway being an experience and Yankee Stadium not being an experience. He then talked about how Carlos Delgado is the reason the Mets are good this year. Not because of stats or figures, but because of heart and grit.

He slowly belabors the same non-points because he likes to spread his absolute garbage out over the course of three hours.

Mike and Chris are the best IMO, even if they can be silly. They have candid discussion and are knowledgeable about sports in general.

[Smithers]

Who is it that calls him "Screamin A. Smith"? That's the perfect name for him.

according to his radio broadcasts, his correct name is Stephen A. Smithinthehouse.

[In Mo I Trust]

I cannot stand Cowherd.

He just doesn't make any sense when he talks. A few weeks ago he spent at least a half an hour repeating the same platitude regarding Fenway being an experience and Yankee Stadium not being an experience. He then talked about how Carlos Delgado is the reason the Mets are good this year. Not because of stats or figures, but because of heart and grit.

He slowly belabors the same non-points because he likes to spread his absolute garbage out over the course of three hours.

Mike and Chris are the best IMO, even if they can be silly. They have candid discussion and are knowledgeable about sports in general.

Cowherd is awful. He constantly makes absurd statements similar to what you've mentioned, and refuses to back them up with any sort of statistics.

[26 and counting]

Cowherd is awful. He constantly makes absurd statements similar to what you've mentioned, and refuses to back them up with any sort of statistics.

Whenever he starts using statistics to support his beliefs, he flashes a "nerd alert" siren.

I do agree with everything that he says about soccer. However, he claims that the reason why he doesn't talk about hockey is that when he does, people turn off the radio. He's said in the past that if it were up to him, he would open every show with something about college football, even in the freaking middle of April.

So I do agree with some things that he says, but several things lately are getting on my nerves.

[Why Not?]

I keep forgetting to check out Steven A's show. Isn't he on 1050 ESPN Radio from 12-2? I heard that he's really good.

Also, it looks like Tony Kornheiser isn't on DC Sports Radio anymore. I checked their website last week and it looks like they rearranged their format.

Redskins owner Dan Snyder is cranking up a sports-talk network in the D.C. area and swiped all of the ESPN Radio programming from SportsTalk 980. It should start sometime in July.

Kornheiser stopped doing radio to concentrate on Monday Night Football. If that scenario doesn't work, he'll probably be back on local radio. He certainly doesn't need the money but he seems to like doing it.

[LookAtTheWheelz]

Best: Mike and the Mad Dog
Worst: Mike and Mike in the morning.. Annoying gimmicky noises and contests. No real substance..

[26 and counting]

Best: Mike and the Mad Dog
Worst: Mike and Mike in the morning.. Annoying gimmicky noises and contests. No real substance..

Agreed - Used to like Mike and Mike, but I don't care for them anymore. And that "Marriage Madness" garbage: :barf:

Mike and the Mad Dog can get a little out of hand, but they are the best by far. It's great when they poke fun at John Sterling's calls. I've also been enjoying Joe Benigno lately, whom I've been listening to in place of Cowherd.

[Smithers]

who's the guy on WFAN on Sunday mornings and other random times? when i get drunk and pass out at friends places, i always end up putting him on when i'm driving home even though i think he's horrible.

[In Mo I Trust]

who's the guy on WFAN on Sunday mornings and other random times? when i get drunk and pass out at friends places, i always end up putting him on when i'm driving home even though i think he's horrible.

Tony Randall's talking baseball? I hate that too.