A couple of observations that occurred to me while I was on a drive from New Jersey back home Saturday (it was a bar mitzvah this time; I've consumed my weight in whitefish salad over the past two weeks):

So who's the more provincial in radio coverage of the NFL draft, Philadelphia or Baltimore?

I was listening to Philadelphia's all-sports station, WIP, after the Eagles had picked Jeremy Maclin, the Missouri wide receiver, in the first round. That was all I heard about over the next hour-plus. Not a mention of players being selected by other teams during that time.

Later on the drive (let's not even discuss the turnpike traffic), when we got in range of WBAL, I heard the station's draft program, and Gerry Sandusky kept updating the players being taken (by then, it was the second round), not solely focusing on the Ravens.

And, in Maryland, the only toll I had to pay was heading north over the Tydings Bridge.

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Years ago, I had the pleasure of sitting in the booth with Jon Miller as he called an Orioles game on radio. He kept a little egg timer in front of him, something he had read about from the great Red Barber. When the sand would run out, it was a reminder to give the score again.

Somebody give one to Fred Manfra. Tuning in on the same drive, we were looking for an update on the Orioles game after having been listening to the draft. We had to wait through several minutes, until the half-inning ended, before getting one.

If the likes of Barber and Miller don't think you end up repeating the score too often, then it sounds like a pretty good idea to me. 

Posted by Ray Frager at 4:45 PM in Sports radio | Permalink | Comments (4)
                       

WNST's King of Baltimore Sportstalk competition landed a clip at Deadspin this week. A fellow named Chris had a bit of trouble remembering some names and seemed stunned by the fact that people affiliated with baseball were dying.

For a look at more of the folks who would be King, go to the station's Web site. 

Posted by Ray Frager at 5:14 PM in Sports radio | Permalink | Comments (2)
                       

Just another example Tuesday of the byplay between 105.7's Anita Marks and Scott Garceau in which he sets her straight: Speaking about the Orioles' rotation, she said the 1-2 combination of Jeremy Guthrie and Koji Uehara was "great." Now, maybe she was falling into the trap so common these days in which "great" gets thrown around so much it as to lose its true meaning. In any case, Garceau quickly corrected her and said the Guthrie-Uehara pairing was "good," and offered CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett as more deserving of "great" and went through a few more, including Jim Palmer and Dave McNally.

Maybe I'm reading more into his comments than was really there, but did Garceau reach back into the Orioles' glorious past because she couldn't?

Posted by Ray Frager at 7:30 AM in Sports radio | Permalink | Comments (25)
                       

Here's what WNST owner Nestor Aparicio e-mailed me in regard to Casey Willett:

Posted by Ray Frager at 10:50 AM in Sports radio | Permalink | Comments (29)
                       

I'm going to hope my ears were deceiving me and I didn't really hear what I believed I heard Wednesday on Jerry Coleman's show on Fox Sports 1370. As Coleman began to talk about the performance by Koji Uehara in the Orioles' exhibition game, the sound effect in the background was a gong.

Yeah, a gong. Because Uehara is Japanese and outmoded stereotypes are so funny.

The only gong that should be in use here is like on The Gong Show. You know, that was how they cut off any act that just wasn't amusing.

Posted by Ray Frager at 7:30 AM in Sports radio | Permalink | Comments (28)
                       

And now, presenting a phone conversation never to be overheard anywhere:

Team marketing honcho: "Hi, this Joe Jones from the Orioles/Ravens. Our club would like to spend lots of money in a partnership with your radio station."

Radio station executive: "No, thank you, Mr. Jones. We'd rather not have your money so that we can say our station presents a completely unbiased view of your team not influenced at all by a business relationship."

Posted by Ray Frager at 8:30 AM in Sports radio | Permalink | Comments (1)
                       

I have noticed -- as readers of this blog certainly have, too -- that nothing else gets the response that posts about local sports talk radio do.

Anything about Anita Marks, Steve Davis, Nestor Aparicio, et al., draws the most attention and by far the most comments.

(You could say I'm broaching this subject in a transparent attempt to drive up my page views, and I wouldn't argue with you. But first I'd put you on hold while I discuss Jim Leonhard's signing by the Jets with Jimmy from Joppa.)

Why is that? Far more of you watch sports on television than listen to people talk about it on the radio.

The answer is how you feel connected to that voice offering up the news and views. Most of us listen to the radio alone while driving in our cars. Depending on the length of your commute, that's a good chunk of time each day spent with the radio personalities. It's as if Jerry Coleman were sitting in your passenger seat on the way home. (He should at least chip in for gas, shouldn't he?)

Posted by Ray Frager at 2:33 PM in Sports radio | Permalink | Comments (3)
                       

Coleman/McAlister, next year's version of Frost/Nixon, with Jason Biggs playing Jerry Coleman and Cuba Gooding Jr. as Chris McAlister.

Yesterday's interview on Fox Sports 1370 had a different tone from McAlister's appearance on 105.7 The Fan last week, but that probably had as much to do with the fact that McAlister had a week to deal with the news he'd been cut as it did with the interviewer.

However, give Coleman credit for pushing -- with the help of his in-studio guest, Baltimore Sun columnist Mike Preston -- McAlister on the point of his relationship with coach John Harbaugh. McAlister basically tried to hold fast to the idea that there were no issues between the two of them, but the cornerback eventually dropped enough hints that one could surmise he didn't quite mesh with his new coach.

Overall, McAlister didn't reveal a whole lot, but it wasn't for lack of trying by Coleman.

Posted by Ray Frager at 9:58 AM in Sports radio | Permalink | Comments (14)
                       

Talkers magazine, a radio trade publication, has compiled its top 250 talk show hosts. The highest-ranked sports yakker, at No. 29, is Jim Rome, heard locally on 1370 AM.

However, in keeping with his style, I should have written that as: "The highest-ranked sports yakker (interminable pause) is Jim Rome. (another long pause) Classic."

Also of note: Terps fan favorite Boomer Esiason came in at No. 40 with his partner for their show on New York's WFAN. ESPN's Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg were at 45. The Junkies of Washington's WJFK-FM rated No. 84.

Former Oriole Jim Traber, host of a show in Oklahoma City, made the sports talkers listed between 101 and 250.

Aubrey Huff probably would be glad to hear Bubba the Love Sponge ranked No. 52. 

(Thanks to the fabulous sports media blog by Newsday's Neil Best for bringing this to my attention. Even though he did go to an Ivy League school.)

Posted by Ray Frager at 7:45 AM in Sports radio | Permalink | Comments (10)
                       

Good job by Anita Marks to get Chris McAlister on 105.7 The Fan this afternoon, not that long after he was cut by the Ravens. I haven't heard much of the interview yet, but I'm hoping to catch the station's replay of it.

And a note to the commenters who want to respond to this entry with crude messages about her: Don't bother. They won't be posted.

Posted by Ray Frager at 5:06 PM in Sports radio | Permalink | Comments (33)
                       

According to my sharp-eared colleague Kevin Eck (author of the fabulously popular pro wrestling blog Ring Posts), Jeremy Conn dropped an inadvertent obscenity Tuesday night on 105.7 The Fan's Playmakers show. Speaking with Ken Weinman about Michael Phelps' recent bad publicity, Conn was referring to his own youthful indiscretions but said, "I'm not comparing myself to f------ Michael Phelps." Conn quickly realized his mistake, however, Kevin said.

Posted by Ray Frager at 11:44 PM in Sports radio | Permalink | Comments (0)
                       

Posted by Ray Frager at 8:02 PM in Sports radio | Permalink | Comments (1)
                       

My Baltimore Sun colleague Jamison Hensley caught up with Nestor Aparicio in Tampa and got his version of the confrontation earlier today between the WNST owner and Dallas radio personality Gordon Keith.

Aparicio said Keith came to WNST's spot on Radio Row and literally stuck his microphone in Aparicio's face as well as got face-to-face with him. Aparicio said he tried to walk away four times but Keith wouldn't leave him alone. Finally, he shoved Keith. Police later took a statement from Aparicio, he said.

"It's been 12 years of stalking," Aparicio told Hensley.

As for allegations of an anti-Semitic outburst from him in 2008, Aparicio said: "Last year, they crossed the line. It was a blatant lie."

A bit earlier today, I allowed a couple of comments about Aparicio to be posted on the previous blog entry. After rethinking it, I removed them. I'm not a big fan of his broadcasting style, but I have known Aparicio since I came to The Sun in 1985 and he was an editorial assistant for The Evening Sun and have dealt with him off and on ever since. I am Jewish, and I've never heard anything anti-Semitic from him.

Posted by Ray Frager at 5:54 PM in Sports radio | Permalink | Comments (33)
                       

Posted by Ray Frager at 3:58 PM in Sports radio | Permalink | Comments (5)
                       

Good thing I had both hands on the steering wheel when I was listening to 105.7 today. Anita Marks was praising some of the Orioles' moves since Andy MacPhail's arrival and ranked the Miguel Tejada trade among the majors' all-time best.

All together now: Say what?

Yes, most would agree it was a good move. However, to recap, the Orioles traded Tejada to the Astros for Luke Scott, Matt Albers, Troy Patton, Dennis Sarfate and Michael Costanzo. The Tejada deal wasn't even the club's best of last offseason. (That was the Erik Bedard trade, which netted the Orioles Adam Jones, George Sherrill and three minor leaguers.)

Scott Garceau, perhaps not believing what he just heard and hoping the comment might vanish into the ether, didn't try to correct her.  

Posted by Ray Frager at 4:53 PM in Sports radio | Permalink | Comments (13)
                       

Radio talk host Steve Davis said he didn't see it coming before being laid off by WBAL Monday.

"I was host of the highest-rated sports talk show in town ... but the economy dictated this move," Davis said.

WBAL station manager and vice president Jeff Beauchamp said letting Davis go was "a tough call," but the station needed to cut positions. (A producer was also laid off. Several other broadcasting entities have made cuts over the past week.) Beauchamp said the move had nothing to do with Davis' performance.

"For five years, it's been nothing but praise, nothing but compliments," Davis said. "This was totally out of left field.

"I'm stunned, but I'll be fine."

The station will be paying Davis for the remaining months of his contract. Neither WBAL nor Davis would say how many months that is.

"I don't take it personally," he said. "I know I did a great job. That was why I was compensated well."

Davis, also a former sports anchor at Channel 45, who has worked in Baltimore since 1994, is in no rush to find a new job but said he intends to stay in town.

"I'm not going anywhere. This is home," he said. "I'd like to continue doing both [radio and TV] -- when and how, I'm not certain.

"I'm a big believer in everything happens for a reason."

Posted by Ray Frager at 7:00 AM in Sports radio | Permalink | Comments (72)
                       

WBAL Radio's sports talk host, Steve Davis, was laid off today, vice president and station manager Jeff Beauchamp said.

"We've done some realigning because of the economy," Beauchamp said. "... This was an economic move" unrelated to Davis' performance.

For the time being, Baltimore Sun columnist Peter Schmuck will fill some of the talk hours in the evening, Beauchamp said.

(More on this coming later.)

Posted by Ray Frager at 4:54 PM in Sports radio | Permalink | Comments (77)
                       

Anita Marks yesterday signed a one-year contract to remain with 105.7 The Fan, she said this morning.

"I had some other offers, but after it was all said and done, CBS Radio made it clear they wanted me to be part of the future," Marks said. "... They made me feel very wanted, very needed. That was probably the one thing that put me over the top."

The Examiner reported last night a deal was imminent.

Marks said she had an offer to return to her native south Florida but opted to remain in Baltimore. She said being on an FM station here and especially the MASN simulcast -- which can be seen across the country -- were large factors.

"The opportunity to be on television on MASN carried a lot of weight," she said.

Posted by Ray Frager at 10:28 AM in Sports radio | Permalink | Comments (138)
                       

Several factors converged to make Rob Long want to switch to Fox Sports 1370.

Long said last night that 1370's stronger signal than that of WNST (1570) and the earlier time slot -- he'll be on from 9 a.m. to noon instead of 2 to 6 p.m. -- were factors.

In addition, Long said, "I just felt it was time to change. ... I just didn't feel there was anywhere for me to move upward [at WNST]."

Long had no parting shots at WNST, however. "I'm very thankful to Nestor for the opportunity," he said. For his part, station owner Nestor Aparicio wished Long well in an e-mail to me.

Long, who said he has a two-year contract, will host his first show at 1370 on Monday.

He said the morning shift will afford him more time with his family, particularly his son, who has autism, and also fits in better with his duties as basketball coach at the College of Notre Dame. In addition, Fox Sports' position as the Baltimore radio home of the Wizards appealed to Long, who enjoys talking NBA and figures "people who listen to Wizards game will be listening to the station" when he comes on.

Posted by Ray Frager at 7:00 AM in Sports radio | Permalink | Comments (29)
                       

Afternoon host Rob Long has left WNST (1570) and is going to do a morning show at Fox 1370. WNST will fill Long's spot from 2 to 6 with a revolving roster until station owner Nestor Aparicio takes over the slot full time in February. Aparicio was on the air today and will be part of the rotation in the meantime.

Posted by Ray Frager at 5:10 PM in Sports radio | Permalink | Comments (31)