Welcome to the second installment of “Now Hear This“. Most of the time when you listen to a sports radio show the hosts are full of fun, passion, and thought provoking ideas that leave their audiences mentally and emotionally spent. But what happens when tragedy hits close to home, and the host and audience are no longer interested in laughing or debating?
That situation took place this past weekend in Miami, where the Marlins lost their star right handed pitcher and one of the most beloved members of the Miami community Jose Fernandez. The Dolphins won their home opener on Sunday, and the Miami Heat announced that Chris Bosh’s future would not be in South Beach, and on any other day, those stories would be a larger local priority. But when the 24 year old Fernandez was killed in a boating accident early Sunday morning, it’s all that mattered to Miami sports fans and discussing other subjects would have felt irrelevant and unwelcomed.
I listened to 790 The Ticket’s morning show with Jonathan Zaslow, Amber Wilson, and Brett Romberg and thought they gave the proper respect, attention and tone to discussing the Fernandez story. I heard the same out of Joe Rose’s show on WQAM. But one program stood out most, and that was the Dan Le Batard show on ESPN Radio.
Dan and his on-air partner Jon “Stugotz” Weiner are based out of Miami, and few have had a connection or impact in the Miami sports community the way Le Batard has. When big local stories happen audiences turn to Dan expecting him to make sense of them and on this particular Monday, knowing that Jose Fernandez was being remembered and honored on a national level carried extra importance.
As I listened to Dan start his program, I was instantly connected to the way he delivered his content. It was honest, from the heart, and showed that despite being known for his strong opinions and off the wall sense of humor, he can also be vulnerable. You could feel the sadness in Dan’s voice as he shared the Jose Fernandez story, and as a listener you were committed to sticking by him as he stumbled through a few moments where the show lost focus. The rules didn’t matter – connecting to the story and explaining who Jose Fernandez was to the entire country did.
I loved how the program spent the first fifteen minutes bringing back older clips of Fernandez talking with Dan about his life and his adjustment to the United States because it humanized the athlete. I got a deeper appreciation for who Jose Fernandez was and it made his loss feel even more significant because it allowed others who didn’t see him on a daily basis get to know why so many in the Miami community considered him special.
Talking about the loss of a hero is never easy. It’s even harder when you’re operating a national show on a Monday and there’s immediate pressure to talk about the NFL and other top stories which will matter to more markets and people than the Jose Fernandez story. But every now and then there comes a situation where you have to be true to who you are and talk about things that personally affect you.
On this day, Dan Le Batard may not have discussed the story that the entire country tuned in to hear about, but he made the right choice. And when you follow your heart and let the world hear you during your toughest days, more times than not they rally around you.
To hear the segment click the play button below. In the future, if you hear something on a radio station that you feel is worthy of being featured in the “Now Hear This” column, you can pass it along via email at JBarrett@hvy.tcp.mybluehost.me. Enjoy the audio!
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Jason Barrett is the President and Founder of Barrett Media since the company was created in September 2015. Prior to its arrival, JB served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He also spent time programming SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY. Jason also worked on-air and behind the scenes in local radio at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years on the national stage, producing radio shows for ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT. Among them included the Dan Patrick Show, and GameNight.
You can find JB on Twitter @SportsRadioPD. He’s also reachable by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
