Jim Rome knows the value of his nationally-syndicated radio program the platform it provides listeners that want to interact. He does not take it for granted and implores people to participate for a shot to attain a “golden ticket,” referring to exposure on the air.
On Friday, ahead of taking a vacation from the show as per the “Rome Vacation Schedule,” which he described as two weeks on the air and then a two-week break, Rome implemented his audience and began the second segment of his show with an email. The message came from “Wells in the 360,” who wrote Rome an email that read as follows:
“I loved DeAndre Hopkins’ clawback. You know I’m a huge fan of wife smacks. Signed, Dana White.”
Hopkins, the star wide receiver acquisition for the Tennessee Titans, recently quote-tweeted a clip of him making a difficult catch in training camp by writing, “I was told he doesn’t practice…” This, of course, refers to reports of NFL executives being concerned with his practice regimen and work ethic, which came after his release by the Arizona Cardinals upon skipping voluntary team activities. Rome did not appreciate the wording of the message, nor the take itself, and decided to address the participant directly.
“You have no credibility because you are the author of the worst take in the history of the program,” Rome said. “Rare is the person that gets banned from this show, but if you do get banned from this show, it’s because you’ve said something racist; you’ve done something absolutely unacceptable or reckless [or] you’ve threatened one of the staff members…. Those are all reasons to get run from the show – banned from the show. Nobody has ever been banned, however, for their quality of takes, but you are this close to becoming the first.”
Rome referenced a previous take made by Wells that Shohei Ohtani was an overhyped and overrated Major League Baseball player. This comes the day after Ohtani became the second player since 1971 to throw a shutout and hit two home runs in the same day.
“Anything you have to say – anything at all – means nothing to anybody because you’re on the record with the worst take of all,” Rome said. “In fact, such a bad take I could ban you from this show on the quality of your take alone, something I’ve never done in 30-plus years, so don’t talk to me about Dana White, Wells. Don’t talk to me about anything – and especially about Shohei.
“This is why soon, Wells, you will be banned, and if I don’t ban you, it’s because I have great empathy. It’s got to be hard to be you, Wells. It’s got to be hard to go through life walking around with that kind of nonsense rattling around in your ahead.”
While Rome seemed a bit undecided on whether he would issue the ban, he ultimately seems to have passed down an ultimatum disseminated with a slight euphemism to perhaps soften the blow.
“My man, I’m going to do you a favor and ignore you,” Rome tergiversated. “You no longer get what you want from me – run on an incredible radio program. Come on dude, stop. And when I mean stop, I mean stop. You’re free to listen, and I can’t stop you from tweeting, but I can stop you from seeing the light of day on this show because your terrible takes are bringing the brand down.”
Wells in the 360 responded to Rome’s decision on Twitter, asserting that he backed up his take on Ohtani with stats over multiple months and spoke about his fatigue. He also claimed that he never stated that Ohtani was a bad baseball player, instead stating that he was not as good as media members were making him out to be. Even so, Rome has ostensibly made his decision and, in the process, made history by banning Wells from “The Jungle” based on his takes.
