97.1 The Ticket host Mike Valenti has an idea to get some fresh young talent into sports radio – a sports talk combine.
On The Valenti Show on Monday, Valenti told co-host Rico Beard having a competition to discover the next two great sports talk hosts was something he’s been thinking about for a while.
“I think it would be a great concept, and it would get somebody a gig every year,” Valenti said. “Cause lord knows there are not young people in this game.”
Beard, like some of the text responses coming in from listeners, initially thought Valenti’s idea was about trying to get people already at the station fired. But Valenti reiterated that it wasn’t about people in the building.
“I like this. This is legitimate, it brings in people,” Beard responded. “As I told you. we could even hire two.”
Beard suggested the winner getting to fill in during the week, second place would get on the air at midnight. Valenti said third place would be fired.
“I’m talking about going to colleges and getting the best and brightest and going, ‘You really want to do this? You think you can do this?'” he said. “Here’s what we’ll do for you. In six months time, I’m not gonna waste your time like your school did probably for four years. You’re gonna know right away whether you can do this or not. Because at the end of the summer, you’re either signing a contract or you’re dining on a professional bullet. You’re done.”
“I don’t need to waste ten years of your life,” Valenti added. “You know how many markets there are guys hanging on they’ve been doing it for 15 years and they haven’t gotten an air shift. Let me help you – you’re not getting one. They’re stringing you along like a dope dealer.”
Another texter said their son graduated with a broadcasting degree but never got a successful career going because they couldn’t get a foot in the door. They felt it would be a great opportunity.
“That’s the whole point, it’s about opportunity,” Valenti said. “Only people that are idiots are taking it the wrong way. I didn’t say anything about getting rid of anybody already established.
“You’re on a trial basis. You’re on a trial to see if you can do this or not,” he added. “From February through August, take six months of your life, figure it out. Your whole 20’s are designed for you to figure stuff out. You’re supposed to do five or six different things. And eventually you finally gain traction in your late 20’s or early 30’s and that’s when it’s go time. This would be more effective than anything most industries do.”
