Everyone has an opinion on the Monday morning after the first Sunday of the NFL season. Most sports radio shows are talking about the teams, but in Atlanta, Steak Shapiro wanted to talk about the broadcasters.
He didn’t watch the Falcons’ win over the Carolina Panthers. Instead, he listened on the radio. To him, it is the ideal way to consume football.
“I love listening to the NFL on radio, especially Wes and Dave,” he said on 92.9 The Game. “Sometimes, because they’re the home broadcast team, it’s better than [FOX’s] Chris Myers and Robert Smith.”
Wes Durham calls play-by-play for the Falcons on The Game. Dave Archer handles color commentary. The duo has been working together since 2004. Shapiro says that makes them very honest about what they are seeing. It showed up on the first play of the game, when Atlanta quarterback Desmond Ridder had a pass batted back to him and he grabbed it instead of letting it fall incomplete.
“It’s all geared towards Atlanta, and the first thing Arch said is ‘huge mistake by Desmond Ridder not to knock the ball down,’ right out of the gate,” Shapiro said. “They’ll be a little more analytical and critical about the Falcons.”
Shapiro’s partner, Sandra Golden, agreed with him. She said listening to the hometown radio broadcast feels more communal than national broadcasters.
While the nostalgia for sports on the radio is usually focused on baseball, Shapiro says that in Atlanta, it is football that really shines.
“I can get more out of listening to our broadcast with Wes and Dave than when I watch the TV,” he said. “There’s something about the NFL on radio. I mean, baseball is great on radio too…I like listening to them on a signal like ours. It just sounds big.”
