The worst kind of sports radio host is one who always rides the fence. They’ll give you positives for everything and only throw out negatives when they can follow it up with a positive or something that shows they aren’t really trying to take an aggressive stance. I knew a host once who had this awful habit of apologizing for any negative takes, usually in advance. Before he even said anything, he wanted you to know he was sorry for what he was about to say. Which always kind of ruined whatever the point was.
In sports talk radio it is only natural to be critical at times. We watch people play games and practice games and talk about games and practices. And they are trying to perform at the absolute highest level and some of them don’t do well, or don’t do as well as expected or just absolutely stink up the joint every now and again. Criticism of athletes comes with the territory.
Of course, you get those on the other side as well. Those that rip people just to rip people and make everything personal. I also know a host who was a great broadcaster, but his schtick was being negative, screaming about it and then getting personal with the attacks on some player or coach who made the terrible mistake of making a bad decision or a bad play. I never understood what good can come from a personal attack on someone. No matter if it’s sports, politics or otherwise, talk show hosts who get personal need to really take a step back and realize maybe it’s not that serious.
Now, with all of that said, people make choices in life. And sometimes when you make choices, they have consequences.
Such is the case with Dan Dakich. By all measures, Dakich is a talented talk show host, and he has strong opinions. Very strong opinions. And he gets personal, and sometimes he gets nasty.
I thought of this the other day when I saw the X account for FakeRudyMartzke, which is really Rudy Martzke, but it’s clouded in a little bit of mystery. Here is what the post said:
“Fox Sports would upgrade its College Basketball talent with the addition of Dan Dakich. Dakich would teach younger viewers new observations.”
No problem with anything that was said. Dan was an excellent basketball analyst before and would be again for FOX Sports, or any network and he most definitely could teach younger viewers a thing or two. However, Dan long ago decided to go a direction that means he no longer gets those opportunities.
Rather than write about some examples of this, I figured I would just show a couple of his social media posts for you to get an idea of what I am talking about:
I don’t personally have a problem with anything Dakich has said in any of these tweets, none of them offend me. I am simply pointing out that when you choose to be “that person,” it comes with consequences such as not getting good college basketball analyst assignments.
It’s a choice that is made. Dakich, to his credit, has not only made the choice but he has owned it.
There is nothing wrong with choosing that path, there is only something wrong if you don’t understand the consequences that come with that.
Not getting into any one specific example, but many believe ESPN has parted with talent that decided they should be able to say whatever they want to say and still get to work for the big giant corporation. It doesn’t work that way and when you sign up to get all the glamour and money that comes with one of those jobs, you have to ‘play the game.’ Which, by the way, is no different any other major company, we just highlight the examples in sports.
When you decide to, borrowing a phrase from the pro wrestling world, ‘go into business for yourself,’ you are absolutely 100% entitled to make that choice. Go off on politicians and take big stances on polarizing issues. Tell the truth (they always seem to say that). Get personal and attack people so you can try and make the story about you and not the people you are ‘covering.’ Get ugly, say as much as you can to draw attention to yourself as the ‘look at me, I am not standing for this!’ person.
But accept what comes with that. It’s 2024. Shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone when someone who chooses to refer to an NFL GM’s comments as “pu**y a** bull****” they do not get looked at by the major networks. If that is what makes you different and what you think you need to do in order to stir up controversy and get people’s attention, do it. Just do it understanding that you yourself have taken your own career down a path there is no coming back from.
You see, using the post about the Colts GM as an example, someone can take what Ballard said and rip it to shreds. You can say you have sources in the building that say he is only worried about getting fired. You can point out examples of how he has failed, you can site their record, their draft picks, anything he has done in his job. You can do everything Dakich wanted to do in that post without getting personal.
But when you go to the gutter and call him a “fraud” and say his words are “pu**y a** bull****” you are now saying you do not care about the consequences. Therefore, when someone says you SHOULD get those opportunities, you need to be honest and say, ‘Yes, FakeRudy, that would be great, but I chose a different path. I’d rather be overly controversial and do personal attacks. Makes me feel like a bigger man.’
Again, to be clear, I have no problem with Dan choosing this route and I have no problem with the ESPN anchors or talent who have decided to take strong stances on the big issues and politics. Be my guest, just do it with eyes wide open and knowing that you will be labeled as someone who stirs up trouble and there will be opportunities you have now taken yourself out of the running for.
We all make choices.
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The Best Thing I’ve Heard/Watched Recently
It has been kind of fun, not just watching the latest Hard Knocks with the Chicago Bears, but also to listen to Chicago sports radio analyze the series. I think we were all so blown away by what we saw with the Giants in the offseason that our expectations might have gotten a little too high for the training camp version with the Bears.
If you read my stuff, you know I love these behind-the-scenes show and I try and watch all of them. Some are complaining we are not seeing enough of the action like the old days when they would really show the players get cut and build the drams, but it is still more access than we normally get and I will take it.
Mully & Haugh talked about this week’s episode on their show yesterday and you can listen to it by clicking here.
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In Case You Missed It
The big news in sports radio lately has been centered in the Big Apple, with ESPN New York owner Good Karma Brands working out a deal to lease the 880 AM signal from WFAN owner Audacy. Derek Futterman had the chance to talk with GKB president Steve Politziner and ESPN New York Market Manager Vinny DiMarco about all that has happened.
DiMarco told Derek, “We know we have great content, and we know we’ve got great shows and compelling hosts that people want to hear every day. There’s a real connection between the fans and our talent and the rest of our content, and we know that people are going to follow it.”
Read the full article by clicking here.
Dave Greene is the Chief Media Officer for Barrett Media. His background includes over 25 years in media and content creation. A former sports talk host and play-by-play broadcaster, Dave transitioned to station and sales management, co-founded and created a monthly sports publication and led an ownership group as the operating partner. He has managed stations and sales teams for Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media and Audacy. Upon leaving broadcast media he co-founded Podcast Heat, a sports and entertainment podcasting network specializing in pro wrestling nostalgia. To interact, find him on Twitter @mr_podcasting. You can also reach him by email at Dave@BarrettMedia.com.
