On the surface, Anthony Rothman and Matty ‘Ice’ Hayes from 97.1 The Fan in Columbus shouldn’t have chemistry. They grew up in different eras, they are of different races, probably listen to different music and watch different TV shows. However, when it comes to sports, that is the great equalizer for all of us. While it might not make sense on paper, tune in as I did and eavesdrop in on Rothman & Ice and you will find two opposites that come together to make an excellent sports talk radio show.
The show airs in middays on the station, typically from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., however on this particular day the first hour was preempted by The Ryan Day Show and as the hosts said, they had to “cram three hours of show into two hours.”
As this episode got started, Hayes, who has been a part of the station for ten years and a part of the midday show since 2020, got Rothman fired up off the bat as he exclaimed his excitement that the NFL would be back on TV this particular evening for Thursday Night Football. The way he riled up his partner was to play the Prime Video Thursday Night Football theme song, which he knows Rothman despises.
“Amazon has a net worth of about two trillion dollars and this is the best they could come up with?” asked Rothman. “For two trillion?”
“I just knew if I started the show with that today it would get you going a little bit,” said Hayes.
Rothman replied, “If a Top 5 most valuable company in the world can’t come up with something a little better than that, they just didn’t hire the right people because I could name 20 things in spots television that are better than that…It’s garbage.”
You really get the essence of the show in the early going. Between the two hosts and their producer, Colin Barringer, these guys have fun with one another and try and keep things light. As soon as Rothman made the statement about all the theme songs, he liked better, the others weren’t going to let him get away with saying something like that without making him start to name them. He reeled off 10 from the top of his head and it was a quick diversion that was definitely similar to conversation you’d have with friends in a bar.
To me, this is what a good midday show should be as the morning show has already, most likely, gone through and analyzed the main topics of the day. While Rothman & Ice know people want their opinions on those main topics, as well, they also realize people need variety and don’t want to listen to the same topics over and over and over again.
To put a bow on it, ‘Ice’ said, “I just wanted to get your juices going a little bit.”
Next, they want and hit on a subject that took over the internet the day before. ESPN’s Shannon Sharpe ‘accidentally’ had his Instagram Live go off while he was with a woman having sexual relations. While it was something you had to bring up, it was a topic that could get away from you and go straight to the gutter in a hurry.
Rothman had Hayes ran through what happened, and they couldn’t resist but giggle a little bit as it was discussed, but it didn’t go on too long and it wasn’t too off-color in the way they discussed it. You did learn, again, the differences between the two hosts as Hayes is describing what went on with Sharpe, and Rothman compares it to the time he accidentally dropped a player in fantasy hockey while his phone was in his pocket. I don’t know this for sure, but I am going to guess Matty ‘Ice’ doesn’t play fantasy hockey.
Football is king in Columbus, Ohio and while they have both the Cincinatti Bengals and Cleveland Browns they can discuss in the NFL, when it comes to college football, it’s all about The Ohio State University. There was plenty on this day about all three teams, with a full segment dedicated to picking the NFL games against the spread as well as some Ohio State coverage despite the team not having a game for another week.
A couple of things I really liked about the show were the way they use sound and the way they incorporate wagering into their analysis of games. The audio clips Barringer works into the show support the topics the hosts are discussing. You can tell the segments are well planned out between hosts and producer, he knows what’s coming up and has the clips at the ready.
Whether it was the weekend picks segment or just as part of the conversation, both hosts worked the point spreads or over/unders into the conversation as they provided analysis. I think this is super smart as we are all well aware that is content a lot of people crave and the way it was done didn’t interfere with any of the conversation or the knowledge being passed along, it enhanced it.
The first 90 minutes of the show went by super-fast. It wasn’t until they had covered several different subjects such as Gronk saying the Bengals weren’t going to make the playoffs (with the audio clip of course), Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes and Deshaun Watson, that I even realized they had not only not had a guest but had not taken any calls or comments from listeners. In this case, none was needed.
When they did eventually get to a guest, it was a big one. In a collaboration with the Pro Football Hall of Fame and their promotion where various members of the hall do a ‘residency’ and spend time with visitors during a period of time, the show is getting to talk with those players for ‘Gold Jacket Thursdays’. Having talked with players like Tony Dorsett and Harry Carson in past weeks, Vikings legend John Randal joined the show this week. The segment was excellent and the story of Randle, from undrafted in a 12-round draft to being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010 is a great one.
Both hosts were excited to talk with Randle, Rothman especially, and they did a good job of getting in solid questions while promoting what will happen during Randle’s time at the Hall of Fame and how fans can interact with him while touring the facility.
The show closed with a ‘Tell the Truth’ segment where Barringer threw out questions for Rothman and Hayes to answer. From their favorite chips and whether or not they would prefer to be a top tier actor or singer to whether or not Cal and Stanford would prefer to come back to a new Pac-12, it was a fun way to close out the show.
I chose to watch the show on YouTube and the station does a good job of presenting the show for video, including switching between various camera views.
Both Rothman and Hayes have signed multi-year contract extensions to remain with 97.1 The Fan for years to come. So, fans in the area will continue to get a quality midday show that moves fast and features two hosts who have been with the radio station for more than a decade and come to each show with a plan to inform and entertain their audience.
After spending a few hours with Rothman and Ice, it was easy to see why the show was chosen as the No. 4 mid-market midday shows in the 2023 BSM Top 20. And it wouldn’t surprise me if they continue in the Top 5 for a long time to come.
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.
