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I admire anyone who can do a national talk radio show. I had enough trouble keeping up with the local teams way back when in my on-air days. Especially now with the interest from the gamblers and fantasy players, you have to know what’s going on everywhere. Thankfully, we have shows like the one I eavesdropped in on this past week, Maggie and Perloff on Infinity Sports Network.
You learn pretty quickly tuning in that one of the things you are going to get on this show is coverage of all the big topics. No matter how long you listen, there’s a good chance you are going to walk away a smarter fan, with more knowledge of whatever the topics were that were discussed.
There are a lot of styles of talk radio and if you listen to Maggie and Perloff looking for a big broadcaster voice yelling at people who dare disagree with them, you’ll be sorely disappointed. If you come looking to hear different points of view on a lot of sports subjects and some pretty well thought out takes, you’re in for a treat.
Maggie Gray has been with Infinity Sports Network owner Audacy for several years and has worked both locally and nationally for them. Gray was at WFAN from 2017-2021, then transitioned to CBS Sports Radio which was later renamed Infinity Sports Network. Prior to her time with Audacy, Gray worked with Sports Illustrated as the host of the daily digital talk show SI NOW, and also served in a variety of roles for NBA TV, MSG Networks and MLB.com.
Andrew Perloff started at the network after working with The Dan Patrick Show as one of the ‘Danettes’ since 2009, where he was known by the nickname ‘McLovin.’ Before he was on Patrick’s program, Perloff also worked for Sports Illustrated as a contributing writer and editor.
The two overlapped at SI which was when they met. At the network they started in afternoon drive and then in October of last year were moved to be the morning drive show. At the time of the move, Perloff was quoted as saying about the show, “One of the keys to our show is that we fundamentally disagree on major sports topics and still have fun. Maggie and I have been friends since we were colleagues at Sports Illustrated and nothing is going to change that – unless her Buffalo Bills beat my Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl. Then she’s dead to me.”
It doesn’t take long to listen in to hear those fundamental disagreements. You almost start to think it is planned for one of them to take one side of everything they talk about and the other to take the opposite. Yet, the more you listen the more you figure out that isn’t the case, they just think differently about things and it’s what makes the show work.
I bounced around a few episodes from last week and whether it was when a team might want to make a move for Davante Adams, load management for Aaron Rodgers, if the Raiders might be tanking for a quarterback, how good Kirk Cousins is or any other number of subjects, the two mostly had differing opinions.
As I first listened, a couple of my takeaways included the way there is no hesitation to get into topics at the start of the show and segments. Very little ‘Hello, how are ya?’ and straight into the sports, the way it should be. I also liked the way the other cast members, such as Executive Producer EJ Stewart who joined the company in late 2021 and joined the show when it moved to mornings, jump into the conversation. In fact, with this show you need that additional voice to break all the ties that happen with the topics.
Another voice you hear is that of Andrew Bogusch who will provide headlines and works in play-by-play sound and clips from players and coaches. Not only do I think Bogusch is one of the best in the business at delivering updates, but I also like the way the hosts chime in and there is conversation rather than a straight reading of the sports news of the day. I also liked the way Bogusch worked show material into the updates such as a recent topic where Perloff asked Gray if women had prostates, something the show had a lot of fun with and then turned into an awareness campaign. Bogusch also chimes in on the show which might be at its best when all four are involved.
The show sort of plays out like a courtroom with Perloff and Gray the opposing lawyers and the other show voices and the callers as the jury. Arguments, for sure, but done in a civil manner with facts to support everything.
While it is a national show, it is a group of east coast sports fans, and they don’t hide it nor should they. I bring it up because this is a good time to listen to the show while the New York Mets are playing the Philadelphia Phillies. Perloff is a Phillies fan while all of the others will be pulling for the Mets.
The show can be very funny and loose, and nobody seems to take themselves too seriously. With that said, the amount of information you are getting as the show goes on is what really made an impression on me. In one segment, the two hosts visited with Nick Kostos of BetQL for a weekly picks segment. If you want to get an idea of how locked into the NFL Maggie and Perloff are, listen to that segment and hear the way the three can go over games and potential wagers on those games and the amount of information all three delivers.
The segment really summed up what I heard tuning in overall. It was a fun segment with lots of back and forth on previous takes and suggested picks, giving each other trouble. They joked with one another while making new picks and backed them up with information that is interesting to the fan who likes wagering or fantasy and the fan who is just interested in the game.
When listening in to Maggie and Perloff, you can bet on having a good time and walking away with much more knowledge than you had before you listened. Mostly sports knowledge, but sometimes also about whether or not the San Diego Chicken was either caught up in the ‘Me Too’ movement, a secret Russian operative or just old.
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.
