PWInsider’s Mike Johnson is reporting Jerry Lawler has not had his broadcasting contract renewed by WWE. According to the report, Lawler’s contract was up at the beginning of 2024. Johnson followed his initial report with a note saying a source at WWE says Lawler will still be under a WWE Legends deal.
Lawler, inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007, started the broadcasting portion of his career in December of 1992. Lawler continued to wrestle for the company from time to time, but to an entire era of wrestling fans, he and Jim Ross were known as the voices of the Attitude Era.
Lawler has had some health issues, including a stroke in February 2023. He famously had a heart attack in 2012 on an episode of Raw.
Many inside wrestling circles believe this is not something that would have happened under the previous WWE regime led by Vince McMahon. Johnson mentions a source in his report who said, “The old company is dead. People can say they hate Vince [McMahon] and Kevin [Dunn] all they want, and they’d be right to do so, but certain people would have been taken care of. Lawler would have been one, but this isn’t the old WWE. Howard Finkel, God bless him, wouldn’t have had a job for life here anymore, either.”
Howard Stern recently hosted President Biden for a sit-down interview on his SiriusXM show that was much maligned by conservative — and even some liberal — media members. He’s not pushing back against the criticism.
Some have argued Stern only asked questions approved and planted by the White House, which he strongly denied. Liberal podcast host David Pakman gave Stern kudos for the interview but mentioned a question from “The King of All Media” about a recent change in policies forcing commercial airlines to offer refunds instead of simply credits for canceled flights was a question likely planted by Biden’s handlers.
Howard Stern argued the question came from a pre-show production meeting with the show’s producers.
Co-host Robin Quivers then noted that if the White House were scripting questions for the interview they would have likely been much different than the questions from Stern.
“You’ve gotta f—ing be kidding me! First of all, we controlled all the audio,” Stern stated. “My whole goal was not to sit there and talk politics. I’m not into that. I don’t want to debate policy … My only agenda? I would like to get to know the President because I suspect he’s a very meaningful, very thoughtful guy.”
Negotiations for media rights to the NBA are reportedly ongoing but are gaining some level of clarity following reports of frameworks of a deal with The Walt Disney Company (ESPN/ABC) and Amazon. The league is ostensibly offering three rights packages, leaving one final spot that Comcast’s NBCUniversal is reportedly bidding $2.5 billion to attain. If the league decides to accept such a bid and establish this media triumvirate, it will leave Warner Bros. Discovery on the outside looking in for the first time since then-Turner would not broadcast league games since 1988.
As existing rightsholders, The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Discovery were both granted a 90-day exclusive negotiating window with the NBA that expired towards the end of April. While The Walt Disney Company reportedly exited the period with the framework of a deal, there have been no reports of Warner Bros. Discovery doing the same. Barkley, who has been a studio analyst with the company since 2000, expressed recent feelings of uneasiness and revealed that he has an opt-out in his contract should the company lose league broadcasting rights.
“To me, the most puzzling thing here is why Warner Bros. Discovery has gotten themselves in the position of potentially losing the NBA,” John Skipper, co-founder and chief executive officer of Meadowlark Media, said on a recent episode of The Sporting Class. “I think it’s pretty close to must have for them. They did have an exclusive negotiating window. Maybe it wasn’t possible, but I don’t understand why they let it come out of that exclusive negotiating window.”
David Samson, current host of Nothing Personal and former president of the Miami Marlins, expressed that it was almost like no one was paying attention when the company indicated it would not overpay for sports. In fact, Warner Bros. Discovery chief executive officer David Zaslav had stated in 2022 that the company did not need the NBA and would take a disciplined approach to the negotiations.
“Warner Bros. Discovery answers to more than just Adam Silver and the NBA,” Samson said. “They are a large public company, [and] they have a lot of different sides to them. They’re not going to overpay, and [NBA Commissioner] Adam Silver wants an overpay right now.”
Skipper conveyed a sense of confusion pertaining to the meaning of the word ‘overpay,’ something Samson attributes to the fact that Skipper did not look at rights deals in that manner when he was the president of ESPN. Samson explained that when Skipper wanted something, he would pay whatever was required to land it “plus one.”
“Yes, and I do believe this is fairly existential for Warner Bros. Discovery,” Skipper replied. “I think to lose probably the crown jewel…. I do not believe their share price will be rewarded if it’s revealed – I would assume this is still in play – but if it’s revealed they have lost the NBA.”
Warner Bros. Discovery remains $44.2 billion in gross debt after it had repaid $1.2 billion of debt during the fiscal fourth quarter of 2023, according to its latest earnings results. The company concluded the fiscal year with $4.3 billion cash on hand and reduced its quarterly net loss to $400 million. After Samson reminisced on the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 25-year regional sports network contract that pays the organization a total of $8.35 billion for local broadcasting rights, he articulated that Warner Bros. Discovery currently finds itself in a position to determine if it can make money on an NBA deal.
“Though I do not believe that what NBC might pay for the NBA makes that of the same magnitude as that deal for the Dodgers. That’s maybe the craziest deal I’ve ever seen in sports is the amount of money that was paid for the local rights for the Dodgers,” Skipper said. “I don’t think that at $2.5 billion, would [NBC] make money Year 1? No, they would not. It’s a 10-year horizon. These deals always look very, very expensive in the beginning and very, very profitable at the end.”
If he were a member of the board, Samson would not accept such a deal that does not look good in the near-term because he is a “prisoner of now.” Skipper had preceded that point by depicting that the lack of immediate profitability and efficacy in this sense is part of what is wrong with aspects of American capitalism.
“Investors and sponsors love themselves some All-Star Weekend, and if they lose that, I don’t think it’s good for their business,” Skipper said. “You could be right – I’m sure if they do a strict P&L and don’t count the promotional value of it; don’t count the brand halo; just count, ‘We’re going to pay $2.5 [billion],’ and, ‘How much money are we going to get back?,’ it probably loses money.”
The hits keep coming for new White Sox play by play announcer John Schriffen. Last week, Schriffen’s broadcast partner Steve Stone was on 670 The Score’sMully & Haugh Show defending him and a comment he made on the air that did not go over well in Chicago after a game-winning home run. “Say it with me. Say it proud. For all the haters, South Side, stand up!” Some people took that to be a shot at the team’s fans, but Schriffen has explained he meant people outside of Chicago making jokes about the team’s start to the season.
Late last week, 670 The Score’s Matt Spiegel went in on Schriffen and had some examples of things he has done which have been bothersome to him and those White Sox fans he has heard from. “…I don’t have a problem with the emotion and the fun and most of the homerism that he is having,” Spiegel said. “The haters thing was bad; it was a bad thought. I want to be clear with what is bothering me and then what broke me yesterday. He doesn’t know baseball, and it’s a pattern.”
Spiegel then gave a few examples of mistakes made by Schriffen, including calling a manager a ‘head coach’ and incorrectly calling a ‘sacrifice’ a ‘sacrifice fly’ despite no runner scoring.
“Give a crap and do some research once you get the job” Spiegel said.
Spiegel then played an audio clip where Schriffen incorrectly pronounces Bill Veeck’s last name as “Vee-k” instead of “Veck.”
“That means that not only did you come into this with some ignorance, and that can be forgiven on some level, but you’ve had three months to do some frickin’ research, man. Google Bill Veeck…Do you not know why the scoreboard that is at your own ballpark is an homage to his original exploding scoreboard? …That frickin’ offends my baseball sensibilities.
“…This stuff is scripture for the history of Chicago baseball and the guy doing the games doesn’t know it and it really frickin’ offends me when you don’t bother to do the research to learn about the job that you have.”
Spiegel talked about when he started in Chicago and knowing that the 1985 Bears were an important part of the sports history of the city, he watched all of the games and read about the history of the team.
“Care, give a crap when you get a job like this, it’s such a good job,” Spiegel said.
ABC News President Kim Godwin has announced she is retiring from the TV news business after a tumultuous three-year run leading the outlet.
According to a report, after The Walt Disney Company installed executive Debra OConnell to overall the news division, she implemented a performance review of Godwin and reportedly shared her dissatisfaction with how the division was operating under Godwin’s leadership.
Godwin — who became the first Black woman to serve as a network news President when she took over the network’s top executive role in 2021 — held strong ratings advantages with shows like Good Morning America and World News Tonight over rivals CBS and NBC. While those leads are still intact, they have slipped, with employee morale reportedly declining under Godwin’s direction as well.
In a note to ABC News staffers announcing her exit, Kim Godwin shared her understanding and appreciation as the first Black woman to lead an outlet of the network’s magnitude.
“It’s both a privilege and a debt to those who chipped away at the ceiling before me to lead a team whose brand is synonymous with trust, integrity and a dogged determination to be the best in the business,” wrote Godwin.
“I leave with my head held high and wish the entire team continued success,” she concluded.
Former Wisconsin quarterback Nate Tice announced that he would be departing his role as a co-host of The Athletic Football Show last Thursday but did not reveal another career move. Instead, he hinted that there were “great opportunities ahead” and expressed that people would find out about it soon. On Monday morning, Yahoo Sports divulged that Tice is joining its team on a full-time basis where he will increase his written coverage of the National Football League, along with contributing to the sports division’s portfolio of NFL programs.
Tice has been working with Yahoo Sports since last summer where he contributed to its coverage of the league by analyzing trends and prospects for the NFL Draft. Since that time, he has authored a weekly column, “The Overhang,” where he has synthesized and disseminated his thoughts on the latest occurrences and races taking place in the NFL. The company also added Jason Fitz and Sal Vetri at that time as it expanded its roster of media professionals focusing on football.
“Beyond excited to announce that I will be joining Yahoo Sports in a full capacity covering the NFL and NFL Draft,” Tice said in a post on X. “Writing, pods, video and plenty more, all with a pleasant purplish hue.”
Tice enters the full-time role with previous experience working in front offices for teams including the Atlanta Falcons and Oakland Raiders. After working as an insurance agent for nearly a year, he began contributing to The Athletic as a podcast host and Bleacher Report as a freelance writer. He is the son of former Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Tice, who led the team for five seasons.
NFL analyst @Nate_Tice is joining the Yahoo Sports family full-time!
Nate will increase his written coverage for Yahoo Sports and continue to contribute to the slate of Yahoo Sports NFL shows. pic.twitter.com/10AfHoUmsN
The move comes approximately one month after Yahoo Sports hired Matt Ufford as its new head of video and audio, a role in which he is focused on bolstering the video and podcast production at the company. Moreover, the outlet recently added former Olympic gold medalist gymnast Shawn Johnson East and former NFL running back Damien Harris to its roster. These moves occurred after a round of layoffs that reportedly eliminated more than 20% of its staff ahead of the conclusion of 2023.
After previously hosting shows three days a week for digital outlet OutKick, Tomi Lahren is expanding her program to five days a week, Barrett News Media has learned.
Beginning on Monday, May 13th, Tomi Lahren Is Fearless will now be seen each weekday at 1 PM ET, moving up in the day from her previous 7 PM ET timeslot.
“I’m so thrilled to take TLIF to five days a week. There’s so much chaos and craziness going on in the world today, it’s impossible to fit it into 3 days a week and I have a lot to say! The new time and expansion will give me the opportunity to dive into the news of the day in real-time. Get ready for 5 times the hot takes and 5 times the fearlessness!”
The expansion comes as Lahren approaches her two-year anniversary with the digital outlet founded by Clay Travis. Lahren joined the brand in June 2022.
Tomi Lahren Is Fearless will air live on OutKick.com. The show will also be available on YouTube, X, and the FOX Nation streaming platform.
The digital video program will continue to be based at the company’s Nashville studios.
In addition to her now daily program, she will continue hosting her Fox News Commentary vignettes for Fox News Radio.
I don’t like to bury the lead, so let’s get right to it. Barrett Media is going to be expanding its content focus. That means that in the near future, we will begin providing coverage of music radio, tech, and podcasting, in addition to sports and news content. If you’ve read BSM and BNM over the years, fear not. Sports and news are vital to what we do. They will remain heavily covered just as they are today. Today’s announcement is to inform new and existing readers of our plans to cover more areas of the industry.
My apologies in advance for the length of today’s column. With much changing over the next two months, I want to leave no stone unturned. For some, this move may be a surprise. But if you know me and how I work, it really shouldn’t. I’m passionate about the radio business, and the entire media industry, and aspire to make it better. I’ve planned to take this plunge for over five years. I knew we would eventually do it, but as the saying goes, you have to walk before you can run.
I recognize there will be pressure to be perfect on day 1. Though I’d love to get it all right, I understand that growth takes time. I’ve experienced it as a PD building radio stations, and as a publisher with both Barrett Sports Media and Barrett News Media. It sounds cliche but it’s true, it is a marathon, not a sprint. That said, we’re going to do our best to make a difference.
When I make decisions, I think about where we can be in 5-10 years, not where we’ll be in 5 days. Success requires being consistent, informative, and delivering quality. In order to do that, you need people who are skilled, passionate, connected, and experienced. If those things are in place, fans and partners stay happy, and new ones come on board.
What’s Changing?
On Monday July 15th, we will introduce a new website look, content mix, newsletters, social media, and even a brand new URL, logo, and name (Barrett Media). Because Barrett Sports Media and Barrett News Media have done well, we’re able to make this move. BSM and BNM drive our business and will continue to do so. However, there’s great talent and content across all areas of the media industry, and it’s time to expand and showcase the entire business. To do that, all of our content has to be accessible in one location. So as MLB starts it’s All Star Break, and news media invades Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention, we will do just that.
We’ve been sending readers to multiple websites for the past few years, and there are pros and cons to that approach. It’s allowed us to establish each brand on its own. We’ve also added fantastic writers, and supported both brands by creating newsletters and social media for each audience. In addition, we’ve created a ton of content, Top 20’s, original features, Summit’s for both formats, and formed partnerships with brands in two different spaces.
On the flip side, Google is less friendly to brands that use two of the same three keywords (Barrett Media) in its identity. Running two outlets also means less crossover between readers, less interaction between editors, and more stress trying to watch, sell, and build both sites. It also limits our partners to one audience instead of two. For folks in buildings where sports and news stations operate, it also meant receiving more email than they probably wanted. Sorry about that.
Why The Change?
Three motivating factors influenced this decision. First, I believe music radio professionals are underserved for industry coverage. I also see tech and podcasting rapidly growing. If it connects to the industry, and matters to those involved in it, we should be covering it. Not doing so prevents us from reaching the most amount of people. More importantly, it leads to becoming stagnant, and I’m not interested in that.
JB with Jelly Roll
There are over ten thousand music radio stations nationwide. Covering all of it is impossible for one outlet. I’m not promising we’ll solve that problem. We’ll just have our way of doing it. Joel Denver and his team at All Access did as good of a job for the music radio industry as any outlet could, but once they shut down last August, it left broadcasters with less choice. Some sites currently do a great job of providing daily news, but beyond the hirings and firings, less gets explored.
I ran a survey two months ago to see how a few hundred accomplished industry pros felt about the state of industry coverage. Those I selected weren’t P1’s of BSM and BNM. Most labeled coverage of the radio business as average. I also asked folks at the NAB Show, what they want and feel is missing with coverage of music, podcasting, advertising, and tech. The answers were clear, news is important but there’s much more not being examined. I don’t know if we’ll get all of it right, especially right away, but I’m certainly going to try.
There’s also not many conferences for music radio professionals. Don Anthony’s Morning Show Bootcamp, and Country Radio Seminar are both popular, but there should be more. My friend Tim Bronsil at Point to Point Marketing asked in March ‘Who is the Jason Barrett of Music Formats‘ after attending our BSM Summit. I read it and thought ‘why am I delaying this, when I know I can help?’ For the record, I’m not planning any events right now. If we do one, it’ll be down the road. We have to deliver value and earn trust first before that’d be considered. I encourage everyone to support Don, CRS, and any others bringing the industry together.
The second key factor for making this move involves a business decision I made during our 2024 BSM Summit. I purchased the URL BarrettMedia.com for an undisclosed sum. This was vital for expanding the brand and embracing a neutral identity. I explored this possibility back in 2022 when we split BNM from BSM. If I could do it over, I’d have bought the domain then, but the asking price didn’t make business sense.
When we previously featured news content on BSM, it was the right idea, wrong URL. News/Talk hosts discussed our content on the air frequently, which was great, but each time they did, it was a reminder that the story lived on Barrett Sports Media. Because we did sports well, it made news look like an afterthought. That forced me to have to make a change. I care about the N/T format, and wanted format professionals to see that when they read our site. So, we did a brand split to help BNM establish itself, and now nearly four years in, many in the format read our work, and it’s greatly appreciated.
The final inspiration for making this change is our people. I’ve got a large staff writing for BSM and BNM. It’s too big to be honest. I view the relationship with our writers as a two-way street. Everyone gets paid to contribute here. Beyond providing compensation, I believe it’s my job to expose their work to everyone across the industry, and help industry professionals become more informed about their business. That requires promoting our writers on our websites, social media platforms, in newsletters, etc.. They in turn should be promoting the brand too.
I believe the content created by our people deserves to be seen by more than one audience. What Dr. Ed Cohen, Peter Thiele, and Andy Bloom contribute on BNM, just to name a few, plays beyond the news/talk format. The same applies to stories on BSM by myself, Dave Greene, and Jeff Caves. If we want to inform, challenge and highlight different industry issues, it just makes sense to let more people see it.
While expanding is exciting, it also requires examining all that we do. Over the next two months, I have to figure out BSM and BMM’s staff and strategy, while determining who can help us in new areas. That alone is difficult, but I also have to build a BNM Summit, and handle my daily responsibilities during that time too.
Why Music?
The first time I listened to the radio it was to a music station in New York City. I placed my first phone call to a radio station at age nine to WPLJ. Why they let me on the air, I have no idea. I used to save my allowance and walk with my dad to the 9th street record store in Brooklyn at age five to buy 45’s each week. As I got older, I fell in love with playing the drums, joining multiple bands, hoping one day to get a record deal. Music has always been a big part of my life.
I share this because many know me as the ‘sports radio guy’. But I am and have always been a radio guy doing sports and news, not an individual defined by a format. If I’m at my desk, I’m listening to sports/news programs. If I’m in the car, I’m listening to SiriusXM Octane, The Highway, Z100, WRRV (local station) or scanning the dial. My tastes go beyond one format, and I pride myself on understanding content creation, brand building, talent management, digital strategy, and studying trends to help partners grow their businesses.
JB on 101.5 WPDH
When I entered the radio business, it was through an internship at a small station that turned off at night. WTBQ played music from different genres, and offered local news, sports, and paid programming. I spent five years there learning all that I could. It prepared me well for my next two jobs, programming a small sports station, and producing music morning shows at 101.5 WPDH and PYX 106. That’s where I discovered The Complete Sheet, Radio and Records, the genius of Bob Rivers bits, Allen Rommelfanger’s phoners, and more. I loved sports/talk, but most of my first 8 years weren’t in sports radio. That came in 2004 when ESPN Radio hired me.
That said, I do not have a lengthy resume in music radio. I’ve got many relationships to form. However, I know how the industry works, how to program an online brand, how to create content and build an audience, and which writers to hire to serve media professionals. The Barrett brand and platforms have helped countless people over the years. It’s something I’m extremely proud of. We’re now read daily by thousands including some who you’d be stunned to learn pay attention. Just as I did launching news/talk coverage, I will build connections, and work to earn the respect and attention of folks across all formats. If I don’t, I’ll go down trying.
What’s Next?
One thing I want to address to avoid any confusion, I am not looking to consult music brands. I am looking to cover the format as a publisher. In fact, I prefer being a resource and marketing partner to consultants, researchers, and others involved with music formats. That includes promotion of artists, concerts, conferences, and more.
I have two immediate priorities, adding writers, and getting the website ready to launch on July 15th. We’ve spent the past month building the site, and I can’t wait for everyone to see it. It’s sharp. As far as people go, I’ve talked to some already, and plan to hire a writer/editor, a few weekly columnists, and a features writer. As the brand builds, so too will our needs. I anticipate we’ll need more help in the future just as we did growing BSM and BNM.
You may have seen my post on LinkedIn promoting an opening. Many assumed the role involved covering sports media. I figured that’d be the case since they didn’t know this news was coming. Now that it’s public knowledge, we’re not looking for help covering sports media. We’re in good shape on BSM. Our focus is on finding contributors to our music industry coverage. Those interested in chatting can email me at JBarrett@SportsRadioPD.com.
JB with Leigh Kakaty of Pop Evil
When July 15th arrives, we will have a daily newsletter for music radio professionals. It will be sent out M-F at 10am ET. We will also produce a weekly tech newsletter, distributed on Friday’s. Once we’re ready to accept entries into our database to receive them, I’ll post it on social media, and reinforce it in a future column. In the meantime, feel free to give our new music profiles a follow on Facebook and X.
As it pertains to BSM and BNM, both morning newsletters will go out as they do now at 8am and 9am ET. We will make a few modifications to keep them fresh but that’s all. The biggest change will be in afternoons. Rather than flooding inboxes with a sports, news, and music afternoon newsletter, we will create a blended version featuring content from our sites, and interesting media stories from other outlets across the country.
Closing Comments
I want to make one thing perfectly clear. We are not a blog. We are a business. Barrett Media is nearly nine years old. We host two annual industry shows, deliver millions annually in website traffic and monthly in social media impressions, consult a number of groups and stations across the sports and news/talk media industry, and feature a staff of twenty four including six working full-time. This may have started as a blog, but those days are long gone. We are now a respected industry trade with the ability to help partners grow their business. To be a part of it as a marketing partner, email Stephanie at Sales@BarrettSportsMedia.com.
My long-term goal is to develop Barrett Media into a one-stop shop for all media industry professionals whether you work in sports, news, music, advertising, digital or tech. We can’t do that running 6-7 websites named Barrett Sports, News, Tech, Music, Podcasting, Advertising, etc.. Most mainstream outlets feature all of their content in one location, and we’re going to do the same. Our newsletters and social media platforms will be where we separate to best serve specific audiences.
Change often takes some getting used to, and this will be no different. I realize we’re trying to move a boulder up a mountain, and the naysayers won’t exactly be cheering for us to do well. That’s fine. We’ve been here before. It makes the taste of success that much sweeter later on.
Sports radio can be a lot of things. Some days it’s simply hardcore sports talk. Some days it is guys, and maybe a few gals, having a good time with very little sports. And some days, sports radio is just a big, long therapy session. When I tuned in to the WIP Morning Show with DeCamara & Ritchie in Philadelphia the day after the 76ers ended their playoff series against the New York Knicks, I had a pretty good idea which one I was in for.
If you are from other parts of the country, you may not know this, so let me let you in on a little secret: people from Philadelphia do not handle losing well. With the 76ers, however, they are getting quite used to it when it comes to the postseason. Including this year, the team has lost in the last seven NBA postseasons either in the first or second round. So, I wanted to see how Philadelphia would handle a good, old fashioned, therapy session when I eavesdropped in on the show.
The show started out much how you would expect. Joe DeCamara, who is the strong leading voice of the morning crew which also consists of former NFL fullback Jon Ritchie along with James Seltzer and Rhea Hughes, let the listeners know this would be a day all about the Sixers.
“The Sixers season came to an end after a very compelling series with the Knicks,” DeCamara said. “There is an unbelievable amount to unpack. A little about the Phils and Eagles..but today is mostly a Sixers day.” DeCamara gave out the phone numbers several times in order to let the listeners know today was mostly about them and the lines would be open throughout the show for them to add their takes.
Jon Ritchie added, “Ancient people slept on pillows that were made of stone. I think a lot of us felt that way last night.”
“This one is heavy on the heart and big on the mind,” DeCamara said before they got into all of the various things they wanted to get off their chest about this iteration of the franchise that has not won an NBA championship since 1983, prior to the arrival of Charles Barkley.
Barkley, Allen Iverson and Joel Embiid’s names would be mentioned a bit as the show would go along. Many of the callers seem to believe the Sixers will not be able to win a championship with Embiid as their lead player, similar to the fate of Barkley and Iverson.
A few times, the topic of potentially trading the big man came up. DeCamara was very clear on his stance on that, saying, “Here’s my big picture. Do not, and I repeat, do not trade Joel Embiid. He can be here for the next five [years] or so. I believe your window in the next three years is still real. The objective, to me, is to build around Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.”
One player the hosts, and the entire city for that matter, do want to get rid of is Tobias Harris, who started in Game 6 and gave the 76ers exactly the same amount of points the WIP Morning Show gave them in the game, zero. Fortunately for Philadelphia, the five-year, $180 million contract Harris signed in 2019 will soon expire. Several of the callers and the hosts gave Harris the ‘Philadelphia treatment,’ with a few just flat out blaming him for the loss.
DeCamara went all in on Harris, saying, “Of all the bad contracts in the history of Philadelphia sports—Bryzgalov, Lance Parrish, Nnamdi, Carson…there is NO DOUBT Tobias Harris is number one. He may be number one 50 years from now!”
As for Embiid, who had 39 points and 13 rebounds in the final game, there were very mixed reviews on his performance in this series. Embiid, the reigning league MVP, has been injured with a tear in his meniscus since February. The morning show team went back and forth several times about whether or not they believe Embiid is still physically hurt, or more mentally having trouble going 100% coming back from the injury.
In fact, playing hard and effort was a big part of the discussion this morning as the hosts did not think a few of the players went all out, while the Knicks showed incredible passion and ‘want to’ which ultimately made the difference in the series.
Throughout the show the show played audio clips from the likes of Embiid, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse and they had audio from the TNT postgame show with Charles Barkley weighing in. I appreciated how the show would play a clip and then bring it back later in the show as they realized, especially after a playoff game ended near midnight, that many in the listening audience didn’t hear the clip in the 6 o’clock hour. DeCamara, noting the importance of the audio clips, would later thank producer Joe Wechter for having those ready.
I also liked how they used Ritchie during the show. Having been in pro sports locker rooms and knowing the scenarios, DeCamara asked Ritchie to talk about what it might be like for someone like Embiid, trying to play through whatever he is going through and putting up 39 and 13 in a must-win game, and then sitting across from someone like Tobias Harris who had let the team down. Having someone on the show who had been there to give that perspective was excellent.
Something else the show did throughout was update their sponsored ‘Twitter Poll,’ which of course was related to the series. “What emotion are you feeling most about the end of the Sixers season? Angry, disappointed, frustrated and sad were the response options and after over 3,500 votes, ‘disappointed’ was the winner at over 40%.
Another sore point for the group was the decision by head coach Nick Nurse not to play Buddy Hield in the third quarter. Hield, who had not performed well in the series, hit 5 of 7 three-pointers in the first half on his way to scoring 17 points before halftime. Even during the sports updates in between segments, Rhea Hughes would point out Nurse not going to Hield at all in the pivotal third quarter.
“If it were Doc Rivers doing that, he would be getting buried,” Hughes later said in one of the segments.
Of course, when a season comes to an end, it is time to start speculating about what will happen in the future as they look to rebound next season. One name kept coming up as the show went along as someone who might be able to bring a championship culture to the organization -Lebron James. Several times it was mentioned the amount of cap space the team will have and there were a few moments the group allowed themselves to fantasize about the four-time NBA champion coming in, along with his son, and getting the team across the finish line.
“I would target LeBron James as hard as possible, and I would try to lessen the burden on Joel,” DeCamara said. “I would try to lessen the burden on Maxey, and I would have LeBron, Maxey and Embiid try to win a title.”
That cap situation will most likely give Philadelphia sports radio plenty to talk about over the next several months.
For four hours on this day, the WIP Morning Show provided therapy to their city. You could almost hear them collectively hit all five of the stages of grief in the four hours of the show. The show did not try and do too much and they cut out some of their regular segments on a Friday, to give the city a chance to decompress while DeCamara, Ritche, Seltzer and Hughes were right there with them every step of the way.
On a recent episode of the All the Smoke podcast, co-host and former NBA guard Stephen Jackson criticized ESPN sports commentator Stephen A. Smith. The disagreement came over Smith’s comments regarding Los Angeles Clippers guard Russell Westbrook, revealing that he called the league office to ask why he had not been suspended for actions that resulted in his ejection during Game 3 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Jackson proceeded to call Smith a “snitch,” which led to Smith issuing a response on his podcast, The Stephen A. Smith Show. Jackson’s co-host, former NBA championship-winning forward Matt Barnes, appeared on the show to discuss the incident.
Barnes received plaudits from Smith, who acknowledged the podcast and Barnes’ knowledge. Smith questioned him as a former player, however, about when reputation and history become part of the equation in expressing opinion. Additionally, he wanted to hear his perspective about the ease with which people are engaging in “character assassination,” multiple occurrences of which Smith addressed during his show.
“I think you have a part to play in that,” Barnes said. “I think other people have a part to play in that from a standpoint of, to me, we used to have a really difficult job, [particularly with] players critiquing players we used to be brothers with – former teammates; former players. It used to be more about critiquing. Now I think there’s been a line drawn in the sand, and the flip side of it is now if you say something that’s going to garner clicks whether you wholeheartedly believe it, whether it’s disrespectful or you know it’s going to make good TV, that sh*t is rewarded now.”
There is a positive currency associated with compelling opinion even if uninformed, Barnes argued, which makes it seem as if knowledge and understanding of the sport and its inherent situations need not be equipped. Barnes pointed out that Westbrook has endured attacks that span beyond his play on the court, some of which relate to his own persona and family.
“I just miss the days and I wish it would steer back in the direction of, ‘Damn, we’ve got a tough job and we do have to critique, but we don’t have to disrespect this man or we don’t have to disrespect this woman or we don’t have to disrespect this anchor like this,’” Barnes explained, “but I think the line has been drawn and it’s been crossed, and I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to getting just critiquing analysts.”
Smith disagreed with Barnes’ opinion, stating that he has abided by a cardinal rule throughout his career where he recognizes personal life as the business of the individual, whereas professional life disseminated en masse is subject to scrutiny. Moreover, he recounted his criticism towards Westbrook being about his game, imploring him to use the paint to his advantage rather than shooting the basketball.
“People started calling him ‘Westbrick’ and messing with his daughters – not saying that was you, but the media,” Barnes articulated. “Skip Bayless had a big hand to play in that…. Skip was at a point where people were about to backhand him if they saw him in public, and I don’t think he knows or realizes but I think he’s kind of backpedaled.”
Smith added that Jackson comes across as someone who will defend the players no matter what, ostensibly wanting to garner and/or maintain a level of street credibility. As a result, Smith believes Jackson does not approach conversations from an objective point of view and maligns those who do when it is their jobs to have such a perspective. Barnes proceeded to explain the difficulties associated for former players critiquing their contemporaries, especially while trying to maintain relationships.
“I feel like sometimes the networks want you to go that extra mile for views and clicks, and I’ve never looked at it that way,” Barnes said. “When I was fortunate enough to work for ESPN – the four-plus or three-and-a-half/four years that I worked for them – I was always very content in my space because I knew that I could give you an in-depth analysis from a player’s point of view and throw some analytics in there, but I was never willing to really go out there and disrespect these guys because I know how hard it is to be in their position.”
Barnes ultimately feels that people can disagree without accompanying disrespect, an aspiration to which Smith reminded him of previous off-camera conversations they had about their roles on the air. With that, Smith revealed the difference between himself and Barnes being on the air and the ability they have to speak on certain topics.
“There’s a role that you get to play that I can’t because as a member of this fourth estate, as a media member, I can be as true and authentic as I can possibly be,” Smith said. “But in the same breath, there’s just certain places that I can’t go to because I wasn’t a former player, and I know that would be crossing a line.”
