Audacy announced on Monday morning that Ryan Hurley is joining the company as the brand manager of WFAN and Infinity Sports Network, news that came after speculation regarding the position continued to grow last week. Upon the revelation that Jon “Stugotz” Weiner turned down the job, he explained the situation on both The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz and Boomer & Gio. Upon the announcement of Hurley as the new hire at Audacy though, there was additional discussion surrounding his candidacy.
Meadowlark media program co-host Dan Le Batard revealed on Monday that there were people writing in over the weekend claiming that Audacy ultimately turned down Jon “Stugotz” Weiner rather than it being the other way around. Weiner expressed that it did not matter, stating that an offer was made and that he declined. Furthermore, he added that morning show co-host Gregg Giannotti was begging him to take the role, leading Le Batard to reminisce about Weiner’s days leading 790 The Ticket before it took the air.
“Who are these guys who are going to be celebrated here in our new – this would have been some of the guys that you would have fired upon getting to WFAN if you had taken the job,” Le Batard said. “Look man, did you not see what he did when he was program director here? He immediately put himself in drive time; he was not going to sit around.”
Weiner proceeded to explain the situation, remembering that Le Batard called a week before the station took the air and stated that he did not want to host the program alone. As a result, Weiner moved into afternoon drive with Le Batard and hired Craig Minervini to take over the midday slot with Joe Rose in the mornings. There was anticipation surrounding Weiner potentially returning to New York to have oversight over WFAN and Infinity Sports Network programming though as explained by Meadowlark Media host Jessica Smetana.
“There are a number of people – I won’t name names – who are very bummed that Stugotz didn’t get this job because they believed Stugotz would have taken them with him and given them the morning slot on WFAN,” Smetana said. “And I’m not saying they would call it the Taylor and Tony Show, but I am saying that there are a number of people that are very unhappy about this development.”
Smetana was referring to Meadowlark Media video producer Taylor Vippolis and multimedia producer Anthony Calatayud, both of whom were then displayed on camera. The show then revealed that it gave its “Gasbag of the Week” award to WFAN midday host Sal Licata after he criticized Juan Soto for going to the plate looking for a walk. Soto was at bat with two outs in the ninth inning and two runners on base as the Yankees were down 5-2 to the Miami Marlins. After he walked, the bases were loaded with Aaron Judge at the plate, but he ended up flying out at center field to end the game.
“Juan Soto has some of the best plate discipline in the history of the sport,” Le Batard said. “The pitch that he’s asking him to swing at is practically in the dirt, but if that’s not sports radio, I don’t know what is. ‘Don’t take a walk; do some damage.’”
“The Yankees are 12-4,” Weiner added. “I mean, honestly, how can I improve that show?”
Show producer Billy Gil contributed to the discussion and said that the midday show should be renamed, “Sal and something or another.” He then divulged an observation he made while watching the video clip of Licata host the midday program – which is called The Brandon Tierney and Sal Licata Show – alongside WFAN co-host Brandon Tierney.
“Honestly, I’m not saying this to cause a riot, I thought it was the same person arguing with himself and then just put on glasses,” Gil said. “I didn’t realize it was two people at the beginning.”
“Alright, let me see it again,” Le Batard replied. “Let me see it again and let me see if I see what Billy sees. You should do that bit incidentally. You should do Billy arguing with evil Billy where you just put on your glasses and argue the other side.”
As the show presented the clip again, there was a cacophony of laughter as the camera shot switched from Tierney to Licata. Once the clip ended, Le Batard asked Jeremy Taché how many times Soto has led Major League Baseball in walks. Taché discovered that Soto has been at the top of the league three times in walks and is just 25 years old, underscoring the widespread reputation he has garnered as one of the most talented hitters in the sport.
“Soto failed because he left the bases loaded for [Aaron] Judge,” Le Batard recapitulated. “I don’t think the Yankees don’t want to be in bases-loaded situations for Judge.”
“Taylor and Tony would have done a much better job,” Smetana replied.
