Home Blog Page 2398

Boomer Esiason to Caller: ‘I Have Pretty Good Credibility On QB Hits’

0

Football is a game that stirs complicated emotions in both players and fans. That was clear to New Yorkers Thursday when Debbie from Upstate called into WFAN to tell Boomer Esiason that she did not appreciate him chastizing the Giants’ Kayvon Thibodeaux for his celebration after knocking Nick Foles out of the game on Sunday.

“You’re not an idiot Boomer and you’re talking like an idiot,” Debbie said before proceeding to tell Esiason that he was not being fair to the rookie pass rusher. She said that Esiason and others criticizing Thibodeaux are “picking on” him for being too violent in a game we all know to be brutal.

Esiason was not having it. He told Debbie that he wasn’t going to try to change her mind, but Thibodeaux’s hit was especially violent.

“I’ll give you your say and you can say whatever you want to say and it’s your opinion. I’m just telling you he drove him into the ground. Have you ever been driven into the ground by anybody that’s twice your size?”

Debbie responded by calling Nick Foles “a weenie” and admitting that as a registered nurse, she has a complicated relationship with football. She wouldn’t let her family members play, she was horrified by what happened to Damar Hamlin, but she was comfortable mocking Foles and defending Thibodeaux.

Boomer Esiason said that while he appreciated her passion, Debbie needed to accept that he knows more about sacks than she does.

“This is what I do,” he said. “This is what I do, Debbie. Our job is to come in here and give an opinion and I’d like to think, in this case, because I have been on the other end of hits like that, that I have pretty good credibility when I talk about it.”

SportsTalk 790 Debuts in Louisville

0

iHeartMedia Louisville has consolidated its sports programming into one brand, launching SportsTalk 790.

Previously branded as 790 WKRD, the station will broaden from its formerly University of Louisville-centric focus to a more generic sports format.

The station will feature much of the Kentucky Sports Radio programming produced by the Matt Jones-owned network, which had previously aired on Talk Radio 1080 — also owned by iHeartMedia — in the city.

Tom Leach will host from 8:00-9:00 AM, while the KSR Preshow airs from 9:00-10:00 AM. Kentucky Sports Radio with Jones will be heard from 10:00 AM-12:00 PM, followed by Jerry Eaves for one hour before The Herd With Colin Cowherd airs from 1:00-3:00 PM.

Former 790 WRKD morning host Nick Coffey moves to afternoons to host Coffey & Company from 3:00-6:00 PM. FOX Sports Radio will air in all other dayparts for the newly launched station.

Stephen A. Smith: ‘I Know Skip Bayless’s Heart is in the Right Place’

0

Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless have a complicated relationship. It isn’t that long ago that the two were having a public spat about what the addition of Smith meant to the success of First Take. Now, Smith is coming to the defense of his friend.

In a video interview for USA Today Sports, reporter McKenzie Salmon asked Smith what his thoughts were about Bayless’s tweet in the wake of Damar Hamlin collapsing on the field during Monday Night Football.

He said that he is never going to join the chorus of condemnation.

“I’m not about to judge Skip Bayless or anybody else for saying the wrong thing. God knows I have. Intent matters. Yes, you’ve got to be sensitive out there. Mental health matters, life matters, human beings’ well-being matters. And when you speak, you have to make sure that you’re sensitive to everything that you can be sensitive to.”

Skip Bayless addressed the backlash to his tweet on Tuesday’s edition of Undisputed on FS1. His position is that the people that are angry at him misinterpreted his message because of the emotions wrapped up in what they had just seen. Reading it outside of the moment, it should be clear that he was saying that finishing the game is not important.

Stephen A. Smith did not defend the tweet, but he did say that he and Bayless have a long history and that he knows him better than many that are calling for his friend’s job.

“I’ve spent years disagreeing with Skip Bayless, I disagree with him now, and I’m going to disagree with him into the future. But he’s still my brother, he’s still a guy that brought me here on First Take and I know who he is, I know what he’s about. Do I agree with everything that he says? Or how he says it? Or the timing with which he uses to say things? No. But the flip side to it is that I know, by and large his heart is in the right place and people make mistakes.”

ESPN, XFL Announce 2023 Schedule

0

ESPN, in conjunction with the XFL, has announced the 2023 schedule for the third iteration of the spring football league.

All 43 XFL games will air on Disney-owned networks, with 7 games airing on ABC, 22 games between ESPN and ESPN2, and 15 games airing on FX. Additionally, all games will be streamed on ESPN+.

“Through the global scale and support of Disney and ESPN, our fans will have multiple options to access and experience the XFL across broadcast, cable, and streaming,” said XFL President Russ Brandon. “With six weeks until kickoff, we are excited about our partnership and the immersive game day viewing experience that our collaboration will provide viewers.”

ESPN will televise the entirety of the 2023 XFL Playoffs, with the XFL Championship Game then airing on ABC on Saturday, May 13th.

“Throughout the 2023 XFL season, each platform will have unique opportunities to showcase key moments, from the Championship on ABC, Playoffs on ESPN and ESPN2 and a big opening weekend with games on ESPN, ABC and FX,” said ESPN Vice President of Programming and Acquisitions Tim Reed. “We are also excited to provide another innovative offering for ESPN+ subscribers, with every game available live.”

To view the entire 2023 XFL schedule, click here.

Apple Launches AI-Narrated Audiobooks

0

Apple has launched a text-to-speech AI narrated service for its Apple’s Books platform.

According to The Verge, the move could have implications for the multi-billion dollar audiobook industry. Apple claims the move opens up audiobooks accessibility, saying the “digital narration” reduces the “cost and complexity” of creating the necessary audio.

Currently, the feature is only available for romance and fiction offerings with two different voices. The service hopes to add two more voices for non-fiction books. Also, English is currently the only available language offered.

The shift to AI-narrated books is a direct opposition to Amazon’s current rules for Audible, which expressly state that audiobooks submitted and offered on the platform must be narrated by a human. Amazon Kindle removed text-to-speech offerings more than a decade ago due to copyright concerns.

Michael Kay Contemplating Ending His Radio Show

0

According to a report from Andrew Marchand of The New York Post, 98.7 ESPN New York afternoon host Michael Kay is “seriously considering” leaving his radio show.

Marchand reports Kay has privately shared with ESPN executives that at the conclusion of his current contract — which expires in September — he expects to walk away.

Kay, who recently celebrated the show’s 20th anniversary on the air, also serves as the television play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees on YES Network.

In addition to his work with YES Network, Kay has fostered a relationship with ESPN that has seen his profile grow to include the KayRod Cast — a Manningcast style alternate broadcast — for Sunday Night Baseball with former New York Yankee Alex Rodgriguez. Kay also served as the play-by-play announcer for a MLB playoff series on ESPN in 2022.

98.7 ESPN New York recently launched a more locally-focused lineup of DiPietro & Rothenburg in morning drive, while shifting ESPN Radio’s national midday show Bart & Hahn to a strictly New York-focused show, alongside Kay’s afternoon program.

Doug Gottlieb: Why is FOX So Protective of Skip Bayless?

0

Skip Bayless has defended his actions after a tweet he sent during the Damar Hamlin situation Monday evening created tremendous pushback. On Wednesday, FOX Sports Radio host Doug Gottlieb had strong pushback to Bayless “doubling down” on his tweet during the opening of Undisputed with Shannon Sharpe.

Bayless made the claim no one at FOX Sports had a problem with his tweet, which Gottlieb found preposterous.

“In what world does he think no one had a problem with it?,” Gottlieb said during his In The Bonus podcast. “The person sitting across the desk from him had a problem with it…I’ve reached the ‘I don’t give a f— moment’ of my time here at FOX Sports Radio.”

Gottlieb then brought up an example of a time he disagreed with Bayless and his opinion that the Golden State Warriors were better without Kevin Durant.

“I just said ‘The idiocy of this has to stop’. We played Skip’s sound of him saying it, but I did not direct any of my commentary personally at Skip, it was the idea that we hear this narrative that we hear on radio and see on TV…all I said was something after a clip of Skip. We have a guy — I won’t name him — his job is taking the clips from radio, packaging them, and putting them on social media. And what he put on social media was just that. But he had a picture of Skip.

“So people (at FOX Sports) search Twitter for Skip and they see ‘Gottlieb’s talking shit about Skip. You need to take this down’…so I asked ‘Why are we so protective of Skip Bayless?’ He’s made this portion of his career about strong opinions, and I vehemently disagree with his opinion, but I didn’t even say his name. I said the idiocy of this narrative. So this is me calling bullshit on the ‘no one had a problem…’, are you f—ing kidding me? Yesterday, you went on TV and did a 180 on Lebron James and act like no one was effected? Get the f— out of here.

“But it’s equally bullshit for Shannon to not to the show yesterday. You are the voice. That’s your job. To go ‘No Skip, you’re wrong. No matter what you put in the last sentence, the first three sentences lack empathy. Kid’s laying there, fighting for his life. And you’re concerned about playoff seedings? Get the f— out of here! Have a heart!’ That’s what you’re supposed to do. That’s the beauty of that show!”

Gottlieb mentioned he has no relationship with either of his FOX Sports colleagues, noting “we’re not friends, we’re not enemies, I just don’t have any relationship” with either of the Undisputed hosts. He also added he believes Bayless’ reputation played a role in the reaction to his tweet, and believes the longtime pundit frankly lacks empathy.

“This is how Skip’s brain works. He’s very matter of fact. It’s almost Asperger’s-like. He lacks empathy..I think one of the hard parts about being somebody with strong opinions is you do have to cut through the emotions and get to what’s really going on.”

1190 iHeartSports DC Launches in Washington DC

0

iHeartMedia has announced the launch of a new sports radio station in the market, 1190 iHeartSports DC.

1190 WCRW was recently added to the iHeart group in the nation’s capital, as the conglomerate struck a local marketing agreement with Potomac Radio Group late last week. With the LMA, iHeartMedia changed the station’s call letters to WTSD.

“We are excited to announce the launch of 1190 iHeartSports DC,” said iHeartMedia Region President Aaron Hyland. “We are thrilled to deliver this incredible lineup of the biggest names in sports talk audio to the DMV including exclusive Washington Commanders content utilizing 1190 AM, 104.7 FM and 101.1 HD2 and iHeartMedia’s unmatched scale and reach.”

iHeartMedia DC currently holds the media rights for the NFL franchise and airs live game broadcasts on classic rock station Big 100.3. No further details about what exclusive content from the Commanders would air on the newly formed station.

The station will feature the entire FOX Sports Radio lineup from 6:00 AM-5:00 PM before airing VSiN content for the remainder of the day. Sports betting content will also air on the station from 5:00 PM Friday evenings through 6:00 AM Monday mornings.

“Teaming up with iHeart again to deliver sports betting content to local radio audiences was a no-brainer, and we look forward to educating and informing sports bettors and fans in this top 10 media market,” said VSiN Founder and CEO Brian Musburger. “Bringing VSiN’s unique brand of sports wagering content to the D.C. area further expands our distribution footprint and solidifies our position as the nation’s largest sports betting network.”

1190 iHeartSports DC launches will a Class B signal of 50,000 watts of daytime power, which reduces to 1,200 watts at night.

Jimmy Failla Reacts To Don Lemon’s New Year’s Eve Blunder

0

Fox News host Jimmy Failla reacted to CNN’s New Year’s Eve blunder in which host Don Lemon missed the countdown to the ball drop. It appeared that Lemon lost track of time and was off by about 19 seconds as bystanders celebrated the beginning of 2023. 

The comedian-turned-broadcaster exposed the embarrassing moment during an appearance on the “Ingraham Angle” Tuesday night. 

“That’s how we start! Are you all ready for this countdown!” Don told the crowd after 2023 had arrived.

“This is like the groundhog forgetting to come out of its hole,” said Failla. “Dude, New Year’s Eve is all about the countdown.” 

“What’s 19 seconds? It’s only a countdown,” added Ingraham. 

Last year, CNN came under fire when hosts Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper were drinking on the air. Cohen made a derogatory statement about “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.”

“CNN has been dropping the ball all year long,” Failla said jokingly.

Jason Whitlock: Big Pharma Influences Free Speech on All Platforms

0

Blaze TV host Jason Whitlock said he’s willing to pay the price for talking about the possible ramifications of the COVID vaccine as it relates to the cardiac arrest of Buffalo Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin. 

According to Fox News Digital, Hamlin has shown “signs of improvement” since he was rushed to the hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest during Monday night’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals. 

“My reluctance to ponder the possibility that the vaccines the NFL promoted contributed to Hamlin’s cardiac arrest is starting to dissipate,” Whitlock said during his “Fearless” podcast Tuesday. “If you can go on CNN and blame football for something that is almost impossible to blame this on football, why not ponder the impact of the so-called clog shot?” 

Whitlock said that we’ve seen from the Twitter Files that Big Tech shadow-banned people that questioned the efficacy of the shots. 

“YouTube discourages its users from negatively discussing the shot,” Whitlock said. “Big Pharma greatly influences what we can and cannot say on all platforms.” 

Whitlock added that the pharmaceutical industry’s commercials finance the NFL and other sports leagues. 

“Roger Goodell would rather have football blamed for Hamlin’s collapse than have football viewers second guess their fifth booster,” he said. “I don’t know that this is vaccine related but I do think enough time has passed that it’s fair to have that discussion.”