“on the scene” at big events. You know “on the scene where the news is” or “on the ground in Afghanistan” or wherever Brian Williams would say he was.
Go take a look at our timeline and theirs.
Go see where WNST goes and where 105.7 The Fan goes.
Go see what we do in the community and what they do.
And go listen to the radio stations and compare the level of intelligence in the conversations.
You’ll see the difference. You’ll feel the commitment. You’ll hear the passion. You’ll notice the expertise.
Like my dear friend Julio Bermejo says in San Francisco: “I encourage you to visit our competitors. You’ll be back…”
If you want authenticity, authority, insider information and intelligent discourse, then put on WNST.
If you want to hear wall-to-wall phone calls – and many of them are from the worst and most uninformed imbeciles on your Twitter feed – then tune into them over at 105.7 The Fan.
They’re “uncensored” – just ask them!
That’s where phone calls are on 2015 radar.
Sure, I used to get quality phone calls – but that was 10 years ago before the internet gave everyone on the planet the ability to show their outrage or emotions instantly from their fingertips to your eyeballs. Everyone on the planet became a publisher in 2010 when social media and mobile devices merged to create an ongoing conversation that is instantaneous – not on Monday morning.
And you’re hearing from a caller who wants to sit on hold for 23 minutes while driving and to get 90 seconds on the air with a deposed employee of Daniel Snyder?
How good could it possibly be?
In my new world, I don’t give a rat’s bottom about 105.7 “The Fan.” They do their thing – the way corporations do their thing. And I think it sucks. And I’m not afraid to say that. It’s what’s wrong with America – misinformation and pandering “media” people who are muted from saying anything that doesn’t rankle the feathers of the guy in the suit at the end of the hallway.
I don’t say it often but I think it regularly. So this is my time to say it.
I do my thing the way Michael Moore does or Bill Maher or any number of internet folk who think free speech is still significant.
Thank god for my sponsors and supporters almost 25 years into this thing. And there are plenty of them and I’m blessed! I thank them every day at WNST!
And when I have the audacity to speak the truth about the quality of my product, I get these gems on social media:
No, I’m not. I know them both. I just find neither one of them compelling company – on a personal or professional level – and I certainly don’t find it interesting when someone who knows even less than they do calls in to “make a point.”
Over the past ten years I’ve heard hosts pandering to an audience to get phone calls that only bring the tenor – and discourse – of the show down. I loved Rex Barney but I couldn’t listen to him in 1992. It hurt my brain to hear vapid conversations on the radio. It still does.
It’s just not what I want to do with my life in 2015. I want to converse with folks with more information than me – not less.
Unlike many in the modern age, I like learning. I like smart people. I don’t have enough time in my life to learn all that I want to know so I’m certainly not interested in wasting what’s left of my time on the planet engaged in inane, unwinnable debates with folks I wouldn’t want to chat with on an elevator ride.
For some, it’s perverse entertainment to hear crazy people call talk radio shows. Many times, the host or shock jock is the draw. It has some voyeuristic quality of stupidity that can only be rivaled by Jerry Springer or reality television. People watch the Kardashians and Bobby Brown and Kanye West and all sorts of other dysfunctional garbage all day long on TV.
I don’t.
It’s just not what I’m into and it’s not the kind of content that compels me to produce it, sanction it, host it or be a part of it anymore.
Let’s face it: I could get into “f**k you” wars on Twitter with every nerd in every basement across the Orioles village every night. And that’s just for telling the truth about the baseball team over the past 25 years.
Arguing with anyone who thinks MASN content is a “news source” is futile. It’s like arguing international politics with someone who doesn’t have a passport and hasn’t been further than Ocean City.
I don’t need it.
I did it in the golden era. Before the internet.
Before you could go onto Twitter and be an asshole at any hour or for any audience that would subject themselves to it.
The block button has become wonderful tool. And mute is music to my ears.
This is my industry. I’ve not only noticed the change, I’ve been a part of the change.
Some of the change has been awful. Other parts have been incredible.
And over the years, I’ve grown up as well. And I’m surrounded by awesomeness everywhere in my life these days.
I have the privilege of working with the best journalism partner I’ve ever been associated with in Luke Jones, who covers the Orioles and Ravens with unparalleled expertise and the voice of reason. Sometimes we legitimately disagree – and that’s when it’s really a lot of fun – but the respect I have for his knowledge, insights and candor are always a welcomed addition to WNST and my life.
As I told him a year ago, he’s my favorite person to talk about sports with because he admits what he doesn’t know but knows more than just about anyone about the Orioles, Ravens and Terps. I can even count on him to know all aspects of the WWE as well.
I’m honored and blessed to have him in my life. He’s a true expert and professional in every sense of the word.
Same with Allen McCallum, Don Mohler, Marty Conway, Jim Williams, Billy Yerman, Chris Pika and any number of other recurring guests that have become staples of my cast of cunning conversationalists at WNST. Ray Bachman is back as my executive producer and that’s why we have such great guests on the radio. And Peter DiLutis, Laura Spangenberger, J.R. Richardson and Jason Werner keep all of the trains running on time at our radio and web operation.
It’s the best team of people I’ve ever been associated with over the past 13 months. And all of these folks helped my wife and I through a turbulent, scary experience.
We are very grateful for all who supported us through this difficult part of our lives.
I hope you follow me on game days at WNST. You might see my pictures from the road and the 30-30 #GiveASpit tour. You might see me on Facebook or Twitter or Linked In or Instagram. You might get our WNST Morning Newspaper. You might be on our awesome WNST Text Service.
We reach you in many legitimate, instant and real ways. Oh, and if you put WNST radio on right now you’ll hear an expert, intelligent conversation between two adults.
That’s what I owe you when you tune into my radio station.
I owe you quality content.
And I promise you that is the case every minute of every day in 2015.
We report and break news. They subscribe to our text service.
I write books. They don’t even read books.
I realize my appeal is not for everyone. I do stuff for intelligent people. I talk about sports like a grown up and engage people who know the difference between “your” and “you’re” all day at WNST.net & AM 1570.
Here’s the new WNST format in a nutshell: I talk with people I like about sports and life. I have coffee or a beer with people on the inside all day long and put it on the radio.
All. Day. Long.
So, we NEVER stop talking Baltimore sports.
And, in my humble opinion, we do it better than anyone – then and now.
And I hope you like it, too.
It comes with 24 years of experience in radio and 30 in being around sports and covering sports.
Here’s my resume on Linked In.
Hit me on Twitter.
Follow me on Facebook.
Get our morning newspaper for free every morning.
Join the bone marrow registry.
Come to a live show. We’ll be with out with Steve Smith, Chris Canty, Justin Forsett, and several other Ravens as they get back on track here in the 2015 season. And we’ll be swabbing people at every live event that we do from here on out. It’s our mission and I find it incredibly cool that we can save lives while we wear purple, eat awesome food and talk football.
And don’t forget: we’re a locally owned, locally operated FCC-approved radio station and web media outlet that gives 5% of all of our profits to the Living Classrooms Foundation here in Baltimore through the generosity of Super Bowl winning head coach Brian Billick’s partnership at WNST.net & AM 1570.
So…there!
That’s why you’d wanna listen to my radio show and the conversation and information I dispense regarding Baltimore sports.
Because we’re the best.
And, well, because a hundred people over at the corporate place will never be able to touch the quality of our work and our commitment to excellence at WNST.
And I’m really proud of that.
