Friday, July 10, 2009

Mutiny on the Bounty

So Doggie's firing of Program Director Steve Torre and threats to fire everyone else on Mad Dog Radio has triggered a mass negative reaction by all the hosts on his station - even the fill ins.

Today's morning host, Casey Stern (filling in for the regular host and with a job on XM MLB station) ripped Dog over the phone on the air. Now, his afternoon guys, The B-Team, just basically called him an antiquated has-been. "[Dog] is in a time warp," one of the guys said. "He should have been born in the 1940s. He wants to talk about the 1946 all-star game and he thinks the best movie ever is 'The Best Days of Our Lives.'"

Not only is Dog getting ripped by his employees/hosts on the air, but callers have generally stuck up for them too.

"I want you to fill up every line on Dog's program and tell him he's a moron. Ruin his show. Then ask him about the Quebec Nordiques," said one of the B-Team guys.

Editorial note: The Quebec Nordiques moved to Denver and became the Colorado Avalanche in 1995. Maybe Dog is onto something here.

Neil Best is on vacation, but I am here for y'all.

UPDATE: The B-Team just compared Dog to Mile Holmgren as a General Manager.
UPDATE #2: Rich Ackerman just reccomended that - in protest - nobody call into Dog's show today.
UPDATE #3: Gresh is ripping Dog now and making good points.
UPDATE #4: Mario from Minnesota just compared Dog's firing of Steve Torre to Saddam Hussein shooting a soldier in the head in front of his troops.
UPDATE #5: Maybe it was all a big publicity stunt. Dog just said he'll invite Torre back next week while Dog's on vacation and then threw Mia under the bus, saying "she stinks anyway."

31 comments:

Brian said...

I abandoned midday sports talk radio when Max Kellerman was fired so I have never heard the B-Team before. But I'm listening today because this is great radio.

One of them said that he wants Russo to come in and get on the air with him at 1:45, before Dog's show starts. There could be a showdown later on.

Anonymous said...

I don't get it. Are all these guys employees of Dog or Sirius? Does he really have hiring and firing power or what? I have never listened to Sirius so I am in the dark.

Brian...Totally with you on Mad Max. The smartest talk show host we've seen in a long, long time. He will pop up soon but where?

KBilly said...

AwesomSean. I think its safe to assume that since he canned Torre, he has firing power. Karmazin signs the checks, but Russo is the boss for his station.

Ryan T. said...

KBilly, will we be hearing from you on Dog's show again today? Maybe some recommendations for new hosts... Kellerman, Kornheiser, Len Berman, Kevin Berkhardt, etc.

This is starting to sound a little bit schtickey and staged. But whatever, it's fun to listen to, and if it gets his channel more popularity, kudos to them all.

KBilly said...

Sid Rosenberg? Not sure if he'd be allowed to smoke crack in the studio.

Ryan T. said...

That's a good one too. Steal Jody Mac from 1050 ESPN. Give Mario from Minnesota his own 3 hour show. He calls 5 times a day anyway.

KBilly said...

And Kellerman sucked on 1050. He went on for like an hour about if a half lion half tiger could beat a polar bear in a fight. I never listened to him after I heard that.

I can't stand Kellerman on HBO Boxing either. He's too smug. At least I know Larry Merchant is drunk off his a$$.

Anonymous said...

Definitely an arrogant dude, no doubt, but much, much smarter than Kay, Francessa, Dog etc. Talks boxing, sabermetrics etc. I do have to say, though, his take on rap sucks. He does think he's the only white boy that can speak on rap. That's wiggitty wack, yo.

Brian said...

Yeah some of his bits aren't for everybody, such as the killer animal tournament.

However, unlike most sports radio hosts he backs up his arguments with stats and facts rather than saying things like "I saw Joba hit a guy in the foot with the bases loaded. He can't be a starting pitcher!!"

Anonymous said...

I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW DUMB YOU PEOPLE ARE!!!!!

RUSSO IS BORED AND JOKING AROUND!

NOBODY IS BEING FIRED OR ANYTHING.

IT'S A JOKE!

WOW. YOU PEOPLE ARE STUPID!!!!!!!

Ryan T. said...

...says the nameless individual

Brian said...

Anon-

Steve Torre was FIRED....It's not a joke.

bigjf said...

I can't believe WFAN hasn't picked up Max yet. Maybe he's taking the summer off? Or perhaps there's no place in sports radio for a host to back up his arguments with evidence and be willing to consider the opposing argument as well...

As for Dog, it sounds like he's getting creamed and it's no joke. We'll see where this ends up, but it wouldn't surprise me if he came back to the free NY radio market, probably with 1050 because I don't think the fat man would be willing to bring back his old chum.

NY Sports Jerk said...

It's a joke, I guarantee it.

bigjf said...

By the way, I meant to bring this up...Lenny Dykstra is filing for bankruptcy. I wonder if Mike regrets that long, boring, ellitist spot he did with Dykstra that time, where Mike basically lauded him as a genius and a financial savior.

gabagool said...

1.A liger stands NO CHANCE against a polar bear. As big as they are, a polar bear is ENOURMOUS. Speed- liger, strength goes to Polar.

2. Max's brother got killed by a boxer he was helping. When Kellerman talks about boxing, I listen, to see if he ever talks about it.

3. Are you sure this ain't a joke? I can't picture Dog firing anyone,unless he hires a bodyguard for a month or so until things blow over.

4. Mike will deny the interview ever happened. And, of course, there isn't any tapes. Mike always KNEW Dystra was a financial phony.

Loki said...

Did he "fire" him on air? Any sound clips of Dog?

Ryan T. said...

He announced the firing on air yesterday at 6pm. And has repeated the fact that he's been fired many many times since.

KBilly said...

Even Tony Daddy Dog Russo is giving Dog s--t about canning Torre. Tony also thought today is Tuesday...

Anonymous said...

This is all a joke by Russo.

It's a boring time in sports so Russo want to play games and have fun.

He did this back at WFAN. Obviously not to this extent but.........

Nobody has been fired and I'm sure everybody that works for the station is in on it.

- Rock

KBilly said...

It isn't a joke. Torre has made a bunch of mistakes in his updates, including reporting that some guy shot a record 57 at the US Open when he was really on the 15th hole.

Ryan T. said...

Rock, a 2-day long practical joke would piss off more listeners than he's pissing off by airing the channel's dirty laundry on air. I can live with his honest opinion on his hosts but being jerked around for two full days is unforgivable. He's not idiot and knows this.

Is he probably exaggerating to a large degree, yea. But is Torre gone and can we expect another couple moves, I would say yes to that too.

KBilly said...

Dog likes to talk about sports history, but I bet he wouldn't watch Pryor vs Arguello if they were fighting in his living room. And that's the best fight ever.

Anonymous said...

Jeff Francoeur for Ryan Church?

Is this a positive? Is this the best Omar can do? What did we gain?

Oh well. At least we know Omar is alive.

JD

gman26 said...

Classic by Kbilly. reminds me of the movie Matewan when David Straitharn said, "I wouldn't piss on him if his heart were on fire."

Anonymous said...

KB...I'd say one of the best ever but I'll take Barrera/Morales I and Gatti/Ward I over the Hawk/Alexis fight and over Hagler/Hearns. Good for you to bring some boxing to the board. Nice title today also homey.

Anonymous said...

Russo just said Torre will be back on Monday doing updates.

Told all of you.

I'm shocked how many people fell for this.

-Rock

KBilly said...

AwesomeSean, Gatti Ward I and III were great, so was Moralles Barerra (I saw their third fight live at the MGM and it was just as good). So was Coralles Castillo I, but Pryor v Arguello I was when I was like 7 years old and that was the fight that got me into boxing.

Anonymous said...

Anyone see the updated Lenny Dykstra story on Real Sports tonight?

It was great! Lenny is out of his F_ _ _ing mind!!!

He still thinks he's rich!

JD

NY Sports Jerk said...

Told you it was a joke. My guarantee is as good as gold.

Anonymous said...

No shit. You'd have to be an idiot to believe anything Russo says.