Jim O'Donnell: Talent-free Chicago sports talk radio stations battered by the empty winds of March
CHICAGO'S TWO SPORTS TALK radio stations drifted farther down that dreaded Boulevard of Irrelevancy this week.
In the latest Nielsen Audios, centered on a large portion of March, WSCR 670-AM finished tied for 23rd with a Christian music station.
Squirrel feeder WMVP 1000-AM wasn't too far behind, dead-heating for 27th.
Their combined numbers for all-ages audiences - "The Score" a 1.3 and 'MVP at 0.9. - would have tied the combo for 20th among remaining local t-radio stations.
THE DISASTROUS "BOOK" was simply more proof of what happens when air-brained programmers remain on payroll to oversee a flatulent blend of talent-free Babbitts and cringingly nerd-ish Hey-Mom-I'm-on-the-radio types.
The programming on both is so bad that it's a shame the FCC doesn't have a "Save Our Signals" response team that can sweep through the two hallways and upgrade things with "The Cheery Retro Sounds of Gilbert O'Sullivan" or "All Al Roker, All the Time."
But, when you've got ground-hole sniffers like Carmen DeFalco, John Jurkovic, Dan Bernstein, Matt Spiegel and the inimitable David "Chatty" Kaplan on the air, what else can be expected?
AS CURRENTLY CONSTITUTED, the two stations are going nowhere. So, their consistencies should be acknowledged.
But for corporate cash counters, one saving grace is that both are significantly benefiting from the wild ad spending of sports gaming sword dancers like DraftKings and FanDuel.
As recently as three years ago, sports gaming as a hefty radio advertising gold mine was essentially nonexistent.
Now, it's a large dollar patron of widespread dronishness. That's all predicated on the desire of the deep-pocketed outfits to land the novice bettor in time for his or her first-time new-wave wager.
In the meantime, sports talk on Chicago radio packs all the wallop of a Green Party Howie Hawkins-for-President lawn sign.
And the hollow prattle moos on.
•••
WHILE THE BULLS-BUCKS playoffs series plays out, the most entertaining team to watch in the NBA postseason has quickly become the Golden State Warriors - the No. 3 seed in the West.
The battle-scarred splashers have been boosted by a quick mix of favorable timing and the ever-evolving coaching wizardry of Steve Kerr.
Kerr has been playing Steph Curry as sixth man. He's nurturing championship-caliber contributions out of one-time G-Leaguer Jordan Poole. And he's crafted a dandy "Dainty Death Lineup" of Curry, Poole, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins.
The Warriors take a 2-0 series lead to Denver Thursday (TNT, 9 p.m.; Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller). They've been bet down to +350 - second choice behind only Phoenix (+290) and ahead of Milwaukee (+450) - to win it all.
STREET-BEATIN': Toy Matsushita - the young Japanese-English interpreter for new Cubs sensation Seiya Suzuki - has been rubbing a whole lot of media people the right way. He grew up on Guam and graduated from hidden nugget Chapman University in southern California. The school's alumni roll includes former Mariners owner George Argyros, Playboy Enterprises heir Cooper Hefner and actor Colin Hanks. ...
Whatever the motivation for the oddball depiction of Jerry West in HBO's "Winning Time," it's so far from reality that the entire Adam McKay pratfall is rendered low-Q slap-schtick. For decades, up close and personal, West has been one of the most consistently insightful, accessible gentlemen in the game. (Geez, he was even sincerely nice to Jerry Krause.) ...
Readers are still buzzing about a Jay Mariotti column posted at substack.com titled, "Caution: This is why you can't trust the American sports media." No surprise, Mariotti-in-exile brings extreme prejudice and skill to a topic he is most well-versed to write about. ...
That Champaign/Alamo group of Brad Underwood defenders points to the successful recruiting of five-star Skyy Clark - great name - as more than mitigating the decision of Andre Curbelo to transfer to St. John's. Curbelo's sophomore season was a disappointment and Kentucky's John Calipari took a pass on reuniting him with Orlando Antigua, the ex-Illini assistant who brought him to Underwood. ...
NBC Sports Chicago, Rocky Wirtz and the Blackhawks' gold guardians certainly dug deep to parting-gift Pat Foley with "an all-expenses paid trip to any one of golf's four majors." Why not all four? Or perhaps two plus one free "independent investigation" by Jenner Block? ...
And Teresa Hanafin, on Kyrie Irving's one-digit saluting during Brooklyn's opening knockdown at TD Garden in Boston: "Word is he'll be icing his middle fingers all week."
• Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears three times weekly, including Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com.