EZ The Blog

When a washed-up sports radio host has only one outlet left.

Well, today was (obviously) a crazy day.

I was notified by Cumulus this morning that the operation at Cumulus Louisville would be “suspended indefinitely.”  I really don’t have any more to add than that, other than I will forever be indebted to Cumulus for giving me the opportunity.

And people, PLEASE don’t blame Tom Jurich.  As I said on this very blog back when 93.9 FM (my former on-air home) flipped from sports to classic hits, Jurich did not have anything to do with Cumulus pulling the plug. Tom is a good guy. He would NEVER do anything like this.

Now, there’s no doubt that the University has not enjoyed things that I have said about them at times.  However, I’m totally at peace with how I talked about the Cards–mostly good, but critical when needed–just as I am with how I talked about the Cats and the Hoosiers.  I hope all the schools feel the same way about me.

As far as the stations going dark today, there’s no doubt that it will put a dent in your confidence when something like this happens.  I am no different.  Especially when it’s the third signal that someone has put you on in the same market.

However, I refuse to let it drag me down.  I’d love to get back into it, and NOW!  Maybe something will pop up for me.  Maybe it won’t.  But either way, I’m going to keep on moving.

The future is unknown but, to be honest, I don’t feel that “fear” of the unknown.  In fact, today was a little exciting. Phone calls came in.  So did the e-mails, twitter, facebook, and text messages.  The support was overwhelming, which makes it much easier to look toward the future and not be too sad.

A HUGE thanks to all of the people who have thrown support my way.  And a big thanks to those who listened to the show.  If not for you, I probably would’ve been off a lot sooner.  Also, thanks to all the people that made me look like a decent host–Rick Bozich, Andy Sweeney, Trevor Kelsey (“Bacon”), Bryan Hash, and all the interns along the way.  Very cool!

So, would you all be interested in an occasional live show via the internet?  Could be fun, but I want to gauge interest.

Feel free to leave comments on here if you’d like to chat, or hit me up on Twitter at twitter.com/bigez.

Thanks again to everyone.  I hope to post here a little more often since I have a little extra time (haha).  Talk to you again soon!

My crush, Erin Andrews (and, yes, Lady EZ knows), did pretty good last night on Dancing With The Stars for Week 1.  Well, forget my opinion.  We’ll save that for later.  Let’s get to the good stuff.

Now, I caught this video online just like you probably did.  Therefore, I have no frame of reference for how show did comepared to the rest of the field.  But given my high level of expertise in dancing, I hope she continues to improve.  She will need to do so to keep advancing.

(h/t The Big Lead)

One of the reasons I’ll probably never make it big time in the sports radio biz (besides the fact that I’m not very good at it) is because I don’t “attempt” to make “shock jock” radio. Now, sometimes it can come off that way I’m sure.  But, it’s definitely not intended.

To me, though, the kind of radio that WFAN’s Mike Francesa tried to pull off yesterday is the definition of “shock jock” (I hate that term).  It’s also some of the same material that has made Francesa a household name to many across the country, especially in the Northeast.

And it’s also the kind of radio that I refuse to do, for better or worse for me personally and professionally.

No need to give it any context, and it is a bit long.  You don’t need to watch the whole thing to get the drift (although the part that really sends me over the edge is at the very end).  It gets more and more tense the further you go.

As many of you already know, Rick Bozich, my radio partner (off and on) for the last year and a half, landed a gig with FoxSports.com to write about college basketball with Jeff Goodman.  A great move for Rick and a great move by Fox Sports.

However, with that, it was in his best interest to end his run on radio for now.  He’s got a lot on his plate.  We all understand, and while I’ll miss him as a partner, I couldn’t be more sincerely happy for Dr. Bo.

As a result, since then, my company and I have been in talks about how to continue the show.  There’s been a lot to sift through, and we’re still sifting (I like the word ‘sift’).  So, for this week (yes, I know, it’s the most important week of the sports radio year locally), ESPN 1450 has decided to go with network programming during our regular 3-6 p.m. ET slot.

I’ve got my fingers crossed that we can get everything settled and back on the air as early as next week.  Stay tuned on that front and I’ll try to keep you posted here.  If you are a fan of the show, my best suggestion would be to tell the powers-at-be how you feel by sending your thoughts to feedback[at]1450theticket.com (I wrote it out like that to avoid spamming).  And hell, even if you don’t like me, send a note anyway.  The Louisville area needs and deserves more local sports talk.  This may be the best way to get it at this point.

Anyway, a big thanks to all of you that have already sent in messages.  We’ve realized that while the signal is a problem for those of you outside of the Louisville-metro, we’re still making some sort of dent, because the e-mail box is filling up.

Hope to update you on this as soon as I got something.

EZ and Bo Show producer Sweeney is in jeopardy of having his man card revoked after this he thinks. And, well, I may have mine revoked too.

Last week on The EZ and Bo Show on ESPN 1450 The Ticket (3-6pm ET weekdays, shameless plug), I talked about the BCS and what the best scenario would be for college football this year to create chaos in the BCS system, and hopefully find the key that fits in the “Override” keyhole (think “strategic missile launch” in the movie Crimson Tide) and turn that sucker until the key breaks off in the hole.

Our executive producer, Andy Sweeney, was certain that a plethora of undefeated teams at the end of the season would be the perfect recipe for this.  I argued differently, instead giving the example of an undefeated Cincinnati getting bumped for at least one (if not, more) one-loss teams from other BCS conferences.

And if I had this column from Chris Dufresne of the Los Angeles Times, I may have recited it verbatim to support my argument: numerous undefeated teams will not generate more evidence in favor of a playoff.  Something different must happen.

Well-written, something I can’t do (and I have a degree in Journalism).  Which is why I chose radio (ironically, something else that I can’t do).

Root for losses, college football fans.  And start rooting for them NOW.

Coming to you live, for the moment, from El Compadre restaurant in the town square of Paoli, Ind.  Home, officially, of the worst chips and salsa of a so-called “authentic” Mexican restaurant this side of the Rio Grande.

I’m paying my check right now and heading over to the stadium early to do The EZ & Bo Show on ESPN 1450 The Ticket from 3-5 ET (Listen Live!).  We’ll have on our resident handicapper, “Ace” from Pregame.com.  The man has been on fire.  He picks five games a week for us, and through four weeks the man is 14-6!  Again, FOURTEEN WINS AND SIX LOSSES!  It shall not be understated.  He’ll be on at around 3:40p.  Then Ferrell Elliott will join us from ChampChamp.com and the World Championship of Fantasy Football to take your fantasy football questions.

And then, of course, Bozich and I will fight about something.

Then, don’t forget to check out our Indiana high school playoff broadcast between Providence and # 2 Paoli beginning at 6:30p.  For some quick info on what should be a great game, click here (the list is in alphabetical order, so scroll down to the P’s).

Happy Friday.

Notice, and it seems on cue, that right after his apology, the band plays.

And doesn’t it seem like everyone left the room and left him out on an island to clean this mess up?

Truly awkward sports television. Without further ado, Exhibit A:

Don’t you just hate those idiots that talk on the radio all the time and act like they know what they’re talking about, but you really think they have no idea?

Yeah, me too (this would be a good time to plug The EZ and Bo Show on ESPN 1450 in Louisville, Ky. from 3-6pm).

Anyway, it appears that Roman Oben doesn’t like some of those talking heads either, and he’s blogging about it.

By now, you may have heard or read about Rush Limbaugh’s interest in buying the NFL’s St. Louis Rams, and the former University of Louisville offensive lineman… well… I don’t think he’s real interested in Rush being interested, if you know what I’m saying.  From The Washington Post:

“Anyone who has made a living bashing political leaders and their policies by vicious and unethical personal attacks, accused actor Michael J Fox of “exaggerating the effects of Parkinson’s disease,” made racially-charged comments about Donovan McNabb’s ability as a black quarterback and hypocritically called for harsher punishment for minorities charged with low level drug crimes while himself being criminally addicted to oxycontin for many years, does not represent the honor, integrity and dignity for which the NFL shield is supposed to represent.”

I’d call that a long run-on sentence, but I don’t want to mess with Roman Oben.  Rush probably shouldn’t either.

According to Google, here are the most-viewed blog posts in EZ The Blog history as of September 15, 2009.  It’s just so weird what gets the hits:

1. July 2009: 2009-2010 Big East Men’s Basketball Schedule announced
2. July 2009: Top 200 fantasy football players
3. August 2009: Complete 2009-10 college basketball preseaspn tournament schedule
4. September 2009: Was Indiana State game a must-win for Kragthorpe?

Carry on folks… and listen to The EZ and Bo Show on ESPN 1450 The Ticket.