Toucher and Rich air from 6-10 A.M.
Ever since the destruction of The Score 99.7 in Rhode Island, Rhode Islanders’ have been forced to listen to Boston Sports Talk for the past five years or so. I am not saying that is a bad thing, but it certainly has it’s restrictions. For one, local college sports from Rhode Island are rarely covered, but there are several good interviews that air on these stations due to their Boston location. 103.7 WEEI-FM came to Rhode Island roughly five years ago and made an impact by purchasing the rights to air the Providence Friars a year or so later. More recently (August), 98.5 turned from a trendy pop station into a Sports Hub, so now local sports enthusiasts have two stations to tune to. So which one provides better content?
The best way to analyze these two stations would be to give a minor review of their broadcast lineup and hosts. Lets start with the fans popular choice due to longevity, WEEI.
6-10 A.M. - Dennis and Callahan (My Grade: C)
In my opinion, Dennis and Callahan are not good sports radio hosts. They dwell way to much into the political spectrum, which is not what I want to hear when I put on WEEI in the mornings. It is one thing to cover the news, but it is another to discuss and interview politicians like this is the O’Reilly Factor. Their only good sports analysis seems to come pertaining to the Red Sox, and their political overviews are extremely biased, tending to be more to the conservative viewpoint. Interesting at times, just not what I want during my morning commute.
10 - 2 P.M. - Dale and Holley (A-)
In my opinion, this is the best show on WEEI. Both Dale and Holley are relatively mild-mannered, and discuss a good variety of sports topics, including several interviews I have heard with them and Providence Friars Head Coach Keno Davis. They make sure to explain themselves throughly and always seem to respect callers. The only problem I have with Dale and Holley is that sometimes it is nice to get the audience fired up about something, and sometimes they are not passionate enough for me. However, this is still a great show based on content.
2 - 6 P.M. - The Big Show (B-)
Glenn Ordway can be funny at times, but sometimes he comes off as overly opinionated and abuses his callers, while the co-hosts do the same thing. The lack of a constant co-host can lead to frustration as a listener, because some of them just are not that good. Between that and the fact that Glenn Ordway seems to get half a year worth of vacation, it is hard to get accustomed to the supporting cast they have assembled for this show at WEEI. However, the one thing the wide-variety of co-hosts offers is different opinions, and Steve DeOssie and Lou Merloni give a terrific background into their respective sports.
6 - ? - Planet Mikey Show (B-)
I used to love listening to Mike Adams, but there are two things that bother me about this show. One is the fact that the WEEI night lineup is packed with so many extra-cirriculars that he seems to never be on the air, and two is that he is easily distracted. For example, during Red Sox season he will comment about the girls outside (not a problem), but interrupt callers to do so. However, his opinion is fresh and he balances out the sports with some interesting, although random news coverage, its just tough to get into because it seems as though he is on air for a half-hour at a time on most nights.
Extra-Cirriculars (A+)
WEEI offers a great place to listen to additional sports coverage. With Red Sox, Celtics, and Friars coverage, there is always a good local team to listen to nearly every night while you are on the go. It certainly helps make up for missing the Planet Mikey Show.
Now we can talk about the newcomers, 98.5 The Sports Hub.
6-10 A.M. - Toucher and Rich (A)
In my opinion, this is the best sports show that our airwaves has to offer. Toucher and Rich keep the show balanced perfectly, adding in the perfect amount of humor into sports and news stories. With great celebrity sports interviews and good sports coverage, you have to put on Toucher and Rich if you are looking for a good laugh and good coverage. The one thing they are missing is that sometimes they dive too much into personal stories and not enough into callers, but that is miniscule considering the quality that comes out of that show.
10 - 2 P.M. - Tanguay and Zolak (B+)
Tanguay and Zolak may lose to the local competition here, but not by much. Being a former quarterback, Zolak gives great coverage on the NFL, but seems to struggle at times talking about other sports. Luckily, Tanguay has a diverse background that allows him to pick up the slack when necessary, despite his occasional ramblings about ridiculous occurrences. However, these guys have a lot of fun on the air, and it’s a good listen depending on what they are talking about.
2 - 6 P.M. - Felger and Massarotti (C+)
Tony Massarotti balances out what Felger cannot deliver. Mike Felger is sometimes too belligerent and opinionated to tolerate, but in-between his constant ramblings which seem to be rather similar from day to day, he does make some good points. Sometimes it is funny to hear them argue about things, but other times it gets downright obnoxious. Without a guy like Tony on this show, it would almost be intolerable at times.
6 - 11 P.M. - The D.A. Show (B)
For a one man show, the D.A. show is usually a decent listen. He always seems to provide a decent analysis on the local sports, but sometimes seems to lack the fiery passion that Dale and Holley seem to lack on WEEI. However, he seems to get into a good discussion with his callers, and it is a very informative show.
Extra-Cirriculars (B-)
This is the one area where WEEI trounces The Sports Hub. With only the Patriots and Bruins, the Sports Hub lacks the teams that fans are dying to listen too. Most Bruins fans are at the games, and the Patriots only play 17 or so games a year. Lacking local flavor also plays into this, as Rhode Island teams barely ever get a mention on this station.
So in the end, each station has its pros and cons, so it is up to you as the listener to decide what you would rather listen to. Both stations are comparable, but I give the edge overall to the Sports Hub.
