[Houston Press] Ranking the Local Sports Radio Shows from Worst to First

I listen to him from 5:15 to 5:30 every afternoon (commute from park and ride to house).

Perhaps I'm part of the problem, but the show is such an ABORTION that I actually make it a point to listen every afternoon just to hear how GOD AWFUL it's going to be. It's like listening to a bizarre social experiment. What depths of radio excrement can we reach today?

A few months ago after the Michael Barry/gay bar story, he came up with a "song" about it and kept playing it over and over again on the show (while laughing hysterically). The song was just him saying "Michael Baaaaaaarrrrrrrrryyyyy......" over and over again.

He was bragging about how he "owned" Barry with this sad, unamusing, unfunny "song".

Just horrible, horrible radio. So horrible that it's actually interesting to listen to, ironically enough. Maybe that's why their ratings are so high?

 

I know you are reading this thread, Josh. You can't resist.

For the record, you annoy the hell out of me.

Jeff, great article and great descriptions of each show

 

I'm not impressed with any sports radio in Houston. Everytime I tune in they are talkin Texans. They spend very little time covering the Astros or Rockets. I thought for sure when the Rockets were challenging for a play off spot that they would get equal coverage as the Texans (who has been in the off season for months). I was wrong. Even in April Houston Sports Radio spends most of its time talking Texans with the occasional few minutes of Rockets talk every couple of hours maybe.

 

The audience is dictating that, not the sports personalities. They are just delivering the product that the fans want. Hell, Matt Thomas makes fun of this all the time with the "obligatory Rockets/Astros call" bit.

 

Just echoing the post above me. Charlie P has begged his callers to call in about the Rockets and has lamented all season how little interest there is in basketball talk, be it college or the NBA. Your disappointment with sports talk in Houston shouldn't be with the radio personalities, it should be with the fans of the city. This is a football town that will attract to baseball/basketball when there is a bright shiny star for them to fawn over.

 

Exactly....hence the pitiful attendance numbers for the Rockets even though they actually HELD a playoff spot for the majority of the season. I've actually decided that as unfortunate as it is, Houston is a VERY low IQ sports town. The fans who call into the radio shows make sports radio unbearable to me.....not the radio personalities.

 

That's true with any city. Show me a city with intelligent talk-radio callers.

I mean, "intelligent talk-radio caller" is pretty much an oxymoron so I guess that's not really a fair challenge at all.

 

As for what the powers that be at SR610 thought of the whole Caliendo thing, they sided with Josh. The boss (Gavin) came on after the interview, along with Josh coming back with his tail between his legs, and said Caliendo actually had an attitude "the second he walked in here" (probably after being presented with those ideas that ticked him off the in the first place?) and that he was persona non grata from then on... so Caliendo is banned from 610, I guess.

 

Josh took it like a b**** but I don't blame him for being upset even when his own dad wouldn't stick up for him just a little.

Caliendo was being a prick, but a funny prick at least.

 

The two posts above are strange...are the show intern or something? Anyhow, why would Caliendo ever go back to do a spot on 610? He does ESPN and CBS radio all over the country...I don't he got banned from CBS. It's clearly a clash or personalities here, which without having insight...just from a listener perspective, the fault lies with Innes. Taking jabs at in-studio guests, forcing callers when the guest didn't agree to it, taking more shots, and then walking out of his own show...who does that?

 

If they didn't pony up for the Texans, 610 would be in the tank.

 

Part of the reason I will listen to Pallilo from time to time. I don't know if they screen pretty closely, but it seems like his callers are a lot less cringe worthy than most.

I think probably a big part of it too is the fact that it's been such a long long drought when it comes to any kind of success in football. Combined with the fact that 'winning' has been kind of hard to come by across the board and the already fickle fanbase is going to be led to the only 'good' thing in Houston sports quite easily.

It was so disappointing how the Rockets ended the season, because it seemed that a lot of the sports talk hosts in town finally were getting the fans to pay attention after that last road trip. And then...

 

Given that I'm not in the US, I don't exactly listen to sports talk anymore. But whenever something major happens and I want to hear local Houston response, I download the Big Show podcast. It's the only show I still enjoy listening to.

I did listen to Charlie Palillo for a while. But I don't really see him as this brainiac people make him out to be. I think it's mostly due to me knowing a lot more about basketball/Rockets than anything else. I feel CP is probably the most well-rounded of radio hosts, but he seems to do best with baseball knowledge, followed by football knowledge. When he tries to analyze the Rockets, I find him lacking in terms of indepth stuff.

 

Charlie is good for baseball, football, basketball, hockey, and tennis. He is okay at boxing, and no shot at MMA.

That's why i like the big show. They know NFL football, college football, basketball, baseball, boxing, mma, and SOCCER. They might be lacking in the hockey department though.


Lopez knows AAU basketball. HEY GUYS, YOU LIKE HOTDOGS? LOPEZ COACHED AAU! HE KNOWS basketball!!

Full of **** bro. Die and go away.

 

Breen and Trupiano were awesome. I was really pissed off when Trupiano left and saddened when Breen passed away. I hate to say this about them since they're dead, but I really couldn't stand Martini and Edmonds ... and then they threw Kenny Hand into the mix to make it even worse on KPRC.

Agree about Joel Buchsbaum. He was a draft god and I always loved listening to him. I remember reading how people like Bill Belichik wanted to hire him and how he was held in high regard even by the NFL elite. I could listen to that guy spew information about 2nd string running backs from Division II schools all day long. He really was incredible.

I still remember when Pallilo first came on the air on KTRH and people complained about him. They wanted him fired for every reason you can think of - he sounded like a kid going through puberty, he was a yankee, he was a know-it-all. He's turned out to be one of the best I've heard.

 

Dear God, Russ Small was horrible. Charlie and Rich had a pretty good show, I think. Tom Franklin was cranky as hell. He would get pissed off at people all the time. The more he hosted shows, the more cranky he seemed to get.

 

It was basically a case of some untalented morning-zoo castoff talk-radio HACK trying to put himself on the same level as a nationally recognized professional comedian.

Say what you want about Caliendo (I don't think he's more than occasionally funny) but this is how the guy makes his living. It's not fun to have some wanna-be make a mockery of your very livelihood - especially with you in the same room. Like being a drummer in a band and having some drunk redneck come on stage wanting to play Wipe Out....... It's insulting and disrespectful. I can see why Cali was ticked. I'm sure his career can survive being banned from 610. LOL...

I can remember him pissing everyone off (including me) by saying....no, guaranteeing the Rockets would never win a championship with Kenny Smith and Vernon Maxwell as their starting guards. Oops....

Of course, that was back when people actually cared about the Rockets...

 

Can anybody (Jeff) answer this? I don't find anything about this douche special.

 

Haha, what? I said the producer came on the show. In the next segment. And that's what he said.
YOU'RE strange!!!1!1

As for your second question, he has been on the show before that.

Innes didn't start taking jabs at him until Caliendo did.

Walking out of his own show....that was a b**** move.

 

Innes came off like a child.

Rocket River