Glenn Ordway out at WEEI !

[reflexblue]

Maybe after many years i can listen to eei again.

 

[reflexblue]

Can the red faced beluga whale be next?
One can only hope.

Yes we can only hope.

 

[captain insano]

Can the red faced beluga whale be next?
One can only hope.

the first thing that came to mind when i heard the news.

 

[reflexblue]

What are you talking about? They talk sports all the time. They are the go to guys if you want to hear about:

• Mike Sandusky and Penn State
• Lance Armstrong and doping
• Mante Teo and his imaginary girlfriend
• Gronk's partying (although Zo went overboard with that today)
• Ray Lewis and deer antller spray
• Curt Schilling and him conning RI out of millions
• ARod PED scandal

That's wall to wall sports talk right there. There isn't a radio station who has mastered the non-sports sports talk than WEEI.

Well that is better than andelman....

*Toll both workers
*Las Vagas
*How much he won in Las Vegas
*Resturants
*The Kou Loon
*The fabulous Judy

 

[wizwor]

Can't say as I'll miss any of them. If fact...

Yesterday was the first day I had my car radio on since the Pats finished up. I turned it on to get a traffic report and got Jackie M and Ordway chatting. Until reading this, I thought she was fired.

 

[goheels22002]

I was stunned last evening in the car when I picked up on the fact that the Big O was out - Friday is his last broadcast. Glenn Ordway did a fine job in the two segments I listened to as often as I could - introducing and commenting throughout the Wiener-Whiner line and Monday afternoon's segment with Coach Belichick. I'll miss Big O and thank you for years of (well-compensated) service.

I hope they keep the Whiner Line - ten minutes of laugh-out-loud lunacy to lighten the commute. Sounded last night like it is history.

Michael Holley sounded genuinely saddened by this development, but he'll be fine.

The irony is that Big O was the one who shared the hosting duties with Felger and Tony HAZ-MAT-arotti when they were sportswriters testing out their ability to do radio. Spazz is an embarrassment who knows nothing about football or ice hockey, but he owes Big O. I hope there is a moment of grace over there towards Ordway.

 

[DarrylS]

Ordway appealed to my demographic, and found when he paired with experts he was palatable.. however, his bombastic personality and insistence of talking over others was maddening...

He did give a great historical perspective to the Boston Sports Scene..

He did a great job with BB.. and BB was obviously comfortable with him.

 

[Rob0729]

I think we are all missing the point on what we had here with Ordway and WEEI. Yes, they have lost their way a bit a few years back and lost touch with the viewership. I think, of late, they have actually done a great job. Ratings and good sports radio don't go hand in hand, especially in this town of late. For christ sakes, 98.5 has two music junkeys and a re-tread flash boy who does nothing but annoyingly laugh at their every word. I'm not the biggest D&C fan, but it's pathetic that the listenership in this town gravitates towards Toucher and Rich. That's not sports radio.

Quite simply, Ordway is a legend in this town when it comes to sports. The sports media in this town is not the same without him.

And 98.5 doesn't beat topics to death? They don't talk over callers? They don't put on moronic callers? They aren't "smug" and arrogant? Have you heard Felger speak? You must be listening to the classical music station on 99.5 if that's what your hearing.

A few things:

• Toucher and Rich aren't very good, but they are better than the two guys down the dial who want to talk Right Wing politics and are the Kings of the Non-Sports Sports Talk. Dennis and Callahan would be happy if their show every day comprised of bashing Obama and tons of Sandiusky and Lance Armstrong talk every day. In a busy week of non-sports sports stories, D&C can actually talk the entire week about sports and never actually talk about anything that happens on the field at all. Actually, they could spread that non-sports sports talk into several weeks.
• As for Felger he can be smug, but they have banned most of the moronic callers (you won't be hearing idiots like Dakota from Braintree or Steve from Fall River) and they don't overdo a topic (Felger doesn't have his call screener block calls that aren't on the topic he wants to talk about like every show on WEEI does) and he rarely over talks the callers (everyone will do it at times in a 4 hour show every day while Ordway does it all the time).

 

[Rob0729]

Well that is better than andelman....

*Toll both workers
*Las Vagas
*How much he won in Las Vegas
*Resturants
*The Kou Loon
*The fabulous Judy

Andelman was awful too, but he like Ordway was a product of his era of sports talk radio. Andelman came in when sports talk radio was non-existent and he had to have broader appeal than just the diehard sports talkers to get on the air. Hence old and really corny bits like the turkey gobbles on Thanksgiving.

I parallel Ordway and Andelman because they were both very successful in their heyday and just were unable to adapt to the change in sports radio when their characters (Ordway admitted yesterday that his on air personality was a character so the secret is out that they all create characters for the radio) get outdated and tired.

 

[Rob0729]

Given that you were claiming Felger and Mazz to be better when they didn't have better ratings, I'll simply say it again and I'll leave it at that:

You know full well that ratings don't tell you who the better host is.

Several things:

• I said it would take at least a year for Felger and Mazz to overtake the Big Show because that is how radio trends worked. Rarely if ever does a new radio station or radio show come onto the scene and be #1. Felger and Mazz beat my expectations by beating the Big Show in less than a year.
• was always my opinion that Felger and Mazz were better. It was never fact. Who is better is subjective and a matter of opinion. The fact is more people agree with me than you because the ratings showed it.
• For years, you were the one who touted how great Ordway and WEEI were because they remained #1 (and the "highest rated sports talk radio show in the country" in the Big Show's case) against tough competition like a radio station with a radio signal so weak that you couldn't hear Felger's show outside a 20 mile radius after sundown.

 

[Rob0729]

I will give Ordway one thing. He was a huge part of making sports talk radio relevant in the Boston market. If it wasn't for him, WEEI might not have as big and 98.5 may never existed (granted there are people who wish one or both never happened). Back in the day, the Big Show was cutting edge sports talk radio. He pioneered the panel sport talk show. He also helped to launch the broadcast careers of a lot of Boston Sports personalities who populate WEEI, 98.5, NESN, and Comcast including Felger, Mazz, DeOsie, Smerlas, and many more.

Ordway's crime was not adapting to the changing sports talk radio scene. He still runs his show like it is 1999 just without the panel.

I will give Ordway one or two more things:

• He did handle the show yesterday with class. Considering he was fired, he could have gone nuclear on WEEI. That is why most fired radio show hosts never see the air after they are fired.
• Ordway admitted that he and everyone else on the radio are playing characters. Guys like Felger (for faux contrarianism), Smerlas (for being a Pats homer in Boston, but a Bills homer when he is broadcasting in Buffalo), and DeOsie (being a fake Pats fan) have been creamed for being fake on the radio. Ordway just confirmed what many of us already knew. Most, if not all, of the radio personalities are fake on the radio and they either make up opinions or heighten their beliefs in these opinions to fit their on air characters.

 

[FortressX]

Andelman had a great football show for a while, but insisted on "digressing" away from it once the brutal early 90s started.
His guilt over being payed well and doing a lot of charity stuff made his show worse for me.
Tuned out and was done with him.

D&C with golf talk, Cheney talk, Sox talk.
Anything but Patriots talk.
Done with them in 2004.

Big O I liked until he started to have LJ on what seemed like everyday and then I drifted away from him.

WEEI milked their low cost AM signal too long.
They should have made the switch to FM long before 98.5 came into being.

T&R make no claim to being sports guys. They are OK. Good for them.
Gresh and Zo are OK.

Other than weekend shows like Johnston & Flynn I rather just come here for Patriots news.

 

[BrickPat]

Ordway was always a fraud and an arrogant blowhard toward callers pre 98.5 but did a 180 afterward and became a kinder phoney. It's one thing to explain why you disagree but Ordway lectured fans as if they were unenlightened dullards and was always "the smartest guy in the room". I laughed listening yesterday as Orday tried to justify his blowhardness as nothing more than entertainemnt. That would be a reasonable justification if his show was...entertaining.

Ordway used to openly mock Bruins' fans and talked about them in the same manner one would talk about WWE fans. Once again that all changed when the Bruins became more competetive and were heavily covered by Felger/98.5. All of a sudden the blowhard fraud became the second coming of Don Cherry.

On a side note I'd worry if I were Holley's co host, first Dale now Ordway...not a good track record of stability being paired up with him.

As far as Felger & Mazz I think more people on this board listen to (and like) them than are willing to admit. I like the show despite the fact that I don't agree with everything they say. Rob hit the nail on the head in that the pacing of the show moves it along. Maybe it's personal preference but I like Felger's contraian act as it's entertaining. Also Felger at least will admit when he was proven wrong. Mazz is a baseball snob/mini fraud but his dopey laugh and court jester presence is also rather entertaining.

 

[Nunchucks]

I never got the amount of hate for Ordway. I felt he was fine as a radio host. The folks that EEI needs to can are Dennis and Callahan. I refuse to listen in the AM, which is unfortunate because I really am not a fan of toucher and rich.

 

[PatsDeb]

I never got the amount of hate for Ordway. I felt he was fine as a radio host. The folks that EEI needs to can are Dennis and Callahan. I refuse to listen in the AM, which is unfortunate because I really am not a fan of toucher and rich.

As far as Felger & Mazz I think more people on this board listen to (and like) them than are willing to admit. I like the show despite the fact that I don't agree with everything they say. Rob hit the nail on the head in that the pacing of the show moves it along. Maybe it's personal preference but I like Felger's contraian act as it's entertaining. Also Felger at least will admit when he was proven wrong. Mazz is a baseball snob/mini fraud but his dopey laugh and court jester presence is also rather entertaining.

Agreed on both these points. I wish either WEEI or 98.5 would get some good sports talkers for their morning shows, and I am one of the fans who admits to liking Felger & Mazz, particularly Felger. He's contrarian, but he laughs at himself constantly, so it's easier to take.

I have read through this whole thread and what strikes me is what a miss both of the sports radio stations in town have on their hands. You have tons of sports fans looking for good sports talk, particularly in the morning and at night. Why can't you come up with anything better? What's wrong with putting some Boston sports homers on the radio and letting them run wild? Damon Amendolara left 98.5 and his replacement (whose name I cannot recall right now) is unremarkable. There's got to be people out there who can do better.

 

[The_Riddler]

Sure Orway was blowhard, a buffoon at times, but I found him entertaining and knowledgeable. Obviously competition and yes finances, even though he had his 1 Million Per sliced in half recently were the main causes. But to be honest, I've never like Holley, I'm starting to wonder if he's the problem and not the guys he's sitting with.

I would love to see Holley walked out the door and replaced with Neumie.

 

[chasa]

Until WEEI becomes something other than a few minutes of sports talk between commercials it'll remain irrelevant.

I timed it once, during an hour of my drive home there was 12 minutes of "sports talk" surrounded by 40 minutes of commercials and then an 8 minute long wiener whiner line.

 

[Joker]

I timed it once, during an hour of my drive home there was 12 minutes of "sports talk" surrounded by 40 minutes of commercials and then an 8 minute long wiener whiner line.

there 's a joke about my sex life with the ex in there somewhere ....

 

[Pewsterbaby]

I timed it once, during an hour of my drive home there was 12 minutes of "sports talk" surrounded by 40 minutes of commercials and then an 8 minute long wiener whiner line.

Ditto. They pull this b.s. "carrot dangle" swindle all the time to get you to listen to the ads -

At around 48 minutes past the hour, before the go to break, they say,"Your calls coming up all the way until the top of the hour."

What a crock. Know what they give you? Nine or ten additional minutes of commercials and about 2 or 3 minutes of actual calls. What it is in reality is "In the 12 minutes we have until the top of the hour, we're gonna do 75% ads and 25% sports talk, but we're gonna spin it as saying it's 'your calls'."

They wouldn't pull that on WFAN Sportsradio in New York. New Yorkers know b.s. when they hear it.

 

[Tunescribe]

Maybe local sports talk radio is just not as successful as it used to be no matter who's plugged in. I listen to very little of it and prefer a national theme.

If either station has Patriots football talk going with someone halfway knowledgeable, I'll listen. That's why I find Gresh-Zolak an oasis on the otherwise parched landscape. A bit of Bruins and Celtics is OK in moderation, but I have a very short attention span for baseball chatter.

I don't listen to either morning show. I really miss Amendolara at night. He was excellent.