Note – I only listen to the fan, and listen to HockeyCentral and McCown religiously on podcast

Landry/Stellick – agree with get rid of the comedy, and some of the guest can be weak. Really look forward to the morning hockey insider.
Hogan/Toth – Don’t normally listen to. Hogan’s a good guy. Toth says something very interesting once every three months other than that he’s a total idiot.
HockeyCentral (I will not call it “HC”, unlike Millard) – really like the show, prefer Kypreos to Brophy. Kypreos I find better recently as he’s cut down stupid comments alot – once in a while is hilarious. Millard is a good host.
Farraway – fine, will not go out of my way to listen.
McLean/Jack – Ok, McLean is strong and I like listening to him but as mentioned above the “I need a job” type comments and related are really beginning to detract from the commentary. Jack is good too, not that big of a bball fan tho.
McCown – the reason I’ve really got into this. He is excellent… over time I’ve noticed some annoying tics (eg. slave to CFL) but otherwise very good and agree he’s got great guest. Couldn’t believe they got Tom Brady. Really like Brunt as he will go against McCown. Kelley is ok, maybe more experience will deliver more of a spine.

Since I’ve started listening to the Fan, I’ve really stopped watching McKenzie and Dreger – who are still very knowledgeable – but pompous windbags (esp. McKenzie) that take 10 sentences to say what could be said in 4. Though comedy gold was McKenzie calling Dreger “junior insider” on one of the broadcasts.

Let’s start with FAN 590……………..their weekday lineup from 6 AM to 7 PM is quite good but their weeknight and weekend personalities (ie: Rumack, Lajoie, Seixeiro, etc) are not very good………………Stellick & Landry are fun to listen to at times and they get pretty good guests, but I agree that most of their comedy bits aren’t very funny (especially those done by that Jeff Samut guy)…………the best morning shows seem to be when one of them (especially Landry) is away on vacation and someone like Friedman or Cox is the co-host…………..The Bullpen is a decent show with good guests………….I don’t mind Hogan and I can tolerate Berger but I can’t stand Toth………….it was a better show when they used to rotate Sportsnet people as co-hosts……………I like the noon hockey show on Tuesday & Thursday better than Mon/Wed/Fri because I really like Brophy and I am lukewarm toward Kypreos……………I don’t like Farraway so I don’t listen to his show…………I like McLean & Armstrong better than Swirsky because they have pretty good chemistry (radio shows always seem better to me when there are 2 hosts rather than one)……………..as I mentioned before I like McCown’s show but it was better before it became affiliated with Sportsnet (there are many great guests/hosts who aren’t allowed on anymore because of that)………….I really like Brunt and I tolerate Kelley…………as long as McCown stays away from being a journalist (Sundin to the Rangers – oops) and stays away from the same tired issues (fighting in hockey, etc) his show is very entertaining………….most of the guests on his show are high quality.

Now on to AM 640…………..Leafs Lunch is a solid show……………Dreger knows his stuff and is a solid journalist………….I was surprised when he agreed to host because he already has a lot on his plate (I think he hosts the show from his house in Durham rather than from the downtown studio)………..Watters in entertaining on Leaf Lunch when he stays away from his biases………….and Jolly Jonas is a decent reporter but is too afraid to say anything negative about anyone………………at 4 PM Watters & Brady have a good show which deals with many interesting issues (mostly about hockey) that never even get discussed on McCown’s show…………..it is a completely different show than McCown but they are both enjoyable to listen to…………….Watters & Brady probably go overboard on hockey but sometimes that is not a bad thing……………….my main criticisms are Watters’ many biases (and how he feels the need to impose his political views sometimes) and Brady’s slagging of the competition when it is inaccurate or hypocritical……………many of their guests are great but others (especially Leaf players/management) are quite boring.

I guess my quest to keep this message short has failed miserably.

“Norm Rumack? C’mon you couldn’t have taken a shot at Rumack? I have a rusty ballpeen hammer that is smarter than him. ”

Is a quote I am going to use from now on.

It is hard to disagree with your take on Watters. He used to be able to provide valuable insight. His name on the door helps, but I am not so sure how much value he adds these days with Dreger and Morrison. Having said that, he did a great job with Collangelo the other day.

I am still laughing at your Rumack comment….

You are right about Landry and Stellick’s over use of the comedy stuff – although their Kenny and Wajit bits were pretty amazing.

Toth and Hogan: yarghh. I used to actually switch from Hogan to the Fabulous Sports Babe when she was on a rival station.

Toth sounds like an extra from the Great White North. Just listen to him say “coach” sometimes.

And nothing worse than having him host his own show because then he will break out some maudlin topic like “what’s your best sports memory you shared with your dad” or some other saccharin tripe.

Toth’s best moment was tearing a strip off Corey Cross during the lockout which he now says he regrets because the owners hoodwinked him into thinking that the lockout was for the sole purpose of lowering ticket prices. Is he really that dumb? Really? No. REALLY?

Hockey Central at Noon is a brilliant program and easily goes toe to toe with the over used Waters up the dial. I secretly believe the show was created because of this post I did years ago:

http://meatriarchy.blogspot.com/archives/2003_12_07_meatriarchy_archive.html#107085765246482207

Farroway at least is an unabashed leaf fan. However he pulls out the “planning the parade” chestnut so often you want to punch him.

MacLean and Armstrong are excellent. Their weekly segment with Pierre McGuire on Fridays is a must listen.

McCown is the most talented of all the group on either station. Trouble is he clearly hates some sports so much that it carries over into his broadcast (especially hockey) . Brunt and Kelly are tolerable on his show. The other “beta males” are painful. You get the sense that they are screened based on: slavish agreement to everything McCown says., and demonstrated lack of talent compared to McCown.

Norm Rumack? C’mon you couldn’t have taken a shot at Rumack? I have a rusty ballpeen hammer that is smarter than him.

Paul Jones: worse play by play guy I have ever heard in my whole 45 years on this planet.

Mike Wilner: I enjoy his call in shows with the fans because he makes the fans back up what he they say. You just can’t call into his show and say “so and so” is terrible if you don’t have the facts to back it up and we don’t have enough guys like that in this town. Want proof? Call into McCown’s show between 4-5 and pick the best performing Leaf player this season and say how much he sucks and you won’t get any push back whatsoever.

As for 640 Leafs Lunch is generally listenable especially when Dreger hosts. The addition of Bob MacKenzie is an added bonus. The evening drive show suffers when it wanders away from hockey content. The 6-7 hour featuring Scott Morrison is far better than the navel gazing that occurs up the dial at the fan.
I have said it before and will say it again Waters is the weak link on that show. They should try to steal Doug MacClean away and have him do the evening drive with Waters doing Leafs lunch. That would be awesome.