Toronto Sports Media Morning Drive Lineups

I wonder if TSN is testing the departure or moved time slot of Richards in the New Year. always thought he would work better as the late night host.

Good points, Daniel. Lang is absolutely hit and miss for me though. When he says just enough, he’s ok. He’s a support role at best on any show in Toronto, and when he tries to spar, it’s fairly obvious he doesn’t have the intellectual arsenal to pull it off.

It shows that though I flip back and forth between most of the shows and the stations, and 550 out of Buffalo, there are pretty clearly two types of hosts: those who can drive a show, and be a “#1” and those who can’t. I’m not sure there are a ton of “#1s” in Toronto. I was never a big Mike Hogan fan, but it was obvious he could steer a show. I never thought Stellick was at all a good #1 but a fantastic “sidekick” type, certainly funnier than Lang, and bringing more depth. Hayes is a #1, and a young one at that, but them asking him to do so much by himself against Tim & Sid is a recipe for disaster.

Early observation on Tim & Sid: not a ton of strong opinions, neither guy seems really willing to go there, but there’s a lot of casual chit-chat. I’m ok with that, part of me wants to complain about it, because I like a little more in-your-face radio, but they make a listener feel welcome. It’s going to work, I predict, but it won’t be a overwhelming slamdunk. I don’t see them taking over for McCown in 5 years or whatever, and someone will have to.

What I find with Brady & Lang is that you can debate how good they are, how annoying they are, etc., but they’re not really on a level playing field when it comes to crafting an argument and explaining themselves. Let’s face it, it’s what makes McCown and Brunt so fantastic. They’re both basically as smart as each other. I’d bet if I asked which one is “smarter” by any definition, it’d be very split. And that’s a true partnership. I voice this to friends all the time about the Fan morning show, but there’s never a great response on my part as to who I’d rather have in there than Lang. Jim seems like a fine human being, but I’m not quite sure this is a good fit for him. I get that people can’t stand Brady, just like some can’t stand McCown, but it’s obvious people listen to him. I was like that with Jim Rome for a lot of years, I wanted so much not to like him, and then all of a sudden, he was part of my listening and viewing habits, so at that point, me complaining that “Jim Rome sucks” made me look silly.

Meantime, I won’t lie, I am warming on John Shannon when he simply talks hockey. His stuff on MLSE and realignment and suspensions I thought was stellar. I don’t take him seriously when he’s analyzing players because I just don’t really believe he’s a “fan of the game” but he does what guys like Rovell and Rob Becker do for McCown.

Good calls Julian..

I like what I’ve heard from Tim and Sid, but I also find them to come across as a bit tentative. I wonder if this may be a result of them getting used to a new station, with different topics and different on air expectations.

I remember thinking that Blair was pretty uptight and boring in his first couple months, but found that he really grew as a host as he got more experience. Will be interesting to hear Tim and Sid as they find their stride as well.