Toronto Sports Media Sports Radio Lineups

I’m 5mins.into this roundtable and as i thought pinball sounds like an amatuer preacher who the FUCK at rogers thought that he could contribute to a conversation.Will somebody please turn off his mike when he starts gasping for breathe,he rambles with no point to his thoughts…

been waiting for a thread about it, but i might as well just start one of my own …
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It’s been a little over a month since their debut, how do people feel about Tim & Sid on the FAN? I only listened for a month or so back on the Score before they pulled the plug, so my basis for comparison is not very broad. My general impression is the following: when diluted over 3 hours, their schtick is not quite as good. this is hardly a shocking conclusion. the opinions are still solid, the show prep is professional, and the variety of topics is great. but, it’s a little painful to listen to them interview Kypreos or whatever hockeypuck is in the building. there’s enough of that during the rest of the day. their strength is in finding non-standard topics and interviews.
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overall, it’s a good show and an improvement over the morass that has dominated the timeslot.

Speaking of waiting for a thread. What’s the feelings about Sportsnet Magazine. I’m enjoying it more than I thought I would. The Fan personality articles are mostly passes for me but the rest of the articles are quite good. Best of all, I signed up for the 4 issue free trial and they keep sending me the magazine. They also send me a bill every so often but I don’t have any more funds in the budget(or time) so I’ll see how long this lasts. If I wasn’t subscribing to 10 other magazines, I’d probably be willing to pay for it.

Pinball Clemons: Lovely human being. Incredibly generous person. Heart of gold…..

HORRIBLE RADIO PERSONALITY!

OH! I wanted to talk about the new Sportsnet magazine! 😀

I really enjoyed it! It’s like they fixed up all the bad parts I didn’t like about the previous ones and kept in all the good parts 😀 Specifically, Bob’s section is no longer him saying meaningless snarky things that aren’t analytical and he actually has a discussion now. Also, and maybe it’s just this one issue, but there isn’t a lot of weird gossip stuff or gratuitous pictures of hot women that have nothing to do with anything. It’s not that I’m OFFENDED, it’s just I find it really meaningless in a sports magazine and I have to believe even straight guys would too… I mean do you pick up a sports magazine to see “XYZ is dating this model, look at her picture and here’s some gossip about them!” ? -_-

My sports magazines should not have parts that look like my Seventeen magazines xD

I only skimmed the most recent mag, but i am glad they ditched bob’s mailbag, i was trying to figure out if his interview was new content or. Recycled transcript from the radio show.

I only listen to tim and sid in brief swatches, like if im in the air at 1 (since thats on sirius) or waiting for the marek v wyshynski podcast to start. My biggest problem is that to my ear, one of them sounds way too similar to kypreos.

I didnt mind pinball today, sinve he’s hardly been on in recent months,

It appears that bob will be hammering the olympic funding thing for months until london actually comes around.

Apparently Pin Ball was on because everyone else working for SportsNet is in Ottawa. Do you think there is a way to keep them there? Are any of you staying up to watch Hazel Mae live on the canal?

PS. they talk about having a fun time. Has anyone ever, ever had a fun time in Ottawa?

It wasnt ottawa proper, but when i was up there in october, i had a good time at the museum in gatineau and at a juniors game.

I find Tim and Sid to be the most refreshing show that I have heard on the air in a long time. I wouldn’t call it “schtick”, unless everything else is schtick as well. [Examples: Brady’s schtick is to talk a mile a minute and then to shout at the other person if they disagree with him, Blair’s schtick is….hmmm…to have non-stop call-in segments on the Leafs, and McCown’s schtick is to repeat the same phrases over and over again.]

Three times a week I drive home around 1pm. Last year I had to endure Krystal and it made me really grumpy; this year I find myself in a really good mood listening to Tim and Sid. They are having a good time, are reasonably intelligent (but, unlike Brady, Blair, and McCown, don’t think that they are the smartest ones in the room), and are both really laid-back. I can listen to the two of them just talk about anything for a few segments. As long as they don’t start having call-in segments, then I will likely remain a fan.

I agree that Tim and Sid don’t have quite the comfort zone they seemed to have on their podcast, but as the show goes on they seem to get more and more comfortable.

Overall, I like the show a lot. You get the sense they’re putting a lot of effort and preparation into each show, and that comes across I think. It felt like a lot of hosts were mailing it in on The Fan of a couple years ago (Stellick, Landry, Hogan, Toth, Farraway)..

I have to say, I’ve been listening to The Fan since the early 90s, and I think this might be the best line up they’ve had (for my tastes anyway). Brady/Lang, Blair, Tim/Sid and McCown are all shows I try to go out of my way to tune into (or get the podcast) if I have time. They have their flaws, but I enjoy them all. Over the years I was mostly just a McCown/Jays pbp listener, and kind of indifferent about the rest of the shows (used to love Jim Richards on The Fan back in the day though).

Is it just me or does that (new?) rapid fire segment at the end of the Tim and Sid show with the producer seem a lot like Cybulski’s Fab 5 segment?

Now that have podcasts online, I’ve been trying to listen to Cybulski’s on other days than Mondays or when Cox is Bob’s co-host. Lots of ESPN guests (naturally), but not people from whom I generally want to hear (herm edwards for one).

Off topic, but I was at the barber shop yesterday and was reading the paper version of Globe and Mail (has been a long time since I did that), and noticed Dowbiggin’s Usual Suspects article was in the print version. I had read here and in the comments section of the online version that it was only an internet piece that didn’t get in the paper version. Is this recently added to paper, or was it just urban legend/bashing of Bruce that this was not in print in the past when in fact it had been.

Re Tim and Sid – I found it to be ok but since I mostly listen to podcasts I go with Marek vs. Wyshynski instead where I might otherwise listen to “Sam and Ted”.

17 mag??what does T.A. stand for?not theoretical analysis,c’mon man…

Brady & Lang are a bore, I find. I can go have a 3.5 hour shower and my day is more complete. I like Jeff Blair; lukewarm on Tim/Sid – need more time to make up my mind on them. I wouldn’t necessarily say that this lineup is drastically better but it is refreshing.

The thing I don’t get is the constant flip around between Storman Norman, Anthony Totera, Rob Wong and Jeff Sammut. One day is this guy and one day it’s the other guy on the overnight. And then there are some nights when you expect one host to be on the air it is another guy. I like that the FAN is now 24/7, but they need more stability in the scheduling of the overnight hosts so than we (the listeners) can become adjusted and familiar with the hosts.

Gerry, re your question on Dowbiggin’s column The Usual Suspects, it has been in the paper for a number of years.

“Is it just me or does that (new?) rapid fire segment at the end of the Tim and Sid show with the producer seem a lot like Cybulski’s Fab 5 segment?”

I’m pretty sure Tim and Sid did a similar segment on their podcast before they were at The Fan (if I remember correctly)..

I agree with Daniel, and would add that the idea of asking random (and goofy) questions is hardly the stuff to claim as a trademark.

Then again, if Tim and Sid started wearing their bookbags using just the one shoulder strap, then Cybulski (and Milhouse) could perhaps claim trademark infringement.

I think Tim & Sid are fitting in very well. Agree with Daniel said, it sounds like they do a lot of show prep with wide variety of topics. I was going to be critical that they aren’t aggressive on topics as much as I would like, but then listening to them more I came to an understanding that it’s it’s just not their style, they’re not butt-kissers but they just won’t get overly angry over something like sports. They view it much more as sports is fun, which I can understand. What I will give Fan major props for is that there is distinct differences between shows, from angry to light-hearted, from decade legends to fresh voices. There is a real difference between shows, which wasn’t in the past where there were just interchangable hosts.

I am not sure if the Tim & Sid with McCown segment was awesome or awkward lol. Especially talking about McCown wives situation lol. It’s funny seeing Bob interact with people who’s not really in his inner circle, I hope more of it because it’s entertaining seeing McCown talk to different people and how they interact with him. Sid still seems totally nervous around him haha

An odd thing happened Friday afternoon, Brian Hayes of course was doing his afteroon show at TSNR but right next to it Bill Hayes (along Don Landry) were filling in for Jim Richards in the afternoon on CFRB.

Congrats to Bob McCowan for breaking the Sidney Crosby vertabre spin injury…let hope all goes well for Sid…

I guess we know why Bobcat went to Ottawa now.

Haha, good point Alex. I can’t wait for Bob to break his arm patting himself on the back for this scoop for the next four years on PTS.

PSA for those who listen on podcast: if you download Tim&Sid based on the descriptions, they list Steven Brunt as a guest when in fact it’s John Shannon. Someone needs to be fired over this mistake.
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Good discussion on Tim & Sid. Frankly, I’m surprised we have not heard more negative comments about the show, since it’s pretty far outside of the mainstream stylistically and thematically. I agree with others that the level of effort that goes into that show shines through, and makes you realize how lazy some other hosts are. Congrats to Tim&Sid for making a smooth transition, and for raising the bar on show prep. I’m really curious how their next couple of books will look.
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Can someone explain the Bob reference? I missed most of this week.

Bob broke the story on Sportsnet on Saturday about the Crosby neck injury.

thanks. just read Raju’s piece about it in the Star. Full credit to the Bobcat for putting his journalist suspenders on and getting a 2nd source before going with it.
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does anyone find it strange that Bob is breaking this story when both SN and TSN employ armies of NHL “insiders” precisely to be on top of these things? Why are people in-the-know talking to Bob rather than those people? Maybe those of you who live on Twitter can ask the hockey MSM how it is that they got scooped on this one.
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http://www.thestar.com/sports/article/1123279–mudhar-injury-speculation-runs-rampant-after-crosby-revelation

I get the feeling bob has a source very close to crosby.

Was it over the summer when bob said a relative of crosby urged sidney to retire?