What’s a SonicTap?
Direct TV announced that it’s dumping XM satellite radio and will replace it with SonicTap. I’ve never heard of the service.
I think something like this just goes to show the stupidity of treating XM and Sirius as though they are two separate companies. They’re not. It’s one company with one CEO and one board of directors. It only has one product, satellite subscriber based radio. Instead of treating XM and Sirius as though they are two separate entities, the idea ought to be promoting one unified brand name.
Before the two companies were allowed to merge by the federal government, both companies were causing confusion and indecision in the marketplace. Not only did consumers have to decide whether they wanted to pay to listen to radio, they were required to then decide which of the two competing services they wanted to choose. If they bought a Sirius radio, they could not listen to XM. If they bought an XM radio, they could not listen to Sirius.
Unfortunately, they are still required to choose.
The sale of video tape recorders didn’t take off until VHS beat out Betamax. The same thing happened with HD video. Sales in both players and media didn’t take off until Blu-ray beat out HD-DVD. The marketplace has shown that when consumers are forced to decide between two competing technologies, they simply wait.
If Sirius XM was offering only one service and then concentrated of promoting that one service, maybe they wouldn’t be losing business to something named after the mocumentary movie This is Spinal Tap.
Photo: Flickr user Rodc
I guess nobody at the Chicago Tribune listens to Sirius XM on the iPhone
The Chicago Tribune has an article concerning Howard Stern and his chances of resigning with Sirius XM radio. His five year, $500 million, four-days-a-week contract is set to expire at the end of the next year. That means now is the time for Howard Stern and Sirius XM to begin negotiating a new contract.
About the only thing that is clear at this point is that there is no way he will get another $500 million contract.
Back when he scored the original $500 million contract, Sirius and XM were locked into a satellite radio war. Sirius needed Stern because they needed a big name to add to their lineup. Now Sirius and XM are the same company. At least they are supposed to be. They are still run as though they are two separate entities.
The point is, Sirius and XM aren’t about to get into a bidding war for the services of Howard Stern. So what does this mean for Howard Stern? According to the Chicago Tribune, maybe he will become a podcaster:
Stern could leave to start a new venture, perhaps a subscription service that sends his show to PCs and mobile devices. Sirius already streams Stern’s shows online and through the iPhone. Or he could explore more options in cable TV, where his first pay-per-view special, “Howard Stern’s Negligee and Underpants Party,” was offered in 1988.
Contrary to the Chicago Tribune, Howard Stern is not available on the iPhone. His show is about the only things you cannot listen to via the Sirius XM iPhone app. What’s funny about this is that he was pushing for a Sirius XM iPhone app for some time. Evidently his $500 million contract did not allow Sirius XM to stream his show over the iPhone. You can listen to his show on the computer, just not the iPhone.
Sirius XM compares Howard Stern to two dead guys and a retired basketball player
Sirius XM started running a strange commercial yesterday that seems to imply that Howard Stern is just like Elvis, Richard Prior, and Michael Jordan. Elvis and Richard Prior are dead and Michael Jordan hasn’t played basketball in years. Is this really what Sirius XM wants to do, compare the guy they pay $100 million a year to two dead guys and retired basketball player?
I guess I understand that since they pay Howard Stern so much money, Sirius XM feels an obligation to put him front and center in any national ad campaign. The problem is that his he only works four days a week and has 10 weeks of vacation a year. Getting people to subscribe to Sirius XM because of Howard Stern may backfire when these people realize that Howard has every Friday off and spends a lot of time on vacation.
There is a lot more on Sirius XM than Howard Stern.
Sharon Osbourne is a hypocrite
Sharon Osbourne, a woman famous for being the wife of Ozzy Osbourne, got some attention last week after she went on The Opie and Anthony Show on Sirius XM Radio and made cracks about Susan Boyle, the Scottish woman made famous for singing on I Dreamed a Dream on Britain’s Got Talent.
Susan Boyle is not what you would call a beautiful woman. Perhaps that’s an understatement.
Sharon Osbourne couldn’t resist the low hanging fruit when it came to Susan Boyle’s appearance. This was after Osbourne gave Boyle a standing ovation after she sang on America’s Got Talent, where Osbourne serves as a judge, a position her earned, well, because she’s married to the man that sang Crazy Train some 29 years ago.
Sharon Osbourne is a hypocrite. She can dish it out, but she cannot take it. She made news earlier this year after she threw a drink in Megan Hauserman’s face, a former Playboy Playmate. They were both on MTV discussing Rock Of Love Charm School, a reality show they both had been on. Evidently Sharon Osbourne was the host of the show and Hauserman was a contestant.
When Megan Hauserman talked about having her dog spayed so that it couldn’t have puppies, Sharon Osbourne interjected that she too should go have a similar operation so she would not be able to reproduce. Hauserman responded to this by saying that Sharon Osbourne was only famous because she was married to a brain dead rock star.
Not only did Sharon Osbourne throw the drink, she grabbed and pulled at Hauserman’s hair. Once again, Sharon Osbourne can dish it out, she just cannot take it.
Lifelong New York Yankees fan jumps ship after only one game
Former executive producer of the Ron and Fez Show and lifelong, die-hard New York Yankees fan Earl Douglas has stopped supporting the New York Yankees and has evidently decided to instead support the Philadelphia Phillies. As this photo shows, he has even gone to the extent for replacing his Yankees hat with a Phillies hat.
Seeing Earl Douglas wear something other than a Yankees cap is a lot like seeing Rush Limbaugh wearing an Obama t-shirt.
The Phillies beat the Yankees last night in game one of the World Series, 6-1. If the Yankees win tonight, will Earl Douglas go back to being a Yankees fan? Will he only go back to supporting the Yankees if they win the World Series?
It should be noted that even though the Yankees have the highest payroll in baseball ($208 million), they haven’t won a World Series since 2000.
Hopefully, it’s a trend that will continue. Like Earl Douglas, I hate the New York Yankees.
Doctor Rush Limbaugh talks about HN1N1, AIDS, and how he’s three times smarter than Kathleen Sebelius
Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh spoke about the “hype” of HN1N1 virus and in doing so, claimed that AIDS in Africa is “hyped” too so that “they” can get some of that sweet AIDS donation money. Dr. Rush claimed that everything in Africa is called AIDS (near the 2:00 mark). He makes the argument that if simple colds and the regular, less lethal flu are classified as the swine flu, the money will flow.
And who exactly would be making money off of the supposed hype of the HN1N1 virus? My guess is that it would be the pharmaceutical companies that are working in overdrive producing enough of the vaccine. It is the pharmaceutical companies that would me getting rich because of a false fear over the threat of a HN1N1 pandemic.
So does that mean Rush is speaking out against the pharmaceutical industry?
Rush then goes on to speak about U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and how his IQ is three times higher than her IQ and that he is much more “informed, educated, and smart” than she is. That’s interesting in that Rush is a college dropout while Sebelius not only graduated college, she went on to earn a Master’s degree.
How exactly is Rush better educated than Sebelius?
I actually find most of what Limbaugh has to say about any given topic quite entertaining. Though I disagree with 99.99% of the stuff he says, I cannot help but admit that he is a master as what he does. Nobody comes close to his level of skill at talking into a microphone for three hours a day. I think most of what he says is quite harmless. The problem is when he talks about something such as the HN1N1 virus. The swine flu is not something to fool around with. In 1918, a massive swine flu pandemic took place and an estimated 50 to 100 million people died worldwide. If even one person heard his rant about the supposed hype and then decided not to go and get a swine flu shot, that is one person too many.
Rush Limbaugh tells CNN reporter Carol Costello to go sit on a fire hydrant
CNN reporter Carol Costello did a segment yesterday as part of an ongoing series on political talk radio and she started with the king of political talk radio, Rush Limbaugh. This of course irritated Limbaugh. Not only did he refer to Costello as his “stalker”, he encouraged her to go sit on a fire hydrant to improve her day.
Whatever that means.
And to think he’s surprised that the NFL doesn’t want him to join their cabal of team owners.
The ironic thing is that Limbaugh used to date CNN news reporter Daryn Kagan, who left the cable news network in 2006. Kagan used to work with Costello at CNN. Did Kagan perhaps tell Limbaugh something personal about Costello involving fire hydrants?
It just seems like a weird comment to make, even for a recovering drug addict like Limbaugh.
WJFK 106.7 FM switches formats
Washington D.C. radio station WJFK 106.7 FM is making a programing switch. Starting Monday, July 20, it becomes Sportsradio 106.7 “The Fan.”
Afternoon drive show The Mike O’Meara Show, featuring Mike O’Meara, former co-host of The Don and Mike Show, is getting the axe. The morning show The Junkies will remain, once again becoming The Sports Junkies.
The afternoons will feature a show co-hosted by former Redskins linebacker LaVar Arrington. Let’s see if he gets hurt behind the mic as frequently as he did while playing for the Skins.
I’m not sure where this leaves Mike O’Meara. Maybe he can go to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware and join fellow The Don and Mike Show co-host Don Geronimo on WGMD 92.7 FM.
I’m guessing that has a 0.0 percent chance of happening.
It’s going to be weird not having Mike O’Meara on the radio. I was a regular listener to The Don and Mike Show when it was syndicated to one of the crappy Hagerstown AM stations. I would also listen to it on WJFK when I worked in Thurmont. I had to really play with the radio to get a half-decent signal. Even then, it was normally a little scratchy. The signal coming out of WJFK was fairly weak.
I’ve been listening to the The Mike O’Meara Show via the podcast on iTunes. The show wasn’t quite the same without Don Geronimo, but it was still worth listening to.
Ian Halperin on The Opie and Anthony Show
Link: 
Canadian investigative journalist Ian Halperin appeared on The Opie and Anthony Show today on Sirius XM to discuss his new unauthorized biography on Michael Jackson, Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson. The interview quickly turns into an out of control shouting match between Halperin and Opie, Anthony, and regular show contributor comedian Jimmy Norton.
Mostly Ian Halperin and Jimmy Norton shouted back and forth, not allowing each other to get their point across. A written transcript of the show would just be a series of broken sentences and quite confusing to read.
Not that it wasn’t confusing to listen to at times.
The true gem of the interview was when Halperin asked if anyone in the studio knew what the capital of Canada was. I was surprised that nobody knew the answer. I thought it was funny because I once had a similar experience in Australia. At a bar in Darwin, a drunk man who claimed to be a citizen of Yugoslavia challenged me to identify his nation’s capital. I didn’t know the answer. I still don’t know the answer, but the joke’s on him because Yugoslavia isn’t even a country anymore.
Jimmy Norton also made a comment about filmmaker Michael Moore being from Canada. At least I think he did. It’s begins right around the 35 minute mark. With all the shouting going on, it was kind of hard to really tell. That point is, he’s not. Michael Moore is from Michigan. I thought everyone knew that. I guess not.
I thought Ian Halperin came off sounding like a real douche, but then again, he wrote an biography on Michael Jackson, detailing the late pop star’s addiction to prescription drugs and closet homosexuality.
Writing a book like that would require him to be a douche.
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo has an epic melt down
I’ve had a unwritten rule here at Bent Corner that I would never post two YouTube videos back to back. What good is a rule (even an unwritten rule) if you cannot break it?
On Thursday afternoon, Chris “Mad Dog” Russo while hosting his Mad Dog Radio show on Sirius XM satellite radio had an epic meltdown, going off on his staff including firing his program director Steve Torre live on the air. As if working for Chris Russo wasn’t bad enough, Torre has to experience the indignity of being fired live on the air.
Luckily for Torre, Mad Dog did it on his show which means nobody heard it.
Russo was signed away from WFAN radio in New York where he co-hosted a show, Mike and the Mad Dog with Mike Francesa to Sirius XM last year to a 5-year, $15 million contract. For some unknown reason, Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin thought that Chris Russo would have some sort of national appeal. It’s as if just because something is popular in New York City, it will be popular all over the country.
Supposedly his entire channel is one of the least listened to on Sirius XM satellite radio and he blames not himself for this, but everyone else. In his rant, he talks about needing to travel through America looking for talk show hosts that can talk about the cast from Gone With The Wind (huh?) and the ‘62 Giants.
The problem with the Mad Dog Radio channel begins and ends with Chris Russo. The man is truly an awful radio host. He has some type of speech impediment that makes him sound a lot like Elmer Fudd. He can’t even pronounce the word “radio” correctly. Instead, he pronounces it as “wadio“.
Why would anyone want to work for him, especially after the way he threw everyone that worked for him under the bus?
Jet unplugged on The Opie and Anthony Show
Jet stopped by the Opie and Anthony Show (XM Radio channel 202, Sirius Radio channel 197) and did an acoustic version of She’s a Genius, a cut off their new upcoming album, Shaka Rock. It sounded so good that it makes me wonder, why do bands even record with anything but acoustic instruments?
Sometimes I think simpler is just better.
Sirius XM raising their rates
Remember when the FCC and Congress stepped in and changed the laws that allowed XM Radio and Sirius Radio to merge? Part of the deal included the agreement that the merged company could not raise it’s rates for a predefined amount of time. I don’t remember how long the price freeze was going to be in place, and I’m too lazy to go look it up right now, but I know that it was going to be a while before my rates went up.
That’s about to change. I got an email today from XM Radio telling me that my monthly fee is going up an additional $1.98 a month. From the email:
Music royalty rights were established by the U.S. Congress as part of the Copyright Act. This Act requires payment of copyright music royalties to recording artists, musicians and recording companies who hold copyrights in sound recordings.
These royalties have recently increased dramatically, principally as a result of a decision made by the Copyright Royalty Board, which is designated by the Library of Congress to set royalty rates for sound recordings. Beginning on July 29, 2009, a “U.S. Music Royalty Fee” of $1.98/month* for primary subscriptions and $.97/month* for multi-receiver subscriptions will be effective upon your next renewal. This fee will be used directly to offset increased payments from XM to the recording industry.
The real kicker is that I don’t even listen to music on XM Radio. They canceled the only music channel I ever listened to, the Punk Channel. When I want to listen to recorded music, I listen to my iPod.
I only listen to XM Radio for the live talk. I listen to Opie and Anthony, Ron and Fez, the Dan Patrick Show, the Steve Czaban Show, CNN, and Howard Stern. I used to listen to World Soccer Daily until they started asking listening for “donations”.
Why should a person like me who only listens to talk radio have to pay royalties to the music industry?
The answer is that I shouldn’t, but I have no way of stopping it. If I want to continue listening to live talk and news on satellite radio, I will have to pay it.
I’m already paying $4.04 more each month to listen to the “Best of Sirius”. Mostly that’s so I can listen to Howard Stern. I’m also paying another $2.99 a month to listen to Sirius XM on the computer and my iPhone. Since he only does a show four days a week, and his show for some reason is not available on the iPhone, I’m going to go ahead and cancel the “Best of Sirius”.
Is Howard Stern going back to regular radio?
There’s currently a rumor going around the World Wide Internet Web involving Howard Stern. Rumor has it that the King of All Media will be leaving Sirius XM Radio at the end of his current contract (December 18, 2010) and returning to good old fashioned regular terrestrial radio.
I’m not buying it.
I don’t think he wants to do regular radio any more than he wants to do satellite radio. I fully expect him to leave radio entirely, both terrestrial and satellite, when his current contract is over.
When he left CBS Radio for Sirius at the end of 2005, he signed a five year contract for $500 million. With that kind of money, he never has work ever again. If he ever were to do radio again, it would be solely because he wanted to do it. It would be because he loved his craft so much, he just had to do it.
If Howard Stern loves radio so much, why does he take each and every Friday off?
Part of his original contract with Sirius stipulated that not only did he get ten (10) weeks of vacation a year, he only has to work four (4) days a week. He only does a live radio show Monday through Thursday. On Friday, the show is a montage of segments from that week.
Howard Stern doesn’t have to take every Friday off. Sirius XM is not forcing him to take three-days off every week. He doesn’t do a live show on Fridays because he doesn’t have to.
Once his contract his up at the end of 2010, I don’t see him doing any more radio, terrestrial or satellite.
Howard Stern is out of touch
This morning on the Howard Stern show, Howard and the gang were making fun of a new Imus in the Morning commercial that is a spoof of the very popular “Hello, I’m a Mac…” ads.
Howard, the former king of all media, had no clue what was going on with the Imus ad because he said that he wasn’t familiar with the popular Mac commercials.
Fred tried to help him out by describing them as “IBM vs. Apple” commercials.
How does someone who is even slightly familiour with pop culture not know about these commericals?
No baseball for Sirius satellite radio subscribers
The Major League Baseball (MLB) season starts tomorrow and it looks like Sirius XM subscribers who subscribe to the satellite radio service with a Sirius radio will not be able to listen to games like their XM counterparts, even if they are paying extra for the “Best of XM” package.
The reason for this is that even though the two satellite radio providers were finally allowed by the Federal government to merge into one company, Sirius XM Radio CEO Mel Karmazin insists on running the merged satellite radio company as though it is really two separate companies. Though he was able to quickly strike a deal with the NFL, the NHL, NASCAR, and the NBA to allow both XM and Sirius to broadcast live games and/or events, he was not able to work something out with MLB.
MLB wanted more money to allow games to be broadcast on Sirius. XM Radio had already pre-paid MLB for the rights to broadcast every game up to March of 2011.
I think this is a problem in that out of all the major sports, baseball is the only one that is actually worth listening to on the radio. When I listen to a baseball game on the radio, I can easily see the game play out in my mind’s eye. I’ve listened to games on the radio and then later watched highlights of these same games on ESPN. The events transpired exactly like what I imagined.
I can’t say the same thing for any other sport.
Don Geronimo is on Twitter
Former co-host of The Don and Mike Show, Washington D.C. radio legend Don Geronimo (real name Mike Source) might not be on the radio right now, but he’s on Twitter.
He “retired” from the radio last year. He left the Don and Mike Show and evidently he signed a no-compete contract with CBS Radio that prohibits him from doing radio right now. In fact, he wrote on a recent Twitter post that he cannot even do a podcast.
I’m enjoying reading his frequent Twitter updates. I’d rather hear him on the radio, but I’ll take what I can get.
Anthony Cumia appeared on Howard Stern in 1994
Did you know that Anthony Cumia from the Opie and Anthony Show once appeared on the Howard Stern Show? I had no idea. He appeared on Howard’s show back in December 1994 for some kind of impression contest.
He was contestant #7.
I found this video by pure accident. I was looking for something else when I stumbled upon this.
Sirius XM to roll out iPhone and iPod Touch app
Soon Sirius XM subscribers will be able to listen to Sirius XM content on either their Apple iPhone or their Apple iPod Touch through a free app that will be available in the iTunes store. Apple iPhone users will be able to stream content over the AT&T 3G network. Apple iPod Touch users will be able to stream content over a Wi-Fi Internet network.
Currently Sirius XM has over 19 million subscribers and Apple has over 7 million iPhone users.
I think this signals a shift in strategy for Sirius XM. For a while now it seemed as though they were concentrating their efforts on gaining new subscribers by getting automakers to install their radios in new vehicles. The problem with that of course is that people are not buying new cars. Another problem is that Circuit City is no longer in business. Circuit City sold a lot of satellite radios. In fact, every satellite radio I have ever owned was bought at a Circuit City.
I think this means I will have to break down and buy an iPod Touch.
Howard Stern, consummate company man
I listened to Howard Stern yesterday talk about the format change at his old terrestrial radio station K-Rock. He was taking great pleasure in the fact that Opie and Anthony were let go as a result of the change and how they are “failures”.
Not only was he wrong, it was an extremely inappropriate thing to say. Doesn’t Howard “King of All Media” Stern realize that Opie and Anthony work for the same company that he does? Doesn’t he realize that Sirius XM is trying to get Sirius-only subscribers to sign up for the Best of XM package where one of the main features of the package is the Opie and Anthony Show?
That’s just dumb.
Opie and Anthony are not alone. Howard was dumping on Opera Winfrey on Monday. He said that she should give back some of the money XM paid her when they signed her to an exclusive deal. Is he really in any position to criticize how much anyone else is getting paid by the same company he works for? He makes $100 million a year for a company that is hemorrhaging money. A company that has lost millions of dollars for it’s share holders. On January 9, 2006, the day Howard Stern broadcast his first show on Sirius radio, shares of Sirius stock closed at $6.54.
Today it closed at 16 cents a share.
Maybe Howard Stern shouldn’t be calling anyone else a failure. Maybe instead of trashing the people that work for the same satellite radio company he does, he should be trying to promote them. Contrary to popular belief, just because you enjoy listening to Howard Stern doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy listening to Opie and Anthony and vise versa.
I enjoy listening to both shows. I am far from unique.
Opie and Anthony lose their terrestrial radio gig
Morning radio shock-jocks Opie and Anthony have been let go by CBS radio. The company is doing a complete overhaul to New York City’s K-Rock which as of today, became a Top-40 station.
The two still have their job at Sirius XM. They were doing their K-Rock show from 6am to 9am and they would then trudge over to the XM studios and do a satellite only show till around 11am. Sirius XM was also simulcasting the K-Rock show on satellite.
Though this sucks for Opie and Anthony on a personal financial level, it will make for a better radio show on Sirius XM. Not only will they not have to worry about the FCC, they wont have to adhere to a strict schedule for commercial breaks. That got to be very annoying.
Opie and Anthony were getting good ratings on K-Rock. They weren’t getting Howard Stern ratings, but I doubt Howard Stern would be getting the numbers he got only five years ago on terrestrial radio. It’s a different world today. People buy iPods and they download music online. They buy satellite radios. The people left listening to terrestrial radio are the ones that are too cheap to buy either an iPod or a satellite radio.
I can’t imagine that this demographic is real desirable with advertisers.
Talkers magazine top 100 list
Talkers magazine has published their 2009 top 100 list of talk radio hosts. These lists usually generate a lot of controversy with the various radio personalities featured on the list. The selection processes appears to be totally arbitrary.
There’s no formula or criteria involved in the selection process.
No surprise, the list heavily features conservative political talkers. Mostly that’s because out of all the talk radio hosts, the conservatives are simply better than the liberals. That doesn’t mean conservatism is better than liberalism (it’s not), it only means that the hosts that do conservative radio are just much more skilled at what they do than their liberal counterparts.
Personal finance expert Dave Ramsey appears as #7 on the list. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that he pays for a 125X125 advertisement on the Talkers website. Yeah, sure. Maybe if Howard Stern buys an ad on Talkers, he’ll do better next year than the #32 that he finds himself at now. The man makes $100 million a year doing radio, but I’m supposed to believe that there are 31 more important people in radio.
20 million Sirius XM customers like their service?
CNN Money has an article about the possibility of Sirius XM filing bankruptcy. It includes a statement from Joe Bonner, an analyst with Argus Research. From the article:
There are assets there. Sirius XM has nearly 20 million customers that seem to like their service. That’s nothing to sniff at.
To just assume that every single Sirius XM subscriber likes their service would be a huge mistake. Tell that to the fans of the Bubba The Love Sponge show that were duped into believing that Sirius XM had re-signed the shock jock to a new contract (because that’s what they were told) only to find out that the show had been replaced with a taped delay rebroadcast of his Tampa terrestrial radio show.
If Sirius XM’s greatest asset is it’s 20 million subscribers, someone needs to tell them. I had to call Sirius XM customer service yesterday and it took me a good 20 minutes to get my question answered. This was after being put on hold twice.
Sirius XM might not last till 2010? UPDATED
Rick Newman at U.S. News and World Report wrote an article listing 15 companies that might not last past 2009. Not surprisingly, Sirius XM made the list.
From the article:
Sirius Satellite Radio. (SIRI – parent company; about 1,000 employees; stock down 96%). The music rocks, but satellite radio has yet to be profitable, and huge contracts for performers like Howard Stern are looking unsustainable. Sirius is one of two satellite-radio services owned by parent company Sirius XM, which was formed when Sirius and XM merged last year. So far, the merger hasn’t generated the savings needed to make the company profitable, and Moody’s thinks there’s a “high likelihood” that Sirius will fail to repay or refinance its debt in 2009. One outcome could be a takeover, at distressed prices, by other firms active in the satellite business.
In my opinion, the whole merger has been a complete disaster. The two services, XM and Sirius, are still run like two separate entities. If you are a Sirius or XM subscriber, the only thing that has really changed is that you can now pay extra to receive a few channels from the “other” company. They refer to this as the “Best Of” package. The fact that you have to pay extra to receive channels from the “other” company seemingly cancels out the notion that Sirius XM is now one single company.
Pretending that the two are still two separate companies is asinine. The FCC allowed the two companies to merge into one. They need to actually do it. They need to ditch the words Sirius and XM from the company’s name and just call this new merged company Satellite Radio.
If you subscribe to Satellite Radio, you should receive all of the content. If you are a Sirius subscriber, you shouldn’t have to pay more to listen to Major League Baseball, The Opie and Anthony Show, or The Ron and Fez Show. If you are an XM subscriber, you shouldn’t have to pay more to listen to The Howard Stern Show or the National Football League.
Update: The New York Times is reporting that Sirius XM is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection.
Earl Douglas is no longer on the Ron and Fez Show
Yesterday on the Ron and Fez Show, Ron Bennington confirmed what most Ron and Fez fans had been fearing. Executive producer Earl Douglas is officially out of a job at Sirius XM radio. Evidently he was informed by someone from the HR department at Sirius XM that his on-air resignation was considered official.
He will be greatly missed.
Some of the most funniest moments on the Ron and Fez Show have involved Earl Douglas. Granted, he was usually the uncomfortable victim of whatever bit they were doing, but it was funny. The time East Side Dave and Lilly got under Earl’s skin by impersonating Earl’s grandmother is probably the single most funniest thing I’ve ever heard on the radio. I never really even cared for Lilly that much. I laughed so hard I cried.
Earl brought out the funny in everyone else.
First Sirius pulls the plug on the Punk channel. Now they let Earl Douglas quit. I just might have to write a letter.
I am worried about Rush Limbaugh
I guess Rush Limbaugh sat down with Sean Hannity and the two talked about how bad things are now that we have a socialist from radical Islamic jungles of Hawaii as our president. Rush reportedly said that he hopes president Obama fails. He also made some kind of weird reference to bending over and being sodomized.
I don’t really understand the reference, but I don’t watch Fox News.
When I saw the clip on the news, I was surprised just how bad Rush Limbaugh looked. He looks unhealthy. He looks puffy and pasty. He looked much better when he was an out of control drug addict. Maybe he should go back to inhaling Oxycontin and Vicodin like it’s Pez candy. Sure, his drug addicted resulting in his loss of his hearing, but at least he looked halfway human.
He looks really bad. This should be Rush’s golden time. Instead of having to spend his three hours a day on the radio excusing the blunders of George W. Bush, he’s got a charasmatic black liberial president to set his sights on.
Rush needs to turn that frown upside down and maybe get a little Sun. He lives in Florida, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at his pasty face.
Sirius XM satellite working hard finding new ways to rip off their customers
Starting March 11, Sirius XM will be charging customers an extra $2.99 a month to listen to it’s Internet streaming service. When Sirius and XM struck a deal with the FCC to merge, a rate-freeze was one of the conditions mandated by the FCC.
One of the things not covered by the FCC rate-freeze was the free Internet streaming service. Not that it was every really free. It was part of the basic $12.99 a month subscription.
Not only does Sirius XM want customers to now pay for their Internet streaming service, they want customers to purchase a $200 mono wireless Internet radio from them to do it.
From Sirius:
This stylish tabletop wireless Internet radio makes it easy to enjoy SIRIUS Internet Radio at home. SIRIUS offers the ideal premium Internet radio service, with loads of programming choices and no files, ripping or playlists required. Just turn on, subscribe, tune in and enjoy SIRIUS programming in your home.
View artist and song title on the large display. Easily scroll through SIRIUS Internet Radio channels to discover new music. Set your five favorite stations for easy access.
What Sirius fails to mention is that you can also very easily listen to their streaming service in stereo on any computer with Internet access. In fact, you don’t even need a wireless router to do it. With their $200 mono wireless Internet radio, you do.
Sirius and XM never should have been allowed to merge.
Where’s Earl Douglas?
Towards the end of Friday’s Ron and Fez Show on Sirius/XM radio, executive producer Earl Douglas announced that he was stepping down from his position on the show and would be perusing other opportunities. Whatever that means.
I assumed while listening to it that it was just a radio bit. Who in their right mind voluntarily leaves a job in radio at a time when jobs in radio are hard to get? The radio industry is not what you would call a growth industry.
When I listened to Ron and Fez yesterday, it was clear that Earl wasn’t there. Ron mentioned Earl’s absence through out the day. He seemed just as surprised by Earl’s Friday announcement as were the listeners.
I’m hoping that it’s just a bit. My hope is that he wasn’t there yesterday because he decided to travel down from New York to Washington D.C. to witness the Obama inauguration.
Did Earl Douglas get knocked out or did he faint again?
The end of Friday’s episode of the Opie and Anthony Show and then the Ron and Fez Show on Sirius XM radio made for some very uncomfortable radio. It all started when Earl Douglas, the executive producer of the Ron and Fez Show, and Fez made a visit to the Opie and Anthony show to promote a stupid bit they were doing involving Fez not communicating for a whole week.
Opie wanted to try to get Fez to say something. Earl told Opie that he wouldn’t allow that to happen. While Opie was distracting Earl, some of the Opie and Anthony producers (they have at least 15 producers) were doing their best to get Fez to crack. I think they were spraying some type of foul smelling substance on him. When Earl turned around and saw what was going on, he attempted to come to Fez’s aid.
It was at this point that something happened. What actually happened is hard to say. Earl either fainted or he was knocked down and he hit his head on the ground, causing him to black out.
When Earl came to, he claimed to not remember what happened. At this point someone called for the EMTs. They quickly arrived and decided to take Earl to the hospital. They placed him in a wheelchair and took him downstairs to an awaiting ambulance.
When the Ron and Fez Show began at noon, Fez was still keeping the lame silent bit going. This required Ron to do all the talking which mostly revolved around how Earl was faking the whole thing. According to Ron, the EMTs knew that Earl was faking his injury when they carted him off in the wheelchair.
Ron then talked about the meetings that Sirius XM management was having with members of the Opie and Anthony show. He told listeners how he barged into the meeting and explained to management that Earl was faking the whole thing. That he had done this before. That he had simply fainted and was too embarrassed to admit it.
Earl is kind of famous for his fainting. He once fainted because of the smell of Febreze.
Two hours later, Earl was back from the hospital. The fact that he was released so quickly from the hospital seemed to infuriate Ron. It seemed to confirm his opinion that Earl was faking. Ron argued that if the doctor thought there was even a chance that Earl sustained a head injury, they wouldn’t have released him so quickly.
Earl still claimed to not remember what happened. This just made Ron even more angry. Fez then broke his silence to back up Ron’s assertion that Earl was faking the whole thing. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Fez sound so angry.
The show ended with nothing being resolved. Earl still claimed to not remember anything and Ron and Fez insisted that Earl was faking. At least it brought an end to the whole Fez being silent bit.
Ann Coulter is interviewed on Opie and Anthony
Ann Coulter did a phoner this morning on the FM side of The Opie and Anthony Show. It was the first time I can remember that co-host Anthony Cumia wasn’t the biggest racist on the show.
Opie didn’t say much during the interview, but who can blame him? Mostly the discussion was between Ann and Anthony. Ironically they talked a lot about how so many Americans enjoy being a victim, ignoring the fact that Ann started the interview discussing how she was super-secretly banned from the Today Show for 8-hours. Ann Coulter is constantly playing the victim at the hands of the mean evil liberals. She’s made a career out of it.
They also talked a lot about racism and hate crimes. Not that these problems need to be reduced, but that they aren’t really problems anymore.
After the interview Jimmy Norton said that what he liked the most about Ann Coulter was that she is unapologetic for the stuff she says. When did refusing to apologize become such a highly regarded personal attribute? You know who else never apologized? Adolf Hilter.
Not that I’m comparing Ann Coulter to Hitler. Adolf Hitler had a much smaller Adam’s apple than Ann Coulter.
Howard Stern’s terrestrial radio commercial for Sirius XM
I heard that some CBS radio stations are running spots for Sirius XM featuring Howard Stern. Since it’s now up on YouTube, I guess it’s true. And 35 million people listen to Sirius XM? Who’s he kidding? If they have 69 commercial-free music channels, why can’t they have just one punk rock music channel?
Like they used to.
Bubba The Love Sponge screws his satellite radio fans
Radio personality Bubba The Love Sponge recently had a very public contract negotiation with Sirius XM satellite radio. The show appears on Sirius channel 101 Monday through Thursday from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm, and Fridays from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.
Unhappy with the amount of money Sirius was paying him, Bubba returned to terrestrial morning radio in the Tampa area last January. He would do the morning show until 11:00 am and then do his afternoon Sirius show at 3:00 pm.
Sirius XM is doomed
At 10:00 a.m. today I changed the channel on my Sirius radio to channel 122 to listen to the Dan Patrick Show. It wasn’t on. At first I thought I had selected the wrong channel. Instead of it being the Dan Patrick Show, it was the sports show that’s normally on channel 123. I made sure I was on channel 122 and then switched over to channel 123. It was the same show. Both channels were simulcasting the same sports show.
The La La Christmas Song
If you’ve ever listened to The Ron and Fez Show on satellite radio (XM channel 202 and Sirius 197) you are probably familiar with the artist known as Sleeves. His real name is Sean Hurley. Actually, Sean Hurley is the writer-performer that plays the part of Sleeves. He makes the most fantastic and incredible music, much of it based on things that have transpired on the Ron and Fez Show.
I can’t adequately describe the stuff he creates. You’ve got to listen to it.
He recently submitted a Christmas song, The La La Christmas Song, to Ron and Fez for consideration to a contest they are running. As soon as they played Sleeves’ submission, it stopped being a contest. The rest of the contestants can now only hope for second place.
The La La Christmas Song
I was feeling pretty good fa la la la la
Taking my time on the la la la la
Snow falling down in the la la la la
Everybody singing like la la la la
Decking all the halls with the la la la la
Making my way to the la la la la la la la
I like to drink a little beer
At the ending of the day
And go walking into town
Feels like a million miles away
The snow is like a sea
Like the sand above the beach
The lights walking in the trees
The people shining in the street
And the people in the light
All the children in the light
Singing holy holy night
I was feeling pretty good fa la la la la
Taking my time on the la la la la
Snow falling down in the la la la la
Everybody singing like la la la la
Decking all the halls with the la la la la
Making my way to the la la la la la la la
I like to sit out on the pier
And look across the bay
I don’t think about a thing
And feel a million miles away
Like I’m floating from the sky
Like a storm of falling snow
Then I’m spinning through the trees
Then I’m shining in the road
For the people in the light
And all the children in the light
Singing holy holy night
So much for the Sirius-XM merger not requiring a new radio
To say I’m not happy with the reality of the Sirius-XM satellite radio merger is an understatement. I’ve already blogged about the fact that they removed one of my favorite music channels. I’ve now learned that my $150, 6-month old radio does not support the new A La Carte pricing packages.
Back when the two companies were attempting to get the federal government to change the law and allow the two competing satellite radio companies to merge, this was one of the things that would make the merger cheaper for the consumer. Instead of having to pay for channels you do not want, you could select 50 total channels that you wanted and pay less then the standard $13 bucks a month.
This past May I purchased a Sirius Sportster 5. It was (and still is) the most expensive radio sold by Sirius. It does not support A La Carte pricing.
Instead of paying less, I am now paying even more. The reason? To get some of the XM-only radio programing such as the NHL and NBA along with Ron and Fez, I had to cough up another four bucks a month for their “Best of XM package”.
You can’t tell me that they could have made the A La Carte pricing package available to everyone if they chose to. Instead they are using it to sell new radios.
Sirius kills the punk rock channel
Sirius XM (or whatever they are calling themselves) rolled out their new channels today and I was disappointed to discover that they dropped the punk rock channel. I thought it was bad when they “temporarily” converted the channel over to a 24 hour AC/DC channel.
This really irritates me. Since my personal music collection is really quite limited when it comes to punk rock, I found myself listening to channel 29 quite a bit. I checked out the Sirius XM website and it said that if I like the punk rock channel, I should listen to The Fraction on channel 28. Really? This is what Sirius XM says about channel 28:
Where heelflips, handplants, half-pipes and hard rock join hip-hop and the biggest names in skateboarding, surfing, freestyle skiing and more. Faction is the music that defines the action sports lifestyle. Hear exclusive shows from Tony Hawk, Bam Margera and more.
What we play: System of a Down, Offspring, NOFX, Metallica, 50 Cent, Green Day, Beastie Boys, AFI, Korn, Snoop Dogg, My Chemical Romance and Sex Pistols.
I don’t want a channel that is dedicated to the action sports lifestyle. I don’t want to hear shows by Tony Hawk or Bam Margera. I don’t want to hear the music of 50 Cent, Metallica, or Snoop Dogg.
Instead of a music channel dedicated to punk rock, I get a channel dedicated to the skateboard dorks that you find hanging out at the mall food court.
I want my punk music satellite radio station back
Sirius satellite radio channel 29 used to play nothing but punk music. That is, until they turned the channel “temporarily” into a 24 hour AC/DC channel. I think they did it to promote AC/DC’s first new album in 8 years. An album that you can only buy at Wal-Mart.
I have nothing against AC/DC. In fact, I think I have just about every AC/DC song ever recorded residing in my iTunes library. If I ever feel the need to listen to some AC/DC, it’s only an iPod click wheel away.
I cannot say they same thing about punk music. I don’t have that much punk music in my music library. Other then the Sex Pistols and The Clash, I don’t think I have any other punk music in my personal music library. That’s why I liked channel 29. Any time I felt like listening to punk, all I had to do was punch in channel 29.
Everyday I got to channel 29 to see if they brought punk music back and everyday I learn they haven’t. It’s getting old.
Howard Stern and his four day work week
Howard Stern has been complaining the last couple of days about an article written about him in the Los Angeles Times. The article states that his audience has shrunk since moving over to Sirius satellite radio and because of that, he has lost the clout and influence he enjoyed when he was on terrestrial radio. Because his audience is smaller, he no longer attracts the same level of top-tier guests.
His audience is certainly smaller. When he was on terrestrial radio, he averaged 12 million listeners a day. On Sirius satellite radio, his audience is somewhere between 1 and 2 million listeners. The merger between Sirius and XM has not resulted in a huge audience gain. XM subscribers that want to listen to Howard Stern have to pay an extra $4 a month. Not only do they get to listen to Howard Stern, they get the NFL, NASCAR, and the Martha Stewart channel.
As a Sirius satellite radio subscriber, I can attest to the fact that his guest list has taken a downgrade since his days on regular radio. He doesn’t get the same level of guests that he once did. I’m sure part of the reason for this is because he has less of an audience, but I don’t think that’s the only reason. I think part of the reason is because he doesn’t do a show on Fridays. His show runs Monday through Thursday. Friday’s show is a best-of montage from the rest of the week.
Not having a live show on Friday means Hollywood celebrities wishing to promote their movies opening that weekend go and do it elsewhere.
He would probably get better guests if he went back to working on Fridays.
If this photo does not make you gag, nothing will
Here we see Rush Limbaugh gorging on the face of his girlfriend, Kathryn Rogers. The way he is sucking on that cheek, it’s as though someone told him that she has ground up Oxycontin on her face.
Is it just me, or does it look like Miss Rogers has a rather large Adam’s apple for a woman?
Imus certainly stepped in it this time
Don Imus is once again in hot water over something he said on his radio show. Last time is was about the hair style of the Rutgers ladies basketball team. This time it was concerning former Tennessee Titans defensive back Pacman Adam Jones.
Maybe the I-Man shouldn’t talk about sports?
He and the rest of the people on his show were discussing Jones and how he has been arrested multiple times for multiple offenses. This is what Imus said:
Imus: “What color is he?”
Warner Wolf: “African-American”
Imus: “There you go. Now we know.”
Maybe it’s just me, but I think any time you begin your statement by asking what color someone is, it cannot be good.
I thought much of the Imus outrage the last go around was overblown. I thought what he said about the lady basketball players was stupid, but I did not think it was as bad as most people pretended it was. With that said, I think this statement is worse then what he said about the lady basketball players. A lot worse.
Don Imus is just a big old racist idiot. He needs to just go away.
Is Randi Rhodes an alcoholic?
Air America has suspended host Randi Rhodes for offensive comments made about Democratic Presidential nomination candidate Hillary Clinton and former Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro. She referred to Clinton as a “Fucking Whore” and made the comment that Ferraro was David Duke in drag.
She didn’t make these comments on the radio. She said them at an Air America event in San Francisco.
Was she drunk? Do a Google search for photos of Randi Rhodes and a good majority of them show her holding a drink of some kind. She has also been involved in some stuff off the air that would make a lot more sense if she was constantly blitzed. Things like calling Clinton a derogatory, sexist name. There was the time in 2007 when she had been drinking all day at a Irish pub in New York City and blacked out and hit her head. She initially informed Air America that she was mugged. It was then said by some liberal bloggers that she had been attacked by a right-wing hit squad. The whole thing was more then a little goofy. She was off the air for a few days because of it.
Listening to Randi Rhodes speak is a lot like listening to fingernails on the chalkboard. She speaks with a heavy Brooklyn accent that seems to be, well, amplified for effect. It’s so bad it sounds fake.
She also often has her facts completely wrong. I once heard her refer to the Iran-Contra scandal as though the hostages involved were the 52 American hostages taken in 1979 when the Shah of Iran was overthrown and the American Embassy seized. It’s that type of gross factual inaccuracy you would expect to hear on Sean Hannity.
My hope is that the suspension turns out to be permanent. In the world of talk radio, suspensions usually are.
Rush Limbaugh and phony soldiers
A lot has been made of late about something stupid conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh said about members of the military that favor leaving Iraq. He referred to them as “phony soldiers”. This comment has got a lot of people upset. So much so that Limbaugh has even gone back and edited the transcript of his show to change the context of what he said.
This is something Limbaugh doesn’t normally do when he says something stupid.
I’m having a hard time understanding all the outrage over this specific comment. Granted, it sounds as though Limbaugh is dishonoring those who serve their country, both past and present, but how is that newsworthy? Why is it so hard to understand that Limbaugh doesn’t have respect for members of the military? What would make anyone think that Limbaugh cares about the troops?
I would think that if Limbaugh really cared about the troops, he would be outraged that so many of them have been killed in a war waged over false pretenses. The last time I checked, George W. Bush went to war in Iraq because Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMD’s) and he had ties to al-Qaeda. Things that turned out to be not true. If Limbaugh cared about the troops, he would want them to come home, especially now that it’s clear they were sent to wage a war under false pretenses. If Limbaugh really cared about the troops, he would speak out against the idea of a never ending war. Instead of speaking out against it, he advocates it.
It seems to me that Limbaugh is being criticized for simply being Limbaugh. Rush Limbaugh said something stupid. That’s just what he does.
Opie & Anthony suspended from XM Radio for 30 days
This is the kind of thing that makes me glad I have an iPod. XM Satellite Radio has pulled the plug on Opie and Anthony (O&A) for 30 days. This stems from crude sexual jokes about Condoleeza Rice, Laura Bush, and Queen Elizabeth made by a homeless man on their show.
I read the press release on the XM Radio website. It sounds as though they suspended them not for the crude comments made last week, but because O&A didn’t seem overly contrite yesterday while talking about the incident.
Comments made by Opie and Anthony on yesterday’s broadcast put into question whether they appreciate the seriousness of the matter. The management of XM Radio decided to suspend Opie and Anthony to make clear that our on-air talent must take seriously the responsibility that creative freedom requires of them.
This seems extremely petty on XM’s Radio’s part. If they were going to suspend them, they should have done so after they made the comments. Then again, they were NOT the ones that actually made the comments. Now it seems they are being suspended for not sucking up to XM Radio management.
XM Radio may want to punish Opie and Anthony, but I feel like I’m the one that’s being punished. I will still be required to pay the monthly $12.99 subscription fee. I just wont get to listen to content I usually enjoy listening to. I guess I could cancel for the month, but they would then turn around and charge me a $10 connection fee to reestablish my account next month. That’s assuming O&A ever return to XM Radio.
XM Radio wins no matter what I do.
I’m not going to pretend that the comments weren’t extremely rude, crude, and in bad taste. The thing is, that’s what Opie and Anthony do. It’s what their show is all about. It’s a funny show that is often times extremely raw in nature. You never really know what you are going to hear. Because the show is on satellite, Opie and Anthony are free from FCC restrictions on content.
This makes me wonder why XM Radio didn’t have a problem with any of the other things they have done the past three years. Was everyone else fair game, but Condoleeza Rice, Laura Bush, and Queen Elizabeth off-limits? If I didn’t know any better, I would think this had something to do with the possible XM/Sirius merger. The one that would require the Federal government to step in and change the law to allow both satellite radio companies to merge.
Aren’t holy men suppost to keep their mouth shut?
I promise that I’m not going to permanently blog about the Don Imus “nappy-headed ho” controversy, but I tend to write about things that interest me. Sometimes I write about funny books. Sometimes I write about politics. Like I said, I blog about things that I find interesting.
Right now, I’m finding the Imus story interesting.
Yesterday’s New York Daily News ran a story about one of the ministers that was calling for Imus to be fired. The man’s name is Reverend DeForest Soaries and he hails from New Jersey. He claims to be one of the first to call for Imus to be fired. I’m not sure if this entitles him to print up t-shirts and trucker hats stating this fact, but I guess only time will tell.
He tells of being asked to act as a liaison between the Rutgers basketball team and Imus by Rutgers coach Vivian Stringer, a member of his flock. Not that I really understand why a liaison was needed. Soaries tells the New York Daily News of meeting with Imus in New York to discuss meeting with the team. As it turns out, the meeting took place minutes if not seconds after Imus found out he was fired from MSNBC.
“I became more of a pastor to him than the facilitator of the meeting,” he said.
“We didn’t even talk about what I was supposed to be there for. I needed to be with him spiritually. This was a man who’d just got big, bad news and he needed me to listen to him.
“He didn’t cry, but I could see he was in pain. He tried to joke, but it was a mask for that pain. He seemed hurt by what had happened to him.
“He felt somewhat betrayed by certain people. He didn’t name anybody, but he thought certain people could have given him more time.
“He thinks he should have been given the chance to meet the team first, that if those people could see he was truly repentant, then CBS and MSNBC would see it that way, too.
“I had words of consolation for him, even though I was one of those asking for him to be fired.”
I’m glad that Reverend Soaries could console and act as a paster to Imus. The last time I checked, that is what our holy men are supposed to do. They aren’t supposed to demand that people be fired from their jobs. They are supposed to act as spiritual counselors.
They are supposed to be advocates for forgiveness. At least the Christian ones. Forgiveness is what the Christian faith is based on. It’s what Jesus preached about. It’s what he commanded us to do to each other. To forgive. Something not a lot of the reverends involved in the Imus controversy have been doing.
Forgiveness means that you don’t demand somebody to be fired.
Shouldn’t Reverend Soaries have kept silent about ministering to Imus? Doesn’t he have some sort of ethical obligation to keep quiet about consoling Imus?
I’m sure Reverend DeForest Soaries did nothing wrong by speaking to the New York Daily News about the meeting. I can tell by looking at his photo that Reverend DeForest Soaries is a very honorable man. Did you notice the way he sits with his chin resting in the palm of his hand? He looks to be very thoughtful and insightful. Plus, I see from his photo that he fancies shirts with French cuffs. Nothing speaks integrity more then fancy French shirts.
Imus on the other hand wears cowboy clothes.
Don Imus fired from MSNBC and CBS Radio
Let this be a lesson. It doesn’t matter how many awards you have won. It doesn’t matter how much money you have raised for various charities. It doesn’t matter that you are in your profession’s Hall of Fame.
If you make a derogatory comment about black women, you had better do it on a hip hop album or on BET.
Even if you say it only in jest. Even if in your profession saying dumb funny things is not only acceptable, it’s expected. Even if you then go on to apologize repeatedly for what you said.
I will be the first to admit that Imus could be a jerk. He could be extremely offensive. What set him apart from so many other jerks was that he was an equal opportunity offender. It didn’t matter who you were. If you were in the public eye, he would probably get around to saying something offensive about you. He would ridicule anyone, including himself. Especially himself. It’s what he did best.
Some will argue that Don Imus is a racist. They will say that by saying “nappy-headed ho’s” on his radio program, he proved his racism. I would argue that a racist wouldn’t dare say something in public that could be interpreted as racist. They wouldn’t make a dumb joke about a woman’s college basketball team where most of the woman were black. No, a racist is more careful with what they say in public. A racist wouldn’t endorse an African-American candidate for the U.S. Senate. A racist wouldn’t then go on and aggressively defend that African-American candidate when racists attempt to smear the candidate with lies.
I’ve known real racists. Don Imus wasn’t a racist. He was just a guy on the radio that liked to make jokes.
Now that this whole ordeal is over and racism has finally been eradicated, I hope this means Jesse Jackson now has time to do what Don Imus did. Jesse Jackson said some awful things about three college athletes. Young men that played lacrosse at Duke University. The men had been accused of raping a woman. Something that proved to be not true. The woman lied.
Jesse Jackson said awful, untrue things about the Duke lacrosse players. At least he never made fun of their hair.
What Don Imus said
From the April 4 edition of MSNBC’s Imus in the Morning:
IMUS: So, I watched the basketball game last night between — a little bit of Rutgers and Tennessee, the women’s final.
ROSENBERG: Yeah, Tennessee won last night — seventh championship for [Tennessee coach] Pat Summitt, I-Man. They beat Rutgers by 13 points.
IMUS: That’s some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos and –
McGUIRK: Some hard-core hos.
IMUS: That’s some nappy-headed hos there. I’m gonna tell you that now, man, that’s some — woo. And the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute, you know, so, like — kinda like — I don’t know.
McGUIRK: A Spike Lee thing.
IMUS: Yeah.
McGUIRK: The Jigaboos vs. the Wannabes — that movie that he had.
IMUS: Yeah, it was a tough –
McCORD: Do The Right Thing.
McGUIRK: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
IMUS: I don’t know if I’d have wanted to beat Rutgers or not, but they did, right?
ROSENBERG: It was a tough watch. The more I look at Rutgers, they look exactly like the Toronto Raptors.
IMUS: Well, I guess, yeah.
RUFFINO: Only tougher.
McGUIRK: The [Memphis] Grizzlies would be more appropriate.
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