If you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have one.

The same age-old sentiment applies in some ways to the terrestrial sports talk radio environment in Cleveland. We don’t want to spend too much time on this one — it’s sports talk radio, after all — but a brief rundown of our qualms is in order.

WKNR 850 AM had the run of the town for years and the station’s generally static lineup was part of what made the arrival of 92.3 FM The Fan in late August 2011 so welcome. There was a competitor, which was nice, along with fresh voices like import Adam the Bull, OSU alum Dustin Fox, and longtime favorites like Kiley and Booms, propped up in morning drive-time after separate and joint stints around the country, including in Washington D.C. and on Fox Sports Radio. There were also castoffs, manning the boards and doing 20/20 updates after getting bounced from WKNR over to 92.3 or catching on with the new FM station after toiling away in the very, very small circle of Cleveland sports media for years.

The upside, three and a half years later, is that the lineup hasn’t changed. Kiley and Booms still fill the morning airwaves, Baskin and Phelps talk in your ear during lunch, the Bull and Fox are there when you’re getting sleepy in the afternoon, and Ken Carmen is around when you’re too tired to change the station at night.

WKNR, meanwhile, operated in those three and a half years like so: Every once in awhile, all on-air talent put their name in a hat and some Top Man drew names and randomly created new shows. Or at least that’s how it feels. Remember when Hooley had a show with Brinda? Oh, this guy’s not working out in the afternoon? Let’s just pair him with this other guy we’ve had forever and we’ll make that a new show. Weeeeeee, in the parlance of Senor Rizzo.

While 850 pulled in some new talent in unconventional ways — grabbing Grossi for Browns coverage and Windhorst for Cavs coverage — the AM signal’s modus operandi was usually to promote from within, if at all, meaning a guy who did a decent job on the board or had some good chemistry could land a second or third tier spot on a show. What WKNR hasn’t done, and this obviously goes for 92.3 in its steadfast consistency as well, is hire someone new, someone with talent, and let them grow an audience. In most ways, it seems like both stations feel safer letting the predictable ratings come in with the predictable names than change anything up.

That’s the long-winded version of saying that neither station is a good listen from morning to night, and that we could point to any number of folks either getting too much play or not getting enough play (in the latter case: Why the hell doesn’t Anthony Lima have a regular show by now?).

Anyway. this was the subject of a lengthy email thread amongst some pals last week and it got us thinking of what the ideal one station lineup might look like. Naturally, you’ll probably disagree. Go ahead and kill us in the comment section. And keep in mind: Including certain people isn’t a defense of their personal lives, nor condoning how certain stations reacted to certain situations in the past. It’s simply what makes the most sense, and in the case of one Mr. Tony Rizzo — as advertisers and ratings would suggest — it’s what people are actually listening to.

9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Rizzo and Goldhammer and maybe Je’Rod
The two had chemistry the current Really Big Show lineup can’t match and Goldhammer (full disclosure: a friend of the program) felt like Rizzo’s equal and not a co-host. Rizzo is Rizzo, and love him or hate him, the guy brings listeners. And as far as schtick goes, he has it nailed in a fashion that seems effortless. We’d consider bringing Je’Rod on board too, but only if we never hear how many Super Bowls he won again.

1 – 3 p.m. Zac Jackson and Andre Knott
Anyone who’s heard Zac on the 92.3 Browns’ pregame show and anyone who’s found the A to Z podcast hosted by the duo knows they have chemistry, know how to make really boring sports conversations not so boring, and have enough sarcasm and background knowledge of just about everyone in town to drop not-so-thinly veiled details into stories. And it’s time somebody rescued Knott from 1100.

3 – 6 p.m. Dustin Fox and Anthony Lima
Lima (full disclosure again: a friend of the program) is stuck doing fill-ins and 20/20s and pregame coverage when he should really be manning a show. No one in Cleveland knows the NCAA or basketball in general better, and few are better students of the game. And the Fox, as people call him, is a natural.

6 – 9 p.m. Hooley and Carman
Hooley has grown on us over the years. He thinks more like a journalist than most of the other radio folks in town, and his old-man, been-there-covered-that act is actually charming and brings out some nuances on stories that go overlooked throughout the course of the day when everyone else gets the chance to talk before him. Also, we like Ken. And someone has to know baseball on our hypothetical all-star sports station.

Late Nights and Weekends
We’ve given less thought to this, but we like Joe Lull, Will Burge (another friend of the program), and think somebody should give WFNY and Scene podcast host Craig Lyndall a shot, and that’s not just because he works with us. And throw Scott Raab in the mix too.

OK. Go ahead and disagree now.

This article appears in Jan 14-20, 2015.

Vince Grzegorek has been with Scene since 2007 and editor-in-chief since 2012. He previously worked at Discount Drug Mart and Texas Roadhouse.

22 replies on “Here’s How We’d Fix Cleveland Sports Talk Radio”

  1. This critique coming from a guy who is slowly killing off this mag with BIG TALENTS like Sam Allard. Dude, go jump off a cliff, you’re terrible.

  2. Too much insider perspective, the only out of market talent you’ve included is Goldhammer. Cut Lima for Craig (his articles on WFNY are typically very even-handed) to balance out Dustin and I’d like it if Ken and Lima could do 2x 6 hour shows over the weekend but understand that is a crap ton of content for a talk format. Maybe pair the dulcet tones of Chico with Hooley at night. Then you’ve got yourself a killer lineup.

  3. To the first comment, we forgot to mention that Sam Allard would be the program director. That better?

  4. Rizzo’s schtick is beyond played out and annoying…get rid of that little wife beating loser and all the other nerd trying to talk sports like they know something, then station mite be worth a listen

  6. Great read. Love your pairing of Hooley and Carmen. Hooley brings the jounalist aspect, and I personally think Ken Carmen’s first 15 minutes on radio is the best sports radio in Cleveland–whether I agree with him or not–he states his point and backs it up thoroughly.

  9. Wait, is this a print guy criticizing terrestrial radio? That’s awesome. Too bad Scene Magazine will be out of business within 2 years.

  11. “folks either getting to much play or not getting enough play”
    Maybe someone at WKNR can help you edit?

  12. Rizzo needs to go … had enough of the bald headed wifebeater!! Anyone else in this town would have been fired after the crap he pulled! And Fox… WOW is their anyone dumber on the radio??

  13. Great article, but I do have a few ideas of my own. You need aorning show and no morning show would be good without the Boomer. Love him or hate him Chuck is entertaining. I would pair Chick with Ken Carman. They are great when Ken fills in in the morning, and if needed ken can easily carry a show on his own. Filling Kens spot with Hooley would be LeCharles Bentley. I can just imagine sitting back and let those two argue a point. I miss LeCharles on the radio. Did not always agree with him but he brought it. The best idea is the Zach and Andre show. Not sure the time is the best for people who have to work. I would rather see th in the 6-9 slot.

  14. Ken Carmen is great alone. Kevin Kiley needs to be on list. He can break down the NFL better than any of these others.Lima & Fox R great together.

  15. Out of the names mentioned, I like Andre Knott. Only Andre Knott. And I cannot stand Rizzo and Goldhammer.

    I’m mostly a WTAM listener when it comes to local talk shows.

  16. “Chris Fedor, Les Levine, and JG Spooner deserve some weekend time as well.”

    Les Levine is pretty good.

    One of my problems with hosts like Fedor and Goldhammer and so forth: They HATE conversing with callers. I think they hate it because they have no talent at it. This is one of the reasons I prefer the local talent at WTAM.

  17. Jeff Phelps and les Levine, the gold standard s. Could listen to them forever. HEY RID OF BASKIN, TOTAL FREAKING LOSER!!!! Someone’s going to get really smart and put Phelps, Levine, Rizzo, and Jimmy Donovan together, wow, that’s Cleveland radio at its finest!!!

  19. How about someone completely fresh? A local sports author comes to mind, Vince McKee. He’s knows what he is taking about, he’s personable and a down to earth local guy, born and bred. He lives and breathes sports. He would be a refreshing change from the stale sportscasting personnel we have today.

  20. At what point will people call a spade a spade, and cut ties with Goldhammer. It’s like listening to a WWE broadcast, when he is on the air. It’s shock-jock, with no substance, because he has no true knowledge, or inside information. No one credible will converse with him from inside any of the CLE major, or minor sports organizations. He retreats from positions, and says insanely dumb things: “It’s just special teams guys.” He is a personal family friend of Craig Karmazin, the station’s out of market owner. I am hoping as his show fails, after he begged to get away from Rizzo, that the ties will be cut, and he will be pursuing work in another market.

  21. The reason that KNR changes so much is that their talent is mediocre. Roda was their best interviewer. Hooley is decent, like you say, he reports like a journalist, which he was. Ken Carman is the best, and 92.3 is much more consistent. Goldhammer and Munch should be handing out carts in Wal Mart, although they may not be qualified to do that.

  22. Dump Fox – he knows nothing about baseball and any Cleveland sports show host should be able to talk about the game above rec league understanding.

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