Gresh and Zo Weigh In On Jacoby

My first impulse was to write about how "classy" Zo and Gresh were. Then as I thought about it, I thought I would rip them for being subjective in such a "classy" way. But as I started typing what really came to mind is that they should lose their jobs over this. I understand that they are paid to opine. I get that. But this isn't opining, this is straight out personal character assignation bordering on libel. They have no idea what is wrong with Jacoby. He might be faking it because he is unhappy with his contract, he might be severely hurt, he may have "brittle" bones, he might have some sort of lingering internal damage from the first injury. We do not know.

However, Scott Zolak and Andy Gresh who have decided they do know what is wrong and as such have labeled Ellsbury a "pussy" represent a larger media organization. Their actions reflect on CBS. This comment was unsolicited. They, or whoever has access to their twitter account, made a personal attack on a 20 something year old injured professional athlete, without any information as to why he is hurt. If I was their employer I would not want to be associated with such people. This is not them doing their job, nor getting them more "hits" or "reads" or "traffic". This was and is crass bullying. To me this is no different than the pols in NH wishing Sarah Palin dead. The media has power and Zolak and Gresh being part of the media are calling this kid names when he is hurt, they are trying to get him to do something that he does not want to do because they think they know better, they are bullying him by calling him names in an attempt to extort a certain behavior. They may think it but to actually say it publicly is so unacceptable that I think it is a terminatable offense. The mucky-mucks at CBS have a decision to make…do we want to be known for this type of sportstalk and crassness or do we put out a better product than this.

By the way, the irony of their tweet is not lost on me…Ellsbury is a "pussy" because he goes back to Boston after reaggrevating his injured ribs PLAYING baseball. Ty Warren is a warrior football player because he elected surgery to have his hip repaired after injuring it PRACTICING football. The funny thing is their are reports that Warren could have played this year if he wanted to fight through the pain. The risk was permanent arthritis and playing with a lot of pain this year. For the record I think he made the right decision. I just find it horribly hypocritical that Zo and Gresh applaud Warren and yet have such personal animosity for Ellsbury. Although knowing the personalities involved I probably should not be surprised.

So CBS, do the right thing and fire these two. Set a tone at your sportstalker that becoming the story, and bullying 20 somethings (or anyone for that matter) is just not going to be tolerated.

LTD

You would think something as classless as this would hurt Gresh and Zo. I believe that some people will be permanently turned off but I believe that Gresh and Zo will get a net gain in fans. I still remember Chad Finn's article in the Globe when he said that sports radio in Boston is aimed at the lowest common denominator. It's not what you know and how intelligently you can state it. It is how loud and obnoxious the host can be. The ratings do not lie.

1) One of the highest rated shows in Boston is Dennis and Callahan, two miserable, grouchy, smart asses. To me both are totally unlistenable. Their competition on the other hand who have been gaining in ratings are a couple of untalented wacky FM DJs who have no sports knowledge and do bits that they only find funny. (insert whoppy cushion here)

2) When Gresh was hired by WBZ I thought there could be a slight improvement over Gary Tanguay. Gresh, though, turned out to be louder and more obnoxious than Tanguay, with equal amounts of stupidity. But what do I know, the ratings came out and Gresh and Zo had closed within a ratings point over the more intelligent, not nearly as loud Dale and Holley. I know, there are plenty of you who take issue with Arnold but to say he is more aggravating then Gresh means you believe that Frank from Gloucester and Steve from Fall River are two of the Boston's brightest and most astute sports minds around. It would make no sense.

3) The Big Show and Felger and Sock-Puppet are in a dead heat as well they should be because you can't tell either show apart. The Big Show with Glen Ordway consists of a blowhard host with guest who talk over each other. Ordway also makes sure that the brightest of the brightest call in. You know these people. They come up with genius ideas like having Mike Lowell play second while Dustin Pedroia gets better. Ordway does this to show just how "smart" he is and can mock these callers. Felger, has used one method to get his point across and that is screaming. I know there are people that think Felger actually believes in what he was saying, I don't. I think Felger says things to get a rise out of the listener-ship. His ideas are snide and condescending which will get listeners to take extreme sides. He wants anger not calm. Calm is boring. His Sock-Puppet co-host actually seems intimidated by Felger's screaming. I think that is the most damning thing you can say about Sock-Puppet is that he does not say what he believes because he is scared Felger is going to blow up at him. Hence, every time Felger blurts something out you hear, "You're absolutely right Mike."

4) Even though the Celtics and Red Sox were considered part of the ratings of the Planet Mikey show. I still have to believe that Adams ratings are still better than the far more intelligent, more witty DA Show. Adams seems to have almost no understanding of what is going on sports wise. He has the same old tired topics (see Ramirez, Manny). It is just dreadful. DA will talk about any topic you can think of. He will intelligently respond to it. He will not yell or scream and he has respect for those who call. It's great.

If you are like me and want your sports talk to be intelligent and not loud or snide there is no room for you. You are out of luck.

Just checked – Moe and Zo have almost 1300 Twitter followers. But I don't want to interrupt sam and another of his fascinating Twitter lectures.

The only time I would rather listen to WEEI is from 10 to 2. I find Gresh annoying and Zolak to be a non-entity. The only positive thing I can say is that Gresh and Zo in marginally less awful than Tanguay and Zolak was before it.

I really have no idea what makes Scott Zolak marketable on the radio. An average listener must have a difficult time understanding him, the man struggles to read copy. Zolak preforms on radio as if he's in front of a camera. Translation – Bad Radio!I
With Andy Gresh, you know what you're going get – You either like him or don't, there's no middle ground. A word of advice for Zolak from someone who's a patron of 98.5 advertising:
Stick to T.V.

As big-market radio hosts who have real-time capacity for affecting New England popular culture by condemning, certifying or merely exposing new ideas and sentiments to your audience, it is your duty to bestow an official nickname upon young Patriot Danny Woodhead. Please fulfill your obligation to your fans, your city and your profession by introducing Danny "Tunnel Rat" Woodhead.

"Tunnel Rat"