(1) Say what you want about Cumulus, they pull out the stops when it comes to the draft and the result is some entertaining, informative broadcasting. I don't know much about college football and frankly don't care much about it, but the show holds my attention.
(2) Norm is the acknowledged expert, but my ears perk up when I hear the resonant murmur of Bob Sturm. Don't let the guy anywhere near an interview, but even his occasional asides are worth listening to. The more I hear of the guy and read his blog, the more admire his real sports savvy.
(3) It is disconcerting to hear Mike Rhyner as the yuck-monkey. I always like hearing his voice, but I'm not entirely sure what he's doing there. I'm not sure he knows, either. Throws in a gag or a non-specific observation here and there. I'm not being critical -- I'm just saying that when he's not running a show doing what he's good at doing, it's faintly discomfiting to hear him just there without a role.
(4) Junior Miller, along with Sturm the most astute sports mind on the station, delivered a scorching SO this morning, predicting that Dez Bryant would be as productive as Randy Moss over his career. One of the things I admire about Junior is that he is not one of these guys that is more interested in not being wrong than in the possibility of being spectacularly right. That attitude makes America great.
(5) I'm still somewhat puzzled by Todd Archer. After a promising start on The Ranch Report, I didn't think he rose to the occasion, as I suggested here and here. Again, he's an agreeable radio presence, but what more does he bring? In his defense, I think he was doing a live instant Q&A online during the draft last night, which was surely distracting.
I completely agree about Sturm! Next to Norm he has the best Sports mind on The Ticket, and I would rank Jr. a close or equal second. (Im not sure how much research the interns do)Bobs blog is already very solid and so is Jr's. I did not start reading either until recently. Norm is very much the oppisite in his tactics of questions. More often then not they are softballs, but I think he does this for years with some personalities to build a relationship to be able to ask the TOUGH ones when the time warrants.
ReplyDeleteI like Norm a lot, and I've heard him do some amazing thing. What was that new statistic he came up with this year? Yards gained per point? That's not quite right, but it was something very creative and intriguing. I don't get to hear Norm that much but when I do I can't turn away.
ReplyDeleteHowever, even with Norm's vast experience, my impression is that he overthinks things and ends up reaching for non-common-sense conclusions that are fun to listen to -- but dubious. Big Norm fan, but I put Junior and Bob ahead of him on the sports-smartness list.