Do’s and don’ts for both callers and hosts. Sports talk radio is one of the most popular ways for fans to talk and listen about sports these days, well besides the internet. It gives "Joe Fan" a chance to sound off on what they think about their favorite teams and upcoming games. I have come up with some things that need to be addressed for this format to grow or keep growing.

Do’s

First one, bring "it"when you call. Have a point, make it, and hang up.

Speak up! Act like you mean what you say and know what you are talking about. This goes back to number one also.

Don’ts

Don’t be such a tough guy. Sports talk is just that.......talk. It is all subjective, so don’t get offended when someone doesn’t agree with your opinion. This goes for hosts as well.

Don’t just call a radio station just to hear your own voice on the radio. You do nothing but slow down an already commercially plagued program. And turn down your radio before you go on too!

Also by the way, you didn’t have "Thunder" to be stolen!!!!! Has there ever been a caller in talk radio history that had so many great points and was such a strong caller that the host and all the listeners thought "WOW that guy had thunder!"

 

Radio hosts, here is your list. Stick to it or at least give it a shot if you plan on sticking around.

Do’s

Have an opinion an get ready to accept arguments for each one of them. Just because you host a show does not mean you are an expert. If you were you would be an executive for an organization on some level.

Let each caller make their point. You get the other three to four hours of show time let the caller get their two minutes in. Besides, as long as you keep some people on hold you should even have an option to talk over them.

Don’ts

Don’t recap the show after each commercial break, we know what is going on, we have been listening.

Why is everyone so negative?  It is just sports.  It really will not have any impact on your life what so ever if you team wins or loses.  Trust me.  I have had almost every team in Michigan win a championship of some kind and it hasn't changed my life one bit!

Chill out on the commercial breaks!!! Quality over quantity! What you need to do is charge more money for less air time! I change the channel if there are too many commercial breaks. One show that does this just has less breaks but the breaks are really long. But at least I know when they come back, they may go for 20-25 minutes! If I think you aren’t coming back for 4-6 minutes I wont either. I may not even come back to your show because I found another one with less commercials. Some shows have almost an equal ratio of commercial to actual show time. Seriously.

We really do NOT need sports updates every 20 minutes, especially at 3 a.m. All this does is cut off the program from any thoughts and adds yet two more commercial breaks for the same exact things we just heard.

The new format for many radio programs has become something like this example:

6:56 commercials lead to sports update at 7:00

7:00-7:02 sports update with sponsor mention

7:02-7:06 commercials

7:06-7:11 talk about what is coming up on the show

7:12-7:15 commercials

7:15-7:20 recap what will be talked about/start a subject

7:20-7:22 commercials

7:22 sports update

7:24-7:28 back to commercials

7:28-7:37 talking sports for longest period of the hour

7:37-7:40 commercials

7:40-7:42 sports update

7:42-7:46 commercials

7:46-7:56 sports talk and one or two callers

7:56 start the cycle over

for hosts for callers for callers

So I had to take a break from all the places I write because it has been a busy year already.  I have some NBA stuff I need to get off my chest.  I need to smack some dime droppers and draft action as well.  First lets get to a few free-agents.

First off it bothers me that it is so acceptable, almost like no big deal (pun intended) when an above average players gets $60 million to play basketball for a few years.  This is also the cause to my problem of only getting to one game a year now because of ticket prices.  Really does a hot dog of that quality really justify $5 and beers for $9?

1. Rashard Lewis- Will he stay or will he go?  I think he goes.  He may not want to sign on as the lone gun on a team in rebuilding mode. The Sonics just drafted Kevin Durant who plays the same position.  Lewis may get short term max money such as the new common 4 years $60 million deal, but he could get that in a sign and trade almost anywhere.  Which teams could make the move?  Portland, Miami, and Orlando are the commons teams you here on him.  What about Boston?  They just got Ray Allen from Seattle why not Lewis also?

2.  Chauncey Billups - He is unrestricted but the chances of him leaving Detroit are restricted.  Orlando's name again pops up on this one.  The Pistons can offer more money to stay and the Magic would have to do a sign and trade.  These teams did it once before with Grant Hill.  I thought there was no way Grant would leave Detroit but a sign and trade deal that sent Hill to the Magic the Pistons got Ben Wallace and Chucky Adkins.  Maybe in this sign and trade deal the Magic would send Grant Hill and Darko Milicic back to Detroit.  All three players are free agents currently, Darko is restricted.

3.  Kurt Hinrich's mama is ugly.  He isn't a free agent but I had to say that.

4.  Gerald Wallace - he is probably going to remain a Bobcat.  He may get a little over rated by some because he carried the Bobcats most of the year.  Someone had to do it!  Although if he does stay and they solidify the roster around him they may make a playoff run.  He may still be a player on the rise.

Cleveland - take this time as a chance to get better.  Dont overpay for your own mediocre not supporting players you have as free and restricted agents.  Take this chance to get Lebron two guys that are going to step up and take the pressure off of Lebron.  They went all the way to the finals but got slammed by a team like San Antonio who plays 9 deep and as a unit.  The Cavs still stand around watching Lebron hoping he may kick it out to them at some point.


Greg Oden will be a solid player?  He looks like he has all the tools to be a two way player in the NBA.  Well actually he looks like "Grandpa Lebron" in the Nike commercials but that was another blog down the line.  I wish he could have played two more years in college to refine his game.  This may have been his fathers decision to come out early and go pro.

Kevin Durant is another player that two more years of college basketball would have helped immensly.  He has the shot and skills but doesn't have the "NBA body" that he needs to play with men instead of kids on the court.  Like they say on Wall Street though is "sell high" and their stock has never been higher and was at its ceiling.

UPDATES:

Rip Hamilton to Seattle?  Frank Hughes, Sonics Insider for The News Tribune, quoting a source from local radio station WXYT, says the Pistons are considering shipping Richard Hamilton to Seattle, for Lewis?

Gerald Wallace, one of the hottest names in free agency, has drawn interest from the Pistons.  According to the AP- The Charlotte Bobcats face heavy competition in their effort to re-sign leading scorer Gerald Wallace.   The Bobcats were one of eight teams that contacted Wallace when the NBA's free agency period began at midnight Saturday. Dallas, Orlando, Milwaukee, Detroit, Miami, Portland and Golden State all made inquiries, a person close to Wallace said Sunday.

1. Will Calvin Johnson will make a big difference in Detroit?  He was the number two pick in the draft and the Lions did need a number two WR.  However one thing is for sure, having a great WR corp has worked really well for the Arizona Cardinals hasn't it?

2. How is it no one ever saw a guy named Magic Johnson getting a sexually transmitted disease such as HIV?  Had the name not already been taken I would have named my unit that.

3. Dallas got knocked out by Golden State.  It is one of the bigger upsets in NBA playoff history, but Golden State did have their number the entire season going 3-0 vs the Mavs.  Just remember it is all about the match-up.  This is why they say any given Sunday in the NFL, it is all about the match-up.

4. Many fans of the Detroit Lions say that Mike Martz will be gone next year as he would take a head coaching job somewhere else.  However if Martz was such a hot coaching prospect he would not have been beaten out in so many jobs this off season.  He was beat out by rookies and Norv Turner for jobs.  To me that says a lot.

5. So many people have opinions and predictions on games but never really back them up.  Predictions and opinions are like butts, every one has them and most of them stink!  However there is a site that you can put all your predictions in stone (well actually encrypted data).  The site is FanIQ.  Here is the link to see just how smart you really are.

1. Was I supposed to feel bad for Brady Quinn? It was the biggest day of his life. He got drafted in the first round by his hometown team that also got the guy who is going to protect his back side too. When he went into the private suite, how come ESPN was in there? That6 seemed like a very public suite to me. Also Suzy Colber, I know how Quinn was feeling, I had his mug on my TV set for four hours!!!!!

2. The Lions drafted another WR in round one in the top 10. As they drafted Calvin Johnson (also known as CJ) a 6-5 240 WR from Georgia Tech, they traded away another top 10 WR named "Big" Mike Williams (also know as BMW) who was 6-5 240. The Lions wanted BMW to play at 220 lbs but had trouble staying under 230 lbs. BMW always said he hadn't been 220 lbs since high school and played at 230-240 lbs. The big difference from CJ to BMW is character, talent, and heart.

3. The Raiders drafted JaMarcus Russell a QB who can get the ball deep and they trade away Randy Moss who was wasting away in Oakland without the QB they just drafted. Then they traded for BMW from Detroit who the Lions couldn't get rid of fast enough. This kind of transaction is another reason why they had the number one pick this year.

4. The NHL playoffs have been great. Watching Hockey Night in Canada is something every American should have access to in their areas cable and satellite. CBC shows hockey a little differently. The color of the camera lens and clarity of the crowd noise is unparalleled. This is the only time I even watch other teams play. The perspective and analysis as well as banter between Don Cherry and (insert name here) is great.

5. I think I have had my share of the Yankees/Red Sox overkill on ESPN.

6. Matt Millen drafted another WR in the top 10? Why not, having a great WR corp has worked so great for Arizona!!

7. The Dolphins drafted Ted Ginn jr. instead of Brady Quinn?

8. Please stop showing the tape of Brady Quinn saying "that’s a surprise" and "wow"

9.Is it just me or has anyone ever saw Jim Carey and former Pacers coach Rick Carlisle in the same room at the same time?

10. Randy Moss got traded to the Patriots, that is just what Tom Brady needed to finally win a Super Bowl errrrrrrr a fourth one.

11. Is there really a "Torre Watch" in New York? Is the media going to get him fired or is it the poor play of the team? He knows how to win World Series but is off to a slow start this year. Maybe the huge money contracts George Steinbrenner has to hand out to get players to play there is just too much pressure to perform. Most people in sports know that 90% of sports is mental. Even John Madden said on Madden 06 "they say the game of football is 90% mental and half physical". That is 140%!

12.  Draft grades are out.....ALREADY?  Isn't it a bit early to give grades on players that have not even attended a mini camp yet.  It may be a few YEARS too early to judge a teams draft.  Lets publish grades for drafts at the five year mark, my guess is that many teams would have very low grades due to the career span of NFL players.  Having said that the Browns had a great draft!!

13.  Still using the BCS system?  If the NCAA keeps up this kind of format I am going to start blaming them for the war in Iraq.

Ok so last year I posted a story about Minnesota Timberwolves Center Eddie Griffin who had smashed his SUV while driving drunk and cranking one out to porn.  That was one for sure way most fans agreed they would not have wanted to get busted.  But Griffin made his mama proud by pulling off this trifecta of nonsensical lunecy.

 Then a few months later another set of indescretions from the Detroit Lions defensive line coach Joe Cullen.  He was busted once when he drove through Tim Horton's drive thru naked.  Maybe he just wanted to see if he could use "it" as a bagel holder, who knows.  Then he was arrested for drunk driving two weeks later.

  Now comes the latest from a Wisconsin man.  He had his second arrest for similar charges.  This is the Associated Press story: 

SUPERIOR, Wis. (AP) — A 20-year-old man received probation after he was convicted of having sexual contact with a dead deer. The sentence also requires Bryan James Hathaway to be evaluated as a sex offender and treated at the Institute for Psychological and Sexual Health in Duluth, Minn."The state believes that particular place is the best to provide treatment for the individual," Assistant District Attorney Jim Boughner said.

Hathaway's probation will be served at the same time as a nine-month jail sentence he received in February for violating his extended supervision.

His extended supervision is from guess what?  Seriously, guess what it was.  Ok I will tell you, it was from killing a horse and having intercourse with the animal afterwards.  I may be going out on a limb here but, is it just me or should this man be getting a little more than probation for this?  Is this a guy we want living about your community? 

Just another thought on how not to get busted in my humble opinion.