Bruce Pearl Needs to Go

I hated to type that title.  I hate saying it.  But we all know it must happen.  The Bruce Pearl we all loved was a fake.

Bruce is like the beautiful girlfriend who was fun to be with and was as pure as the driven snow - or so you thought.  Then one day you found she was not the person she pretended to be.  She had been cheating on you.  But she cries and apologizes so you take her back.  At first, you think you can make it work, but you can never trust her again.  You didn't love her just because she was beautiful and she showed you a good time, you loved her because she was a good person.  This was the one. But now you know she isn't who you thought she was and suddenly she isn't as beautiful as you had once thought.  It is starting to make sense what your friends were saying.  She is fake.  She will do it again.  Dump her before she hurts you again.

It's not you, Bruce, its us.  I hope we can still be friends.

Attempted to Buy a New TV

So my 15 year old TV finally died. My first stop was at the Best Buy in Turkey Creek in Knoxville. A very helpful salesman approached me within a few minutes of arriving in the TV area. The store did not seem that busy for a Sunday. I asked him about a 37" 120 Hz TV I saw on their web site. He said he knew what I was talking about but that Best Buy doesn't carry that model but the Best Buy on North Peters does. He checked to see if the North Peters store had one on hand. Even though the computer said they had two, he called to confirm that they did in fact have one. They did so he requested they hold it until I made it there. Great customer service from the Turkey Creek Best Buy.

But a different experience at the North Peters store awaited me. Before I drove over to the North Peters store, I stopped by the HH Gregg store in Turkey Creek. I got a low talker salesman who wasn't that knowledgeable. However, I liked the TV and would have bought it but it was a half inch too tall. So I went over to the North Peters Best Buy. I couldn't get the attention of any sales staff in the TV area. I noticed other customers were having the same problem. A sales woman noticed I was not being helped but was too busy to help me but she said she would try to get someone to help me. After standing around with other frustrated customers for another five minutes I decided to see if I could just get the guy at the front of the store to have the TV brought up to the check out. He could not. He used his necklace communication device to call back to the TV area. He then directed me to where the Geek Squad was and told me I could try to get someone's attention so they could get the TV from the back. It looked like a mad house. I said, "Can't you just have someone bring the TV here?" He said he wasn't able to get them on the communication system. I left.

Looks like I will be ordering a TV from an online store.

Round 6 of Knoxville Talk Radio Wars: Boortz/Ingraham vs Mark Levin

The strong lead in of the Boortz Information Overload Hour at 9:00 pm will give Laura Ingraham's show a boost and give WNOX 100.3 the win over NewsTalk 98.7 in the 9 - 12 timeslot. Besides Mark Levin's nasally voice is not that suitable for radio. When my children ride with me and Levin comes on they scream with pain much like when dogs hear an annoying high pitched sound.

Round 5 of Knoxville Talk Radio Wars: Savage versus Hannity

I love talk radio. I can listen to even mediocre talk radio and still enjoy it. I don’t have to agree with a person’s political viewpoint to enjoy listening to talk radio. I like listening to Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Neal Boortz, Tammy Bruce, Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin, Roger Hedgecock, Steve Gill, well, you get the idea. But I hate listening to Sean Hannity. Why? He is dumb, he repeats himself, he is an obvious shill for the GOP . Did I mention he is dumb? I expect basic logic for a talk radio host and Hannity fails miserably. I can’t think of anything more painful than to listen to three hours of Hannity’s radio show except maybe to watch his TV show.

Hannity took over Mike Savages’ 6 – 9 timeslot a few years ago. Shortly after that I gave up listening to the radio during my drive home. At first I downloaded The Savage Nation podcasts. Then those went away. I then turned to other podcasts such as Steve Gill, Roger Hedgecock and Jack Spirko. But as of August 2, The Savage Nation is back on the air in Knoxville on 100.3 and I couldn’t be happier. I still have to turn down the radio at red lights because it is a little embarrassing to be caught listen to Savage at times. He does have some views that aren’t appropriate for polite company. No, that isn’t quite right, it is the tone that sometimes comes across as impolite and even harsh. His Borders, Language and Culture theme sounds xenophobic and no one wants to be seen as xenophobic. But his message is actually more nuanced than it appears. I am not going to attempt to make his argument here, listen for yourself.

I don’t know if Savage can actually beat Hannity in Knoxville. Sometimes stupid wins. But I am going to predict Savage will win.

Round 4 of Knoxville Talk Radio Wars: Philbio vs Some Guys Talking Sports

Long time Knoxville radio personality Phil Williams made what appeared at the time to be a logical move to talk radio a couple of years ago when he took over the 3 - 6 time slot on 100.3. Phis has been on Knoxville radio for as long as I can remember. If my recollection is correct, I believe it was Phil who played that first Led Zeppelin song when WBIR became WIMZ Rock 104 back in 1979. Phil went on to do a long time morning show with various sidekicks. The best pairing was when he was teamed up with Ted Williams. The two had chemistry and were truly funny. His affable personality, good ol' boy humor, and recognizability to many East Tennesseans gives him a built-in audience. But great news talk radio it ain't. It would appear to me that the new 100.3 could be very competitive in this time slot.

But the management of WNOX choose to not take Phil on but instead decided to take on the Sports Animal's local sports program of John Wilkerson and Jimmy Hyams. (For the record, I think "Sports Animal" is the dumbest name ever.) To do this they team former News Sentinel writer and sports talk host Dave Hooker with former UT and NFL player Terry Fair. To many, sports is sports so whichever has the better signal will win. So, 100.3 will win the sports talk wars in East Tennessee simply because they have the bigger signal. But will lose to Phil in Knoxville because he will have no competition for those who do not like to listen to sports.

What should 100.3 have done? They should have teamed up the "Dean of Knoxville Sports Talk Radio" Tony Basilio with the queen of AM political talk Terry Frank. Tony has been around Knoxville for a long time doing his thing on various AM stations. But I remember one summer when he was on the Horne Network and he declared there was nothing sports worthy to talk about so he was going to talk about politics. Well he was let go soon after, but he was very good at talking politics. Basilio can be very funny, unlike the other sports talkers in Knoxville. His attitude seems to be that, while he takes his job very seriously, ultimately sports is just entertainment and he is an entertainer. So maybe Tony is ready to do a show where he isn't limited to just sports but to politics, sports, and local stuff. He could be paired up with Terry Frank who had a show on the Horne Network with her husband Lee. Terry specialized in local and state issues but was able to get great guests from the numerous Washington think tanks and advocacy groups. Maybe the chemistry between Tony and Terry might not work but I would like to hear it.

Round 3 of Knoxville Talk Radio Wars: Rush vs Dave Ramsey

The fact that I don't need to use Rush's last name in the title and Dave needs the Ramsey should tell you all you need to know about this match up.  But that is a little deceiving.  WNOX 100.3 made a very smart decision to not take Rush head on with a political themed show.  98.7 would have walked the dog on 100.3 if it had put someone like Laura Ingraham up against Rush in the 12 - 3 time slot.  Love him or hate him, people listen to Rush.  Rush single handedly revitalized talk radio when his show started syndication in the late ‘80s.  In Knoxville, Dick Broadcasting picked up the rights to Rush in the early ‘90s and the rest is history.  Rush will always be able to win his time slot.

So when you choose someone to go up against Rush, you need to try something different.  Dave Ramsey’s "something different" is a finance show devoted to helping people get out of debt.  While I generally agree with Ramsey’s advice, I think his show is essentially the same show every day but with different callers and that makes for boring radio.  How many times must I hear some irresponsible upper middle class spoiled housewife call in to ask, “Dave, we make $150,000, we are upside down on our mortgage, we have $80k in credit card debt, and we drive expensive leased cars, what should we do?” 

There has been Internet chatter that Ramsey is just a temporary solution until 100.3 can lure Rush away from 98.7.  This is thought possible because of 100.3’s superior signal which can be heard throughout East Tennessee while 98.7’s signal barely extends beyond metro Knoxville.  If the chatter is true and Rush jumps to 100.3 in the near future, then 98.7 will be in big trouble . . . and not just between 12 and 3.

For now, Round 3 goes to 98.7 and Rush. 

Round 2 of Knoxville Talk Radio Wars: Beck vs Boortz

Howard Beale versus the Talkmaster, conspiracy guy versus FairTax guy, faux libertarian versus libertarian lite, Mormon convert versus an inactive Episcopalian (or am I repeating myself? I kid), Beck versus Boortz.  Who will win the 10 - 12 time slot in the great Knoxville Talk Radio War of 2010?

WNOX 100.3 quickly signed Neal Bootz to its new talk station after his former home, Citadel-owned NewsTalk 100.3 (now 98.7) dumped him for Glenn Beck.  Boortz has a loyal following in Knoxville.  He should do well.  While he can be grating, rude and express views that the typical social conservative finds heretical (legalize drugs, accepting of gay marriage, refusing to talk about abortion), his Atlanta-based show feels local to some.  One of my favorite Boortz moments came when he pointed out Bill O'Reilly's duplicity concerning his outrage over an all white private prom and O'Reilly calling Boortz a "vicious SOB."

But 98.7 saw an opportunity to dump Boortz for the new king of all media and the latest, hottest name in TV commentary and talk radio - Glenn Beck.  He dominates TV and his radio show is now second (maybe third) to only Rush Limbaugh while Boortz has been slipping nationally.  (These ratings actually mean very little because Hannity is still in more markets than Beck.  Besides, I would guess that Beck easily beats Hannity head to head in any city where they are on at the same time.) Beck's radio show has a more easy going conversational tone than his often one trick pony TV show.  (We get it, Obama is a socialist.)  Beck is a lot easier to listen to then Boortz due to his style and humor.  His huge TV fan base will tune in daily even if that means jilting their old flame.

But who will win?  This one is tough since Boortz has quite a local following.  I think Boortz will do well for a few months but over time Beck will win out.

Round 2: Beck and 98.7