Sports Radio News
Michelle Smallmon Returns to 101 ESPN


Jason Barrett is the owner and operator of Barrett Sports Media. Prior to launching BSM he served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He has also produced national shows for ESPN Radio including GameNight and the Dan Patrick Show. You can find him on Twitter @SportsRadioPD or reach him by email at [email protected].
Sports Radio News
Cumulus Reaches Settlement with Dan McDowell & Jake Kemp
“They each appreciate one another’s sincere efforts to resolve their differences so that everyone involved can move forward.”


Jordan Bondurant is a features reporter for Barrett Sports Media. He’s a multimedia journalist and communicator who works at the Virginia State Corporation Commission in Richmond. Jordan also contributes occasional coverage of the Washington Capitals for the blog NoVa Caps. His prior media experiences include working for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Danville Register & Bee, Virginia Lawyers Weekly, WRIC-TV 8News and Audacy Richmond. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @J__Bondurant.
Sports Radio News
Dukes & Bell Laugh at Ex-Producer Going Hollywood After Becoming Morning Show Host
“How much has changed when Squid used to tell us, ‘I can’t afford that,’ and now, Mike, he’s talking about packing a Louis bag.”


Jordan Bondurant is a features reporter for Barrett Sports Media. He’s a multimedia journalist and communicator who works at the Virginia State Corporation Commission in Richmond. Jordan also contributes occasional coverage of the Washington Capitals for the blog NoVa Caps. His prior media experiences include working for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Danville Register & Bee, Virginia Lawyers Weekly, WRIC-TV 8News and Audacy Richmond. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @J__Bondurant.
Sports Radio News
Boomer & Gio Break Down Fight Between Tiki Barber & Joe Benigno
“Here’s Tiki, 0% body fat, all-time leading rusher for one of the great franchises in history, has run marathons in like seven different countries, and he’s got to deal with this wacko on Zoom.”
Sports Radio News
Michelle Smallmon Returns to 101 ESPN

Michelle Smallmon is heading home. After recently announcing her departure from ESPN Radio, the former producer for Ryen Russillo, Danny Kanell, Will Cain and Jorge Sedano has been hired by her former employer 101 ESPN in St. Louis to become Bernie Miklasz’s partner in morning drive.
“I’m so thrilled to be reunited with Bernie Miklasz and my 101 ESPN family in this new role” said Smallmon. “Getting the opportunity to work at ESPN in Bristol was a dream come true, and I’m so grateful for my time there and to all the amazing people I met at the network. But St. Louis is my home, and it feels great to be back in the community that means so much to me.”
Prior to moving to Bristol, CT to produce for ESPN Radio, Smallmon spent time producing and contributing to Miklasz’s show. Now after gaining more experience and honing her skills, she’s ready to head back to where it all started and take on a bigger on-air role working with one of St. Louis’ best on-air radio personalities.
“I gave Michelle her first full-time gig in sports-talk radio” noted Miklasz. “I chose her as my producer even though there were more experienced candidates under consideration. But I sincerely believed she had a chance to be special, and she was worthy of the chance. I am so proud of her, watching her develop into a budding star. She is an exceptional talent and person who will only continue to grow and shine. And she will make my show better in so many ways. It really is the perfect fit.”
The radio station confirmed that Miklasz and Smallmon will start working together on a full time basis Monday January 29th. She’s also expected to contribute to 101 ESPN’s digital platforms.
“It’s great to have Michelle come home to 101 ESPN” added PD Chris “Hoss” Neupert. “She will be a great addition to ‘The Bernie Miklasz Show” and we are excited to continue improving our great sports radio station! We are also looking forward to her contributions on www.101sports.com.”
In conjunction with the announcement of Smallmon’s addition, Hubbard St. Louis VP John Kijowski acknowledged that the radio station had also agreed to terms on a lengthy contract extension with Miklasz.
“With all of his accomplishments, awards and honors from his on-the-air show hosting and sports writing- we’re thrilled to extend Bernie’s deal with 101 ESPN” Kijowski commented. “And we could not be more pleased to welcome back Michelle to the 101 ESPN airwaves. She’s proven herself as a sports radio professional on the national level, and we’re excited to have her expertise and skills working with Bernie on ‘The Bernie Miklasz Show” in her new capacity.”

Jason Barrett is the owner and operator of Barrett Sports Media. Prior to launching BSM he served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He has also produced national shows for ESPN Radio including GameNight and the Dan Patrick Show. You can find him on Twitter @SportsRadioPD or reach him by email at [email protected].
Sports Radio News
Cumulus Reaches Settlement with Dan McDowell & Jake Kemp
“They each appreciate one another’s sincere efforts to resolve their differences so that everyone involved can move forward.”

The legal dispute between Cumulus Media, Susquehanna Radio and former The Ticket hosts Dan McDowell and Jake Kemp is officially over.
The station on Tuesday evening released a statement saying that a mutually agreed resolution of litigation has been reached.
“They each appreciate one another’s sincere efforts to resolve their differences so that everyone involved can move forward,” the statement read. “The parties wish each other well.”
McDowell and Kemp resigned from The Ticket in July after discussions between the station and the duo on a new contract had reached a stalemate. The big discrepancy centered around McDowell and Kemp’s desires to have a podcast outside of their sports talk radio hosting duties.
Dan and Jake would later launch a Patreon-funded podcast called The Dumb Zone, which was a play on the name of their show on The Ticket, The Hang Zone. Cumulus/Susquehanna sent a cease and desist prior to filing a lawsuit against the pair in federal court.
The company alleged that McDowell and Kemp launched their podcast while still actively employed at the station and formatted the podcast similarly to the radio show, targeting the same audiences.
The company alleged McDowell violated a six-month non-compete clause in his contract, which would’ve prohibited him from radio or media work from the time his employment was finished.
“The Dumb Zone does not occur at any specific time. It is not published daily or even on five consecutive work days. There is nothing about The Dumb Zone that prevents or discourages listeners from listening to The Ticket at any time,” a legal response to the Cumulus suit filed on behalf of McDowell and Kemp said. “To the contrary, Ticket listeners choose to listen to The Ticket based on the content The Ticket broadcasts. If Plaintiff suggests that its audience has shrunk, it’s not difficult to identify the primary reason.”
Mediation in this case started at the end of August. In mid-September, a motion to dismiss the lawsuit was filed.
Since it ultimately was an employment matter, the legal argument for McDowell and Kemp was that federal court was not the proper venue.
Lawyers for the pair argued that they didn’t violate their non-disparagement clauses by discussing some of what ultimately led to their departure from The Ticket.
“None of these four things appear to be ‘confidential information’ even under the extremely broad terms of the confidentiality rule at issue here,” the filing said.
Now that the case has settled, both parties can move on.

Jordan Bondurant is a features reporter for Barrett Sports Media. He’s a multimedia journalist and communicator who works at the Virginia State Corporation Commission in Richmond. Jordan also contributes occasional coverage of the Washington Capitals for the blog NoVa Caps. His prior media experiences include working for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Danville Register & Bee, Virginia Lawyers Weekly, WRIC-TV 8News and Audacy Richmond. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @J__Bondurant.
Sports Radio News
Dukes & Bell Laugh at Ex-Producer Going Hollywood After Becoming Morning Show Host
“How much has changed when Squid used to tell us, ‘I can’t afford that,’ and now, Mike, he’s talking about packing a Louis bag.”

Former Dukes & Bell producer and now The Morning Shift co-host Beau “Squidbilly” Morgan turned some heads at the 92.9 The Game on Tuesday morning just casually mentioning that he owns a Louis Vuitton travel bag.
Morgan is the executive producer for the Atlanta Falcons radio crew, and he will be making the trip to London for Sunday’s game between the Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium. On the morning show earlier in the day, Morgan said something when talking about traveling to England that Carl Dukes couldn’t resist discussing with Mike Bell.
“I need help about a weather report this time of year,” Morgan said in the brief clip Dukes played on their show Tuesday afternoon. “I can only take my little small Louis bag so I don’t know how much to pack.”
“How much has changed when Squid used to tell us, ‘I can’t afford that,’ and now, Mike, he’s talking about packing a Louis bag,” Dukes said.
“I’m literally dumbfounded,” Bell responded.
Dukes and Bell weren’t trying to rain on or put down the success Morgan has had at The Game, but it was just hilariously shocking to learn that Beau could afford a luxury brand like Louis Vuitton.
“Guys, this is what we do,” Dukes said. “We push people to become very successful, and then Mike this kind of stuff happens.”
“I had to share it with our audience because I loved it. It was funny,” Dukes later added. He mentioned that part of what made the clip so great was the reactions from Morgan’s co-hosts Mike Johnson and Tiffany Blackmon. “And Beau, I hear you man. You know what, just don’t forget the little people as you continue to move up alright?”
Bell figured since Morgan was traveling with the team for this trip, Beau probably had to step his luggage game up just a little bit.
“I guess when you’re traveling with the Falcons you do have to look like a baller to keep up with the styles in the room,” Bell said.
It obviously was all in good fun. Morgan caught wind of the segment and responded on Twitter not long after hearing.

Jordan Bondurant is a features reporter for Barrett Sports Media. He’s a multimedia journalist and communicator who works at the Virginia State Corporation Commission in Richmond. Jordan also contributes occasional coverage of the Washington Capitals for the blog NoVa Caps. His prior media experiences include working for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Danville Register & Bee, Virginia Lawyers Weekly, WRIC-TV 8News and Audacy Richmond. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @J__Bondurant.
Sports Radio News
Boomer & Gio Break Down Fight Between Tiki Barber & Joe Benigno
“Here’s Tiki, 0% body fat, all-time leading rusher for one of the great franchises in history, has run marathons in like seven different countries, and he’s got to deal with this wacko on Zoom.”

Even if WFAN is in the news for something a little less than flattering, the station does not run from it. That was evident on Tuesday morning as Boomer & Gio broke down the argument between Tiki Barber and Joe Benigno on Evan & Tiki from Monday afternoon.
Gregg Giannotti found it tremendously entertaining. Boomer Esiason says he had not seen the video, but had read about the argument.
“I was laughing,” Esiason said. “Then, of course, I started to think that, you know, you have, you know, obviously passionate fan. in Joe, who is just going to be screaming and yelling, and you have Tiki, who’s a very reserved, smart bright that is not going to want to put up with the frickin nonsense.”
Both hosts agreed that Tiki Barber and Joe Benign will not let this ruin their relationship. Giannotti said that there is no denying that Barber took Benigno questioning his work personally. He very clearly pointed to the screen Benigno appeared on and said “that’s bullshit.”
Giannotti added that the visual is even better than the audio.
“Joe, who I believe just turned 70, is wearing a jet sweatshirt, a Jets hat. He’s got a Joe Namath Jersey thumbtacked to the wall behind him, and he is screaming at Tiki Barber’s credibility in breaking down Zach Wilson,” Giannotti said. “Here’s Tiki, 0% body fat, all-time leading rusher for one of the great franchises in history, has run marathons in like seven different countries, and he’s got to deal with this wacko on Zoom.”
“Well, welcome to talk radio,” Esiason joked.
