BSM Writers
Remembering Tom Bigby
Bigby had created the concept of Guy Talk Radio that is now the norm in every major city in America. WFAN had created successful Sports Talk Radio and Mike and The Mad Dog are its unquestioned first stars, but WIP created and perfected the concept of guy talk/sports talk radio that is the present and future of the medium.

Published
3 years agoon
By
BSM Staff
The following piece has been written by WFAN afternoon host Craig Carton. You can follow him on Twitter @CraigCartonLive or listen to him on WFAN.com.
A legend passed away on Monday and outside of Philadelphia his name doesn’t mean a thing, but to the millions of people who listen to and digest sports talk radio in this country, he might just be the singular most important person to ever work at a sports talk radio station. His name is Tom Bigby, and in 1992 he was put in charge of a small 5,000 watt AM radio station with no ratings, no discernible future, and bad hourly brokered programming. Nearly 30 years later, WIP Radio remains a force in local sports radio broadcasting, spawning countless more sports/guy talk stations from coast to coast, and it never would have happened if not for the shear will, doggedness and bullying style of Tom Bigby.
I got to the station in the spring of 1993 to host nights and weekends with Garry “G” Cobb. Angelo Cataldi was doing mornings with Al Morganti and Tony Bruno, Jody McDonald and Chuck Cooperstein were doing middays, Steve Fredericks and Mike Missanelli had afternoons. About a month into my hiring we had the only all hands on deck staff meeting that I believe the station ever had. Every host was told to meet in a conference room at 1:00 and to this day I have no idea who was on the air to cover for the fact that every full time host was in the room. Bigby began to lay out his vision for what would make WIP not just successful but dominant. Phone calls, lots of phone calls none of them more than two minutes long and even better if they didn’t last a minute. He showed us that he had installed in the studio, the producer’s room and his own office a countdown timer with red, yellow and green lights on top. The green light lit up at the start of the call, the yellow light lit at 90 seconds, and dare you ever allow the caller to go 2 minutes the red light lit and if he saw it he would hang up on the caller from his own office. He had the station engineers rig it so he could not only hang up on a call himself but he could listen in to hear how the producers screened every call – he was a micro manager on steroids and we all grew to hate him for it.
At one point in the meeting Chuck Cooperstein raised his hand and said to the room and Bigby that if Texas was suddenly the #1 ranked team in college football that it was a story and we should want to talk to their head coach. Bigby told Chuck to shut up and then went off on him in one of the most demeaning and disrespectful rants I’ve ever heard, calling him the worst talk show host he had ever hired and that keeping him on the station was an act of charity.
It wasn’t long before Chuck was gone and Glen Macnow replaced him to work with Jody in middays. Bigby’s belief that guests killed ratings and that nobody wants to hear anything other than Eagles talk year round has been well documented in Philly, but it was his belief that in creating a talk show for men you should talk about all the things that men talk about not just sports – so that meant movies, women, drinking, and ultimately for WIP – the single most successful radio promotion of all time Wing Bowl.
Bigby then installed a green hotline button on the phone console so that whenever he called in to berate you for something you had said or done on the air you knew he was calling because the green light started to flash. There were times he would call the number just to remind you that he might be listening and to keep you on your toes. He led the station by being an overbearing bully, and it worked.
I was there at Club Egypt on Delaware avenue for the 2nd Wing Bowl, and I remember standing near the back of the stage with about 500 people crammed into the club. Bigby came up to me and told me to take note of who was there standing in line to get in before 6AM and to recognize that those people are “your audience and never be swayed by anyone who tells you that they aren’t.” My radio career changed that day as I came to understand the audience a whole lot better and how it’s far more important to deliver radio that your core audience loves and not to cater to or try to deliver content to the people who don’t like or get what you do. As Bigby would say, “Fuck them, anyone who cares enough to tell you that they hate you is listening to you.”
Bigby had created the concept of Guy Talk Radio that is now the norm in every major city in America. WFAN had created successful Sports Talk Radio and Mike and The Mad Dog are its unquestioned first stars, but WIP created and perfected the concept of guy talk/sports talk radio that is the present and future of the medium.
When I got the information that Norman Braman had agreed to sell the Eagles to Jeffrie Lurie I went to Bigby with it and before he would let me break the story he had me sit with Cataldi, a former respected newspaper journalist, to go over what I had and if it passed the smell test. In those conversations I learned the importance of how to break a big story and maximize the effects of such an opportunity for overall station success. When I was being threatened with a lawsuit from The Flyers over a report that Eric Lindross had missed a game for being hungover, it was Bigby who publicly defended me and my story, and privately put me through the ringer to confirm the validity of the story. He was a brow beating task master at his best but in holding you accountable for everything you did and said on his radio station, he made me and everyone else who ever worked there infinitely better at what we do.
Bigby had a sense of humor too. I would have to endure early morning phone calls form him yelling at me and demanding to know what I had said on his radio station the night before only to let me sweat for a few minutes before telling me he was just kidding and hadn’t even heard the show. I was in Dallas getting ready to do an Eagles pre-game show from my hotel room because Infinity Broadcasting at the time didn’t have a station for me to broadcast from in Dallas. Two minutes before I went on the air there was a knock at my door. It was Bigby dressed in his typical all black Johnny Cash clothing, and as I opened up the show, he started jumping up and down on my bed trying to distract me. The sight of a 400 pound Bigby bouncing up and down on my bed was for sure distracting. After 5 minutes he said ‘have a good show’ and walked out. Afterwards he called me to invite me to have brunch with him and his wife in the hotel restaurant, and he dead panned to me that he thought I had a good show but seemed a little distracted during my open and that I should work on being more prepared for future shows and then he never mentioned it again.
I left WIP in 1997 to pursue an opportunity to be syndicated and frankly because I was upset that I had not been given a better time slot after 4 years of doing nights. Three years later I was in Denver doing mornings at KBPI when Bigby called me out of the blue and asked if I wanted to do middays. The timing was interesting as I had just started at KBPI, my wife was pregnant and we were contemplating a move back to the East Coast. The ratings came out and for the first time in my life I was the #1 ranked morning drive host in a major market. One week later I resigned to move back to Philly thinking I was going to do middays at WIP and when I got there Bigby didn’t give me the job. He concocted some convoluted story of how the midday show just got decent numbers and he felt he owed it to them to give them another ratings period to grow. He instead offered me a job to host the Monday night Brian Mitchell show for $200 a show and all the part time work I wanted. Truth be told I was moving back to Philly anyway but I was reminded of how ruthless Bigby could be and I would be again one more time.
In the Fall of 2001, I was doing mornings at WNEW when the station hired Bigby to be a consultant. His first big decision was to fire and replace me with Scott Ferrall. This was the day after the station holiday party which he insisted I go to so that we could all enjoy each others company a few months after the horror of the 9-11 attacks on our city and country.
The last time I saw Tom was at a radio convention that I had been asked to speak at. I didn’t know that he would be there and when I caught sight of him I was eager to rub it in his nose that Boomer and I were #1 in the ratings on WFAN but before I could he grabbed me and gave me a huge bear hug and told me how proud he was of me. While I’m not sure if I believed him, it meant the world to me because his opinion and blessing was something I yearned for since the day I met him in March of 1993.
Tom should be credited with creating the blue print of how to successfully program a radio station for men, young and old, and how to connect with the community and tap into the passion of the local fans without apology. I hated Tom, but I would have never had anything close to the career success I have been so fortunate to enjoy over the last 15 years if not for him. He may or may not be missed by the hundreds of hosts who worked for him but his legacy lives on in every city in America.
BSM Writers
Tricia Whitaker Will Find The Story That Matters
“My role is to really bring the viewers down to that level of the dugout and into the clubhouse.”

Published
5 hours agoon
September 22, 2023
When St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter Albert Pujols hit his 700th career home run in his final season in the majors last September, the baseball world erupted in mass jubilation. Although the milestone achievement occurred during a road game, the fans still showered one of the sport’s quintessential athletes with praise as they witnessed the fourth player enter this exclusive pinnacle of power hitters. For fans watching from afar, they were treated with crisp, vivid footage of the moment since the matchup was exclusive to Apple TV+ as a part of its Friday Night Baseball slate of games.
The game broadcast featured field reporter Tricia Whitaker, who had just joined the Apple TV+ presentations to begin the second half of the season. Being there as one of the voices tasked with keeping viewers informed and captivated by the action was a special experience that she will never forget.
“You’re talking about the best cameras in the entire world capturing one of the most iconic players ever,” Whitaker said. “I thought the call was amazing; I thought the quality of the shots was amazing [and] I’l never forget that broadcast, ever, because it was so cool.”
Whitaker grew up in Bloomington, Ind. and would journey to Wrigley Field with her father once per summer to watch the Chicago Cubs. Through those games, she realized that a ballpark was her ideal future workplace.
“We just didn’t have a ton of money, [so] I would sit in the nosebleeds with him once a summer and that was the biggest treat in the world,” Whitaker said. “I just realized that I loved telling stories and I loved sports, so I decided to do that.”
Whitaker’s journey in the industry genuinely began as an undergraduate student at Indiana University Bloomington where she adopted a mindset to seize any opportunities offered to her. Despite having no knowledge or previous reporting experience, she accepted a role to cover a tennis match and quickly started preparing. After one of her professors saw her nascent media acumen, they recommended she audition for the university’s student television station to hone her skills. Whitaker earned a spot and began covering Indiana Hoosiers basketball and football for the show Hoosier Sports Night. From there, she simply kept on accepting anything in her purview.
“Your best asset is your availability, so I basically just said ‘Yes’ to everything,” Whitaker articulated.
Once it became time to search for a full-time position, her experience and tenacity helped her land a role at WBAY-TV in Green Bay as a sports reporter and anchor. After two football seasons working there, Whitaker relocated closer to home to report for WTTV-TV Channel 4 in Indianapolis. The time was valuable for her to cultivate new relationships with those around the industry while strengthening existing ones, serving as a foundational aspect of her reporting.
“If they don’t trust you to tell their stories, they’re not going to talk to you,” Whitaker said. “You have to be able to have a good relationship with the players; with the coaches and everybody involved.”
Get a sneak peek of tonight's brand new episode of "Rays-All-Access" with @TriciaWhitaker 👀 pic.twitter.com/UiWBjRZq3n
— Bally Sports Sun: Rays (@BallyRays) September 2, 2023
At the same time, Whitaker felt compelled to make a lasting contribution to Indiana University through teaching and inspiring the next generation of journalists. She is now an adjunct professor for the IU Media School and wants her students to know how integral it is to make themselves available while being open and willing to try new things to make inroads into the profession.
“There’s always a story to be told, so even if it’s a random event that you don’t think anyone’s paying attention to, there’s people there; there’s human stories and their stories matter,” Whitaker said. “That’s what I always try to tell my students is [to] just find that story that makes people interested in it and find that story that matters.”
Over the years working in these dual roles, Whitaker became more skilled in her position and proceeded to audition to join the Tampa Bay Rays’ broadcast crew on Bally Sports Sun as a field reporter. When she received news that she had landed the coveted job, she remembers starting to cry in her closet while trying to organize her clothes. After all, Whitaker had just learned that she would get to perform the role she idolized when she was young. The access her role gives her to the players and coaches on the field is not taken for granted.
“I’ll interview hitting coaches about a guy’s hands and where they’ve moved and about his stance,” Whitaker said. “….In the next hit, I’ll tell a story about a guy who drinks a smoothie every day before the game and he feels [that] putting spinach in it has really made a difference or something like that. My reporting style is pretty much all of it, but I do like to do the human interest stories more than I like to do anything else because I think that’s unique.”
The @RaysBaseball don't get out to San Francisco often, so @TricaWhitaker made the most of the trip took a chance to explore McCovey Cove! pic.twitter.com/T2mth0lOWv
— Bally Sports Sun: Rays (@BallyRays) August 16, 2023
After each Rays win, Whitaker takes the field and interviews one of the players on the team. Earlier in the season, she remembers speaking with Rays outfielder Jose Siri after he drove in three runs against the Detroit Tigers; however, the broadcast was not on Bally Sports Sun. Instead, she was doing the interview for Friday Night Baseball on Apple TV+, a national broadcast property the company pays MLB an estimated $85 million annually to carry. Going into the interview, Whitaker knew that she would need to appeal to more than just Rays fans and appropriately started the conversation by asking about the game.
Yet she also knew that it was “Salsa Night” at Comerica Park in Detroit and thanks to her work with the regional network, was cognizant of the fact that Siri likes to dance in the dugout. As a result, she concluded the interview with a request for Siri to demonstrate his salsa dancing skills, something that made an ordinary conversation stand out.
“I tried to personalize it a little bit to help people get to know Jose Siri a little bit better because I think that’s important,” Whitaker said. “….You make sure you talk about baseball, but then you add a little flair to it; add a little personality to it. Everybody loves salsa, right?”
On Friday Night Baseball, we make @josesiri22 hit the salsa.
— Tricia Whitaker (@TriciaWhitaker) August 5, 2023
(It was salsa night at Comerica Park)
He did not disappoint. pic.twitter.com/YT1KFYvu8G
The Apple broadcasts require Whitaker to prepare as she executes her role with the Rays, keeping her wholly invested and consumed by baseball. There are occasions where she is afforded the luxury of reporting on Rays games for her Friday night assignment, but they are rare. Therefore, she needs to become familiar with two teams by reviewing statistics, reading local reporting and conversing with those involved. She keeps her notes on her cell phone and makes lists of what she is going to do during the day to keep herself organized and focused.
Throughout the week, Whitaker actively prepares for the Friday night matchup and meets with her producer to contribute her ideas and learn about the macro vision of the broadcast. The Apple broadcast, aside from using high-caliber technology, also regularly equips microphones to place on players that allow viewers to hear what is transpiring on the field. Whitaker, along with play-by-play announcer Alex Faust and color commentator Ryan Spilborghs, coordinate with the production team throughout the game to present an insightful and compelling final product.
There was criticism of the Apple TV+ live game baseball broadcasts during its inaugural season, but the noise continues to diminish in its sophomore campaign. Whitaker views her role as accruing a confluence of stories about the game and more insightful looks at the personalities on the field. Before each contest, she interviews a player in the dugout and asks questions that put the season in context, granting a comprehensive understanding about a subset of their journey.
“We try to get their thoughts on the season so far at the plate, but also try to get to know them on a personal level,” Whitaker said. “My role is to really bring the viewers down to that level of the dugout and into the clubhouse.”
It is considerably more facile to execute such a task before the game than it is during gameplay because of the introduction of the pitch clock. While it has undoubtedly sped up the game and made the product more appealing for fans of all ages, its actualization threatened the viability of unique aspects of baseball broadcasts. The Apple TV+ crew may work together once per week, but over a 162-game season spanning parts of seven months, there is a perdurable bond and unyielding chemistry evident therein.
“Everybody on that crew – and I seriously mean this – is so supportive no matter who you are as long as you do your job well,” Whitaker said. “They don’t even think about the fact that I’m a female in sports [and] they just support me. They help me take constructive criticism because they care and because they truly see me as an equal.”
Whitaker has had the chance to report from Wrigley Field with Apple TV+ and vividly remembers her experience of stepping inside as a media member for the first time. It was a surreal full-circle moment that has been the result of years of determination and persistence to make it to the major leagues.
What @TriciaWhitaker said! 🗣️https://t.co/IAZNvUkd1H pic.twitter.com/bLoGKPO2lJ
— Wrigley Rooftops (@WrigleyRooftops) July 21, 2023
“I walked into Wrigley and I started to tear up because I remember when my dad and I used to go there and I was 12 years old,” Whitaker stated. “If you would have told me at 12 years old [that] I would be doing a national game at Wrigley, I would have told you [that] you were lying because I just wouldn’t have thought that was a possibility.”
Although Whitaker is receptive to potentially hosting regular sports programming in the future, she has found the joy in her roles with both the Tampa Bay Rays and Apple TV+. Being able to experience historic moments, including Pujols’ milestone home run, and then diving deeper into the situation makes the countless flights, hotel stays and lack of a genuine respite worthwhile. She hopes to continue seamlessly fulfilling her responsibility this Friday night when the New York Mets face the Philadelphia Phillies at 6:30 p.m. EST/3:30 p.m. PST, exclusively on Apple TV+.
“There’s always a story to be told, and if you’re good at your job, you’re going to find that story even on a day where you’re like, ‘Oh gosh, there’s nothing going on,’” Whitaker said. “I take that pretty seriously.”

Derek Futterman is a contributing editor and sports media reporter for Barrett Sports Media. Additionally, he has worked in a broad array of roles in multimedia production – including on live game broadcasts and audiovisual platforms – and in digital content development and management. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. To get in touch, find him on Twitter @derekfutterman.
BSM Writers
Radio Advertising Can be the Secret Weapon For In-House Digital Marketers
“The trend of businesses gaining digital marketing proficiency presents a unique opportunity for YOU.”

Published
6 hours agoon
September 22, 2023By
Jeff Caves
Remember when in-house marketers were primarily focused on traditional media and needed help navigating the digital and social media landscape? Well, the tables are turning!
The rise of digital-savvy in-house marketers is opening up exciting opportunities for radio ad salespeople. As local businesses increasingly invest in digital marketing, some are fiding they need your expertise in radio advertising.
Borrell Associates has released their latest Business Barometer, and included in the findings was a slight but noticeable shift favoring traditional forms of broadcast media. Let’s dive into how sports and news radio ad salespeople can leverage this shift to target businesses with proficient digital marketing people on board who may need to know more about the potential of radio advertising.
1. Digital-Marketing Trending UP!
Borrell Associates’ recent findings indicate that businesses are increasingly proficient in digital marketing. They are adeptly managing their websites and social media channels, driving results through online campaigns. However, this digital surge doesn’t necessarily translate to expertise in traditional media, such as radio. Hey, do you know a business like that? And make sure you know of an outsourced digital agency you can refer who can handle your clients’ digital and social media for very few dollars. You can help manage the rest of the budget!
2. Target In-House Buyers
Make a list of businesses you know that have in-house people who are digital-oriented or younger owners who handle mostly digital advertising independently. Or, how about the in-house marketing person who only takes on marketing initiatives like events or sales promotion and knows nothing about advertising? Get ’em!
3. We create demand
One of the unique selling points of radio is its ability to generate demand and send more customers to Google or your client’s website. Digital marketing can often direct buyers seeking a specific purchase but can’t create lasting impressions and build demand and loyalty like your station. Use this advantage to demonstrate how radio can reinforce the brand story and enhance the effectiveness of digital campaigns.
4. Surround the listener
Recognize that businesses with digital marketing expertise may want holistic solutions. Sell packages that combine digital and radio advertising. Include your streaming endorsements with social media and geo-fencing. They get it and will be impressed with reaching their target audience across multiple touchpoints.
5. Be the Teacher
Your prospects may be experts in digital marketing, but they might not fully understand the potential of radio advertising. Take on the role of an educator. Provide resources, case studies, and success stories that showcase how your station and radio have boosted digital-savvy businesses’ results.
6. 1+1=3 for Creativity
Collaboration is key when working with clients with a digital marketing team. Involve them in the creative process of writing and producing radio ads. Creativity could be their strength, and they will bring fresh perspectives to your production.
The trend of businesses gaining digital marketing proficiency presents a unique opportunity for YOU. Maybe your client is struggling with their digital strategy. Imagine that now they may be seeking you out to help them understand what they have already read about buying radio advertising. It’s time to adapt your approach and position radio as a complementary and powerful tool in the digital marketing person toolkit.

Jeff Caves is a sales columnist for BSM working in radio, digital, hyper-local magazine, and sports sponsorship sales in DFW. He is credited with helping launch, build, and develop SPORTS RADIO The Ticket in Boise, Idaho, into the market’s top sports radio station. During his 26 year stay at KTIK, Caves hosted drive time, programmed the station, and excelled as a top seller. You can reach him by email at [email protected] or find him on Twitter @jeffcaves.
BSM Writers
Bill Parcells Shaped The Media By Giving Them Hell
“Parcells doesn’t belong in a studio chatting with a quarterback. He belongs in a temper tantrum screaming at a sportswriter.”

Published
6 hours agoon
September 22, 2023
Two of the most talked about media stories of the past couple of weeks intersect in the form of one legendary NFL head coach – Bill Parcells.
In the wake of Aaron Rodgers’ potentially season-ending Achilles injury in Week 1 of the NFL season, many media pundits harkened back to 1999 when then-Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde suffered a similar injury in the first game of the season. Like Rodgers, Testaverde was a veteran signal-caller looking to bring the long-suffering Jets to a Super Bowl.
One week after Rodgers’ injury, Los Angeles Chargers Head Coach Brandon Staley was in the media mechanism for an exchange with a reporter after his club fell to 0-2. Staley took issue with a query about whether the team’s monumental playoff collapse last season versus Jacksonville has carried over to their slow start this season.
ESPN’s First Take included video of Staley’s comment on their September 19 show building it up as some rash, heated interaction between coach and press. It was not. In fact, Staley merely directly answered the question asserting this season has nothing to do with last season.
Both of these headlines find common ground in the person of Bill Parcells. Parcells was the head coach of the Jets in 1999 when Testaverde’s season ended in that fateful game vs. New England. In addition, he was notorious for some truly vitriolic run-ins with post-game reporters.
Forget about Staley or even the infamous press conference rants of Jim Mora (“Playoffs!?”), Herm Edwards (“You play to win the game!”), and Dennis Green (“Crown ‘em!”). To the media, Parcells was Armageddon, Three Mile Island, and Hurricane Katrina rolled into one. Never has there been a football character so inexplicably loved and despised.
In New England, Parcells’s arrival as head coach of the Patriots in 1993 signaled the turnaround of the franchise, but fans refuse to vote him into the team’s Hall of Fame because of his unceremonious jump from to the Jets after the 1996 season.
When that happened, Parcells again grasped the media spotlight stating, “If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries.” He was referring to new owner Bob Kraft taking final say personnel decisions away from Parcells.
Like him or not, Parcells, known as The Tuna, rejuvenated five NFL franchises. The New York Giants were a mishmash of Joe Pisarciks and Earnest Grays before Parcells turned them into two-time champions.
Patriot fans actually cheered for the likes of Hugh Millen and Eugene Chung until Parcells came to town and brought in players like Drew Bledsoe, Ty Law, Willie McGinest, Adam Vinatieri, and Tedy Bruschi, laying the foundation for a dynasty.
And the Jets? They were living off the fumes of Joe Namath’s Brut 33 until Bill Parcells constructed a team that went from 1-15 in 1996 under Rich Kotite to 9-7 and 12-4 in 1997 and 1998 respectively with Parcells.
The Cowboys were 5-11 under Dave Campo in 2002. The next year, they went 10-6 with Parcells. Miami was 1-15 in 2007. The next year, with Parcells as executive VP of Football ops, they won the AFC East with an 11-5 record.
The Catholic church has its Apostle’s Creed. Those who follow the gospel of The Tuna have A Parcells Creed, and it goes as follows: I believe if a reporter asks Parcells if he outcoached a colleague, that reporter will be called a “dumb ass.” I believe that the media are “commies” and “subversive from within” as Parcells once labeled them.
I believe in using the media to denigrate young players to keep their egos in check. After Jets QB Glenn Foley had a solid preseason performance a few years back, the New York media surrounded the redheaded QB as if he had won the Super Bowl.
Parcells walked right in front of Foley and sarcastically asked, “Do you mind if I get past Sonny Jurgensen over here,” referring to the similarly redheaded Redskin quarterbacking legend.
In 1995, when all of New England was agog over a rookie running back named Curtis Martin, Parcells slyly commented to the press, “Well, we’re not carving his bust for Canton just yet.” And of course, there was the late Terry Glenn. When asked how the former Patriot wideout was recovering from an injury, the Tuna spouted, “She’s doing just fine.”
Parcells’ stints as a studio analyst on ESPN, although insightful, seemed out of place. He would sit there, dressed in a dark blue suit talking strategy with fellow ESPN gabber Steve Young. Honestly, he looked like a rotund funeral director searching for someone to embalm.
Parcells doesn’t belong in a studio chatting with a quarterback. He belongs in a temper tantrum screaming at a sportswriter.
I interviewed Boston media personality Steve DeOssie about Parcells. DeOssie was the defensive signal caller for the New York Giants (1989-93) when Parcells was the team’s head coach. He again played for Parcells in New England in 1994.
He told me, “Parcells realizes that the media is the enemy. Let’s face it, the media cannot do anything positive for a team, but they can put stuff out there that could lose a game. The bottom line with Parcells is whether it helps his team win.”
“He loves the camera and the camera loves him. He enjoys that part of the business. The media can spin it any way they want. Parcells does not suffer fools gladly and a lot of media types don’t like being called out in press conferences.”
Another Boston media legend also gave me his reflections of Parcells. Bob Lobel is the most revered sports anchor of all-time in New England. He stated, “I did a one-on-one interview with Parcells awhile back. He is so down to earth yet has this aura. It’s easy to be in awe of him.”
The national perspective is similar. When Troy Aikman was an analyst for FOX Sports, the current Monday Night Football color commentator credited Parcells with restacking the Cowboys’ roster and bringing winning back to Dallas.
When asked about playing for Parcells with the Jets, FS1’s Keyshawn Johnson offered, “He taught me how to do things, how to pay attention.”
Even people whom Parcells fired maintain a respect for him. Sirius NFL Radio’s Pat Kirwan was the director of player administration for the Jets when Parcells arrived in 1997.
Kirwan told me, “Parcells rebuilds a franchise from top to bottom. He evaluates everyone from the trainers to the doctors to the equipment guys. In 1997 when Bill came to the Jets, I knew I was qualified, but I also knew that Bill would let me go.”
In a September 12, 2023 story, New York Post reporter Brian Costello interviewed Parcells about the Rodgers injury.
This master of media mind games famous for the quote, “You don’t get any medal for trying,” revealed his visceral core telling Costello, “You are charged with winning games under any circumstances … They’re not canceling the games. They’re not canceling them. You’re coaching them. It’s your job to get your team ready to play to the best of their ability.”

John Molori is a weekly columnist for Barrett Sports Media. He has previously contributed to ESPNW, Patriots Football Weekly, Golf Content Network, Methuen Life Magazine, and wrote a syndicated Media Blitz column in the New England region, which was published by numerous outlets including The Boston Metro, Providence Journal, Lowell Sun, and the Eagle-Tribune. His career also includes fourteen years in television as a News and Sports Reporter, Host, Producer working for Continental Cablevision, MediaOne, and AT&T. He can be reached on Twitter @MoloriMedia.
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