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Grant Paulsen: Tony Romo Hasn’t Regressed, Haters Just Piling On

“I would be willing to bet CBS is not concerned that Tony Romo is bad at this after it wasn’t even two years ago he was the toast of commentary.”

Jordan Bondurant

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A photo of Grant Paulsen

CBS Sports NFL analyst Tony Romo has come under scrutiny for his commentating the last few weeks.

Romo, once thought of as the top color commentator in football, has faced criticism for how he’s adjusted his broadcasting style from the one that made him so popular in recent years. New York Post media columnist Andrew Marchand recently wrote that bosses at CBS have had to stage what was called “an intervention” with Romo to tweak how he calls a game, although CBS says that is a mischaracterization of the meetings.

On 106.7 The Fan in DC, host Danny Rouhier said the wave that Romo rode to stardom in the booth has crashed, and the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback needs to catch up with the changing tides in the NFL.

“So much is different. He can’t just get by on all that base of knowledge that he had,” Rouhier said on Friday’s Grant & Danny. “And he could just walk into the booth without having done anything, know what everybody was doing all the time because he had just seen it. I think that’s gone, and I think he needs to have that sort of come to Jesus moment where he can be more prepared to get that sort of sense back.”

Co-host Grant Paulsen said it was more a matter of Romo catching hate because that’s what people on the internet love to do with commentators.

“I think he is unique and different. Unique and different is bashed, and I think people are bashing him,” Paulsen said. “I don’t think there’s much more to it than that.”

“I think he’s stopped predicting plays to some extent, he still does it a little bit, because he shouldn’t be predicting plays,” he added. “Like I always thought that was the worst part about what he’s doing. I know he got a lot of attention and credit and people loved it. But like telling us right before the play, ‘They’re gonna run left here,’ is not your job. I guess there was some novelty to it.”

Paulsen said since Romo is the top dog in terms of NFL analysts, being the subject of strict scrutiny for every little thing comes with the territory. He said other big names like Cris Collinsworth, Al Michaels and Joe Buck all catch flack.

But Paulsen added he didn’t think CBS has tried to have Romo dial back some of his commentary. He did believe CBS has met with Romo to offer notes and help him develop.

“If you’re paying someone 30 million dollars a year you probably do that,” he said. “I would be willing to bet CBS is not concerned that Tony Romo is bad at this after it wasn’t even two years ago he was the toast of commentary.”

“I guess I don’t see what everyone else sees about how he’s regressed,” Paulsen added. “I just think it’s piling on a guy people don’t like because it’s a job that people don’t like. I think there is an element of him having turned up the fader on the Romo-isms.”

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David Schultz Departs 103.3 The Goat

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A photo of Dave Schultz
(Photo: Dave Schultz)

103.3 The Goat afternoon host David Schultz has departed the Lafayette, Louisiana sports station.

Schultz returned to the Lafayette market in April after departing his Program Director role 105.5 WNSP in February.

In a post to X, Schultz revealed the news, saying that his position was eliminated.

“Thanks to Bruce Mikels and Pam Ganaud for giving me the opportunity to come back to Lafayette,” Schultz wrote. “Thanks to my colleagues at Townsquare for always helping me out. A special thanks to Lynden Burton for co-piloting the show. And most importantly, thank you to the Acadiana community for always showing your support. Our audience was loyal and rowdy – the best combination.”

Schultz noted he will continue to host the Locked On Sun Belt podcast, and is also interested in pursuing other radio opportunities.

There is no word from 103.3 The Goat on what it will do in the timeslot previously held by Schultz and Burton. Currently, the station runs the majority of the FOX Sports Radio national lineup, with a morning show hosted by Tim Fletcher from 6-9 AM CT.

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Mike Ricordati: I’ve Made 97.1 The Fan Tons of Money, I Should Be Able to Skip Breaks

“We’ve never been accused of being professional.”

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Mike Ricordati
Courtesy: Common Man & T-Bone on X

97.1 The Fan afternoon hosts Mike Ricordati — also known as “Common Man” — and Jonathan “T-Bone” Smith raised eyebrows around the industry earlier this week after the pair refused to take regularly scheduled commercials breaks while discussing Ohio State’s loss to Michigan. The show was threatened with suspension and removal from the air if they didn’t return to taking commercial breaks.

On Common Man & T-Bone Tuesday, the pair discussed the incident at length, with Ricordati sharing his displeasure about the situation.

Although he was apparently not supposed to discuss what occurred the day before, Ricordati opened the show by describing the incident. He conveyed that he was back on the air despite some people assuming that he would not be allowed to host the program. Moreover, he acknowledged that there were points on Monday where he did not believe he would be on the day’s episode, although he posted on X that he would be on the show at 3 p.m. later in the day.

“We were talking and drinking bourbon on the air, which is not professional but who the hell cares,” Ricordati said. “We’ve never been accused of being professional.”

Smith thought that the hosts’ consumption of the alcoholic substance would get them in trouble, which was indeed confiscated later in the program. The initial concern seemed to stem from the program skipping a commercial break, which prompted Ricordati to expound on what he believes is a double standard within the building. TEGNA also owns a television station, WBNS, which operates under the same roof and provides breaking news coverage when necessary. During these times, the outlet interrupts regularly scheduled programming and eschews commercial breaks as it procures and disseminates real-time information en masse.

“But when there’s a national day of mourning among Buckeye Nation, they expect us to go out there, do our 10 minutes [and] hit the break,” Ricordati said. “Why? We’re here to provide a service to you, so you take the hit for a day. If you’ve got a radio host willing to sit there for three hours straight and drink bourbon and talk to people and still adhere to FCC regulations, which we were going to do, then you know what? Eat the commercial inventory for a day. I volunteered to pay for it.”

Smith suggested that instead of going to break, the show could have implemented live sponsorship reads, using plumbing services as an example. Not only would it have hypothetically provided a boon for business, he surmised, but it would have also ensured that the outlet could keep attaining revenue.

When Ricordati began to ponder how often the program has an episode as monumental as an Ohio State loss to Michigan, he recognized that it is becoming an annual tradition, a matter of concern for fans of the team. Smith replied by vowing that if the team loses a fourth straight game to Michigan next year, the program will discuss the NBA and eliminate football discussion from the episode entirely.

“NBA and just commercials. It’ll be TEGNA’s wet dream,” Ricordati added. “Oh yes.”

Although he did not divulge specific details about the conversation he had with management on Monday, Ricordati implied that he raised his voice and revealed that Fishman did not show up for work. While the reason for Fishman’s absence is unknown, Ricordati took it as an opportunity to say that he won the battle.

Mike Ricordati then took issue with the idea that he doesn’t have the ability to dictate how his program operates, in spite of his long history with the station.

“I have been on these airwaves for 20 years,” Ricordati affirmed. “I have hosted more shows than anybody in the history of this radio station. I’ve made a lot of money for this place. If I want to do a show where I blow through a break or two, I should be allowed to do it.”

“What do they think?,” Smith said later in the segment regarding company management. “They know who we are; they know this show. We’ve been on the air together for 11 years; you’ve been on here for 20 years. They know how this show is. We talk; we tell people what’s on our minds [and] we have an audience that listens to us because they expect us to not pull any punches, which by the way, that’s what yesterday was all about.”

Following a brief discussion about Ohio State and the job security of head coach Ryan Day, it was time for the show to take its first scheduled commercial break of the afternoon. Ricordati told his producer once again that he did not want to go to a break, eliciting laughter within the studio before the show ran its first set of advertisements.

“We’re going to do a fun show today,” Ricordati disclosed. “I can’t do yesterday’s show again for a variety of reasons.”

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Jim Rome: I Don’t Want to Talk About How the NFL Sucks Every Day

Rome argued that “hate is the new dopamine” while noting that he doesn’t want to talk about what he hates all day.

Jordan Bondurant

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Jim Rome
(Photo: CBS Sports Radio)

Jim Rome didn’t want to have to be that guy on Tuesday, but he had no choice.

Rome opened his CBS Sports Radio show by prefacing his comments on Monday night’s Bears/Vikings game by saying his goal isn’t to just ridicule the NFL schedule into oblivion.

“I don’t come in here every single day looking to bag on and hate on NFL primetime games,” Rome said. “And yes, I’m the one who said it – hate is the new dopamine. But that’s not how I get down. That’s not my deal.”

Jim Rome added that just saying everything sucks isn’t a sports take. But he pivoted from there saying that it’s OK to say 95% of the primetime games in the NFL suck because it’s true.

“Then not only is it a take, it’s the only take,” he said. “How are these games actually managing in primetime to get worse and worse? And how is anything going to top the atrocity that we sat through last night?”

Fans in theory should get a more competitive, high-scoring affair on Thursday night when the Seahawks take on the Cowboys. But Rome just couldn’t believe how torturous Monday night’s contest really was.

“Technically, the Bears did win that game. But technically, really, we all lost,” he said.

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