Sports Radio News

Dan Le Batard: Justin Fields is ‘Content, Not a Human Being’ to Colin Cowherd

“So he’s got no problem taking out Justin Fields as a quarterback. Because why not? It’s content and it’s not a human being.”

Published

2 months ago

July 24, 2023

Jordan Bondurant

Pictures of Dan Le Batard and Colin Cowherd

Courtesy of ESPN/FS1

Colin Cowherd adjusted his outlook on Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields ahead of the 2023 season, and Dan Le Batard was very intrigued by the FS1 host’s take.

On The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz last week, Le Batard said it’s interesting to see how some of the top voices in the medium like Cowherd have evolved over time and continue to stake their claim in the landscape with hot takes.

Dan has made it clear how he feels about how sports debate television has changed thanks to Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith, but he said there’s just something different about the approach Cowherd takes.

“Because Cowherd is super calculated about how he gets people to listen and he knows there’s money in being wrong,” Le Batard said. Cowherd tweeted last week he was originally 60/40 on Fields being successful in the NFL, but he’s dropped it to 55/45 because he felt like Fields lacked self-awareness. Cowherd took plenty of flack on Twitter for the take, which is something he’s accustomed to doing.

But Dan said Cowherd is just seizing the opportunity to generate content.

“So he’s got no problem taking out Justin Fields as a quarterback. Because why not? It’s content and it’s not a human being,” he joked. “It’s just something I said once upon a time, being wrong doesn’t cost me anything, I’ll just go after Justin Fields, but I’ll do this purposely and purposefully.”

“It sounds like he’s less certain that he’s gonna succeed, right?” asked Amin Elhassan. Amin said it was really odd Cowherd decided on 55/45 considering most people are either all or nothing, 90/10, 60/40 or 50/50.

“He still thinks he will succeed, but he’s leaving himself the chance that he’s going to be less wrong because he moved it back 5 percent,” Le Batard responded.

“The way that Colin Cowherd is going to age, is better and more pioneering than anyone ever, because Amin has never heard anyone go 55/45,” he added.

Dan said he just loved the approach Cowherd took. It was very much a Cowherd thing to do.

“Colin Cowherd is here to tell you he’s already dropped 5 percent on what Justin Fields is gonna be,” Le Batard said. “Is he going to be a runner, is he going to be a quarterback, which isn’t that I want in this league? Can I trust him to be a quarterback, as the position entirely changes.”

Jordan Bondurant

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.

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Sports Radio News

Sactown Sports Turns Afternoons Over To ‘The Drive Guys’, Whitey Gleason and Kyle Draper

“The new afternoon show officially launches on Wednesday, October 4th.”

Published

47 mins ago

October 3, 2023

Jordan Bondurant

Three months after joining forces in middays, Sactown Sports 1140AM hosts Kevin “Whitey” Gleason and Chris Watkins are being split up to complete the station’s daytime lineup.

Effective Wednesday, The Drive Guys featuring Gleason and Sacramento Kings studio host Kyle Draper is going to be taking over afternoon drive, airing from 2-6 PM. Watkins remains in middays. He had been hosting the Chris Watkins & Co Show in a fill-in capacity from 10:00 AM-2:00 PM since April.

“We are excited to continue to elevate the Sactown Sports brand with the addition of The Drive Guys,” Bonneville Sacramento SVP and market manager Steve Cottingim said. “Kevin has been a fabric in the Sacramento community for four decades now and pairing him with Kyle Draper, who is a familiar voice to our listeners through the Sacramento Kings broadcast, just highlights our commitment to Sacramento sports.”

Gleason confirmed the move on Monday evening, and Watkins chimed in expressing his thanks to Kevin for all he had done these last few months. Watkins joined Bonneville Sacramento in 2018 and went from assistant promotions director to producer and podcast host to midday host in that five-year span.

Whitey has been the best co-host I could've ever wanted. You’ve made my first experience in radio an incredible one.

Can't wait to hear you and @KyleDraperTV together every day! https://t.co/nmcxP0YSoG
— Chris Watkins (@ChrisMWatkins) October 3, 2023

The full daytime lineup for Sactown Sports begins at 6 AM with The Carmichael Dave Show with Jason Ross and concludes with Gleason and Draper.

Gleason is no stranger to Sacramento listeners. He has been regularly featured on the air in town for more than four decades, primarily as a part of The Rise Guys morning show from 1999-2011. He also hosted on ESPN 1320 for five years with Mark Kreidler.

Draper has been hosting for NBC Sports California’s Kings coverage since 2020. Before arriving to California’s capital city, he served in a similar capacity for NBC Sports Boston for 11 years.

The lineup on Sactown Sports 1140AM has been shuffled around several times over the last six months. It followed the departure of several other station personalities in that span, beginning with Dave “Deuce” Morgan and Morgan Ragan in April, followed by the exit of Nick Cattles and Ramie Makhlouf over the summer.

Jordan Bondurant

Sports Radio News

RJ Choppy: Taylor Swift is More Popular Than the NFL, We’re Going to Talk About Her

“She is bigger than the NFL. Like she’s more popular globally than the National Football League.”

Published

47 mins ago

October 3, 2023

Jordan Bondurant

Courtesy: QC Kinetics DFW

If you think the discussion on Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce is going away in sports talk anytime soon, you’re sorely mistaken. Swift was in attendance at MetLife Stadium for Sunday Night Football as Kelce and the Chiefs took on the New York Jets. And as Shan Shariff and RJ Choppy noted on Shan & RJ on 105.3 The Fan on Monday, NBC and the NFL couldn’t avoid making Swift’s presence at the game a part of the SNF coverage.

“They went all in,” Shariff said. “NBC, the National Football League, going all in on Taylor Swift.”

Choppy responded saying when arguably one of the biggest celebrities in the world suddenly takes an interest in your product, you embrace it.

“She’s taken over, she really has,” Choppy said. “And the NFL putting her on their Twitter page, I mean she is bigger than the NFL. Like she’s more popular globally than the National Football League.”

Taylor Swift sports 273 million Instagram followers and 94.5 million Twitter followers. The NFL only has 33.7 million followers on Twitter and 28.4 million on Instagram.

Shariff pointed out that while Swift is a massive superstar with a massive superstar following on social media, it doesn’t compare to the followings of soccer stars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Regardless, the NFL is going to milk it for what the league thinks it’s worth.

“Everyone is looking at her as the golden goose. She craps success,” Shariff said. “It’s just gold flowing out of her veins. Attach yourself to it, and you will make money.”

Jordan Bondurant

Sports Radio News

New Study: NFL on Westwood One Reaches 56 Million

The study reveals that 7 million alone in the season’s debut weekend consumed play-by-play broadcasts, with that figure expanding to 18 million for the duration of September.

Published

10 hours ago

October 2, 2023

BSM Staff

A photo of the NFL and Westwood One logos

The NFL is a massive player on network television. The ratings show routinely the league taking up the overwhelming majority of the top 25 most-watched television programs every year. But according to a new study, the NFL on Westwood One also reaches a massive audience.

56 million people will be reached by the primetime radio broadcasts each season, new research reveals.

The study reveals that 7 million alone in the season’s debut weekend consumed play-by-play broadcasts, with that figure expanding to 18 million for the duration of September.

Additionally, 10 million more listeners will accumulate throughout the football season, culminating with Westwood One’s coverage of the Super Bowl.

The Nielsen Scarborough data also suggests that 55% of Thursday Night Football viewers on Amazon Prime Video are not Amazon Prime subscribers. The numbers suggest a total of 64 million Americans will watch some portion of Thursday Night Football this season.