The Rise of the Anti-Hype Radio Host

If you've not heard it, tune into the Dan Le Batard radio show on ESPN radio. Dan and his crew, including the inimitable Stugotz, are a merry band of talk show anarchists who manage to upset the apple cart where conventional talk radio and sports intersect.  For example, take one of their scrolls during their show, which is also aired on ESPN2 and repeated later in the day on Fusion television:  they scroll instructions for viewers who want to get Dan fired. Dan also has had guests on like the Michigan State basketball coach, but rather than interview him over the upcoming season or talk NCAA basketball instead had him play Christmas tunes on the accordion, while Dan's crew tried to sing along (badly I might add).  This is just the tip of the iceberg where this show is concerned - lots of inside jokes which you'll only understand if you listen regularly, lots of self deprecating remarks, and plenty of insinuation about athletes and celebrities, with the odd insult to their employer, ESPN, thrown in for good measure.



But along with other sports shows like Garbage Time with Katie Nolan on Fox, Dan's show is at the vanguard of what I see as a new wave in anti-establishment sports radio.  Just like Bernie and Donald are running 'against the Washington establishment' in their respective, and so far successful, campaigns for President, so too do we see in sports radio the rise of the prankster, the smart ass, the wry one.  It's recognizing that sports is such big business, there is room aplenty for different stances and takes on each story.  Where one channel may report the news, the other can jump all over the heroes or heroines of the story with sarcasm or humor.

I applaud this movement!  The need for alternative voices in all walks of life is what leads society to a better place.  Even something as trivial as sports radio needs something more than a debate about who will win the Super Bowl, or is so and so QB washed up.  It needs famous people doing infamous things and reminding us that behind the name is a typically flawed human being, like the rest of us. Viva la revolution!