“I gotta be honest with you, when the team loses I hate talking about this football team. And then you lose in epic fashion like you did on Sunday; you’re a bunch of losers and there are a lot of people who need to be called out today.”
That is the opening to Bob Fescoe’s rant on 610 Sports regarding the Chiefs’ recent playoffs loss. I like that Fescoe doesn’t sugar coating anything. He actually went to Indianapolis with a couple other on-air personalities from 610, including Danny Parkins. And I think maybe 610’s Carrington Harrison was also trapped in the car on the way to and from the nightmare.
Fescoe kind of showed his age by complaining about how his younger cohorts spent the entire trip texting or Facebooking during the drive. He said that drove him crazy, while Parkins was upset about Fescoe’s long rants on what must have been an excruciating drive home in really bad weather.
In case you hit your head really hard or something, you probably know the Chiefs blew a 28 point lead and lost their playoff game with the Colts with a final score of 45-44. It was the second biggest playoff collapse in NFL history.
I’ll get back to that.
What’s most important is that while many younger radio listeners have tuned out to what were once their favorite music radio stations, they’re tuning in to sports talk in droves. And as we all know, sports – especially football – is the number one entertainment form in the country.
Case in point, had the Chiefs won they would have faced New England Saturday night and the streets of Kansas City would have been empty. There would have been less traffic than if the polar vortex had dropped four feet of snow. I can’t think of any other event that could accomplish such a feat today.
At long last 610 Sports has found its audience and is growing by leaps and bounds.
Josh Klinger
The 610 morning show is headed up by Fescoe and Josh Klingler. They’re the station’s elder statesmen and they have a great rapport and come up with unique angles not only on sports but other entertainment news.
Their producer, twenty-something Steven Spector, takes all the calls and is the brunt off many fun-loving jokes and attacks from both Josh and Fescoe. Recently they’ve even had a few big name celebrities on like Tom Arnold and Louie Anderson from Stanford’s.
Fescoe’s clearly a huge Chiefs and Royals fan but isn’t shy about letting listeners know that both teams need to be in the post-season AND win now.
No more excuses.
He’s even said the Chiefs should fire Defensive Coordinator Bob Sutton ASAP.
“Somebody has to take the blame for having one of the worst defenses in the NFL,” Fescoe told listeners. “That’s our Chiefs. Even Indy said the Chiefs defense is predictable. He needs to go and I agree.”
Middays are now a comfortable exchange between Jay Binkley and Henry Lake.
Jay’s one of the hardest working sports guys in town and Binkley fills in regularly on other shows when someone is sick or on vacation. You can also see Jay on local television announcing high school football and other sporting events. He’s come a long way in the past two years with 610.
And he can be edgy regarding the ups and downs of both the Chiefs and Royals.
Henry Lake likes to paint a rosy picture as best he can and looks for the cup half full more often than the cup half empty. They have a very upbeat show are not only funny but right on target.
have the tough job of replacing Nick Wright. I think what makes these two young stars stand out is that they’re growing into a couple of interesting young bachelors right before our ears.
Parkins is on top of everything – from stats to who’s who from both baseball and football. And now that we’re in basketball season, he and C-dot (Carrington’s nickname) are all over that.
I recently learned that Danny and I both when out with the same hot blonde.
Kelly Jones
Some chick named Kat. And that impressed me. Worse yet, Carrington had more dates with Channel 5’s Kelly Jones than I did – a lot more. I don’t know if that so much impressed me or upset me. Oh well, she’s gone.
Collectively these three teams have listeners calling in all day long.
NFL Picks
We’re nearing the end and my goal was to break 60 wins and stay in the 30s on losses.
New Orleans Saints (+14) over the Seahawks on a tease with the Colts (+14) over New England.
San Francisco (+5) over Panthers teased with San Diego (+16) over Denver.
You can hear the entire Fescoe rant on the 610 podcast Monday morning online.
Kira Soltanovich
Shameless Comedy Plug
Drop by Stanford’s tonight or Saturday and check out Kira Soltanovich.
She’s been doing the Tonight Show for the last eight years and will make her last appearance January 14th with Jay because he’s leaving. And next week the Legendary Jimmy ‘JJ’ Walker is here, Wednesday through Sunday.
Follow me on Twitter @KCKingofSting and have a great weekend.
“And I think maybe 610′s Carrington Harrison was also trapped in the car on the way to and from the nightmare.”
They don’t call you the best in the business for nothing.
I knew Fescoe in college. Super nice guy. I haven’t talked to him since college. His radio shtick isn’t my cup of tea, but I guess it beats listening to Nate Bukaty ask four minute long pointless questions while Jake grunts. SSJ deserves better.
Fescoe is terrible. I don’t know what happened because liked him with St. John. He can’t be the main guy.
Agreed, sounds like a moron now. Really do not know what happened
Fescoe is a complete boob. It’s a wonder he’s still employed.
again glaza….610 is a dead and dying institution.
even the experts (not this amautuer phony announcer) went into detail
about the chiefs loss..even talking about the winning touchdown
with Hilton.
Of course you’re looking for an someone to agree with you…even though
you’re nota fan or a handicapper.
Listen to the real experts…dawson etc. who played this gaem and
understand 1. colts are a good team with an exceptional quarterbak
2. that finaltouchdownplay was an incredible strategy by colts to
reallyfool and “step on the feet” of the chiefs defenders. Glaza
has no idea whatthat means…he s not inot the facts…just
the b.s of a second tier kid on the radio.
and the worst mistake glazamakes is this quote…
What’s most important is that while many younger radio listeners have tuned out to what were once their favorite music radio stations, they’re tuning in to sports talk in droves.
plus glaza…please stop…you continue to look foolish with this stuff!!!
I’m in the younger demo and when I have the radio on it is either 101 or 610. 810 is for old farts and 98.9 is too white trash depressing especially when Dare has people call in for months and beg for Christmas gifts.
Hope for the holidays does not bother me, it is great for some….others I get the feeling they are just milking the system.. The one thing that is getting to me is how Johnny turns EVERY interview somehow into about him, that gets old. I get it you know that Jesse dude from the band. Other than that, it is the best radio show hands down in KC, and I would bet that there is not to many in the country that could compete.
Exactly my point Balb. I talk to many young people who listen to the radio and hear me on different shows. I have been on 610 several times in the last few months and I get many positive comments about them hearing me, the comic or Fescoe or whomever we are on with. So that tells me they have more and more young listeners, like you.
I do get comments till about being on with Dare as well. He still has a large listening audience. I just can feel the build on 610, its moving up for sure. I also can see the improvement on all three shows, more confidence and the shows are snappy. Good stuff and good guests.
Well looks like a split…won one lost one…so we are 57 and 37…only three games left so looks like we will be around the 60 win mark, another good year.
610, and every show and personality on it, SUCKS. Just flat out unlistenable.
Fescoe is horrid and has been for years. Sounds like this is a PR column.
It is always amazing to read the negative comments by the same people over and over. “Everyone on 610 sucks” really…there are many thousands of listeners who don’t agree. It’s a tough job to do sports talk all day on mostly two pro teams and somewhat on KU basketball and college football. It makes the on air guys have to come up with ‘their’ stories on their lives and feelings. In my opinion and many thousands more, all three day parts do just that. 610 is on the rise, the numbers show that of course and so is sports talk in general.
Many of you are just too fast to judge others based on your own prejudice. In fact over the years it seems anyone and everyone who does sports talk in KC isn’t good enough for the hater groups. Just the way it goes. Guys like Jim Rome are paid millions of dollars to give his opinions and speak to guests…and their are always those who say…”he sucks.” You just please everyone. I like the guys at 610 and most listeners agree.
i try to listen to 610 but it seems like 810 gets all the experts to call in
while 610 just has the hosts talk, and a lot of times, its not even about sports
it’s about who they’re dating, or some crap.
on 810 I get Gary Pinkle, Trent Green, Herm Edwards, Kevin Harlan, Mitch Holthus
meh.
I do like the 610 Royals coverage a lot better though.
It does really bother me that both sports stations in KC do not broadcast MU games, it’s amazing how one broadcasts KU and the other KSU. what in the world? How did that happen?
Overall, 610 isn’t too bad to listen to….but Fescoe is a joke! His rants after a bad loss are contrived, knee-jerk, and come off simply as a publicity stunt. After last years train-wreck of a Chiefs season, Fescoe had one of his so called “Epic” rants where he is yelling and screaming for d@mn near 30 minutes…and a few sound bytes land on ESPN as a result. Not because of the hard hitting analysis, but simply because of the fact a local KC radio guy went LOCO on the air. So now, every time he has another rant it just comes off as another attempt to top the one before it. I have no doubt there are some people in the area who love it, but I seriously doubt the majority of sports fans in this area enjoy listening to him. There are some days I listen simply because of a guest he may have on. But many times, I have no choice but to turn the channel. I don’t really know whether Fescoe is in on the joke or not. If he is, then he understands the attention he gets comes mostly from people laughing “at him” and not “with him”. If not, then it’s really quite sad. I used to love when Nick Wright would make fun of the guy. It was obvious the two couldn’t stand each other, and most of it came from the fact that Nick knew the guy had no business on local radio. As annoying and arrogant as Nick Wright could be at times, he at least had talent for this profession and was much better at giving good local analysis on the airwaves. Sorry, but Fescoe’s knowledge and breakdown of games sound no better than any Average Joe fan that calls in with their own knee-jerk reactions. That’s all it is…trying to be shock radio with no real substance.
As for the rest of the talent on that station, I have no complaints. They continue to get better and I would much rather listen to them than anyone else on 810…except for may Steven St. John. I still enjoy listening to him, and would listen to him more if it didn’t mean having to listen to Bukaty.
610 always has that amateur night charm, I’ll say that for it–but it’s unlistenable otherwise unless you miss student run college radio. 810 seems more professional but the talent issues there are well known; if 810 had real local competition it would sink pretty fast.
Hey if Fescoe can make it to a clip on ESPN, nice…you all act like on air sports jocks should have gone to sports talk school? It is always their opinion based on what they see and feel. Fescoe is no different. Most of these guys on local radio and many on national did not play the game at its highest level…those guys are on TV for the most part, and on national TV…this is the game. Bob has a pro voice and is a smart guy. Like him or not, he has tons of fans and has been around for some time. He must do some things right. Right.
Yes, Glazer…You’re right. We do expect most on air sports personalities (that aren’t former players) to go to “Sports Talk School”. Or, as some people like to call it….a Journalism or Media degree. That’s usually the minimum requirement to get a job in that profession.
I’m pretty sure Bob Fescoe even has one of those.
LOL!!!
Any data at all, by the way, to back up these breathlessly enthusiastic claims of crazily burgeoning listenership? I ask only for information.
They let him talk on air……So by proxy it is awesome. The second they kick him out of the building then he will say that they will close shop in a month
they probably need nick wright or whatever his name is. heard he got so big chris berman is calling him.
The only reason Fescoe hasn’t been canned years ago is that he goes up against St John who is just as big an idiot. Both should be relegated to 2nd or 3rd banana. Some free advice to both: 99% of your listeners couldn’t care less about what you kids did yesterday. It does not humanize you. It makes people change to another station.
Glazer you are still alive? Wow. You and hot blonds…funny…. Still waiting….what has been almost ten years now for your movie. Keep it up….meds help