spurscenter
09-20-2007, 04:56 AM
It talks about Baseball. But This can also translate into any NBA Team and its Radio Show like the SPurs.
Its a good read.
Brass should shut its mouth
September 19 2007
It's punks growling from the carpool lane, grandmothers crooning from their couches, weary men banging on steering wheels and giggling teens cheering through blankets.
It's Grady Little stinks, and Russell Martin rules, and, hey, if Frank McCourt's listening, Johnny from Upland just ate two soggy Dodger dogs and he's not real happy about it, OK?
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It's crazy, it's uncut, it's occasionally uncouth and always uncalculated.
But it's a connection. It's our connection. It's the most endearing, enduring link between the Dodgers and their fans, the one place where the guy in the pavilion can talk and the suit upstairs can hear them.
It's Dodger Talk, and I listen. Since Ross Porter began moderating in 1990, I've listened.
Officially, it's the Dodgers post-game, radio call-in show. Unofficially, it's a wonderful extra inning that embodies McCourt's public commitment to maintain his team's ties to the community.
Which makes what happened on Sunday so scary.
A Dodgers official, upset all season over perceived errors by the show's host, phoned the KFWB News 980 studio during the middle of a broadcast.
During a reportedly heated off-air conversation, Josh Rawitch, Dodgers director of public relations and broadcasting, told host Bob Harvey that the show was "an embarrassment."
Then Harvey returned to the microphone and recounted those words to his listeners, many of whom were outraged.
And now, with the Dodgers still negotiating a radio deal for next season, with the Dodgers officials faced with the task of replacing Vin Scully one of these years, these fans have to wonder.
Do the Dodgers really consider dissent an embarrassment? And will future broadcast decisions reflect that?
"We have no problem with fans saying whatever they want," said Camille Johnston, Dodgers senior vice president of communications. "We have a problem with Bob Harvey not being informed. As a baseball partner, he should be held to a higher standard."
Harvey made his feelings clear on Sunday's broadcast.
"I'm not going to sit here and be a homer," he said. "And I'm not going to be a guy that is going to have the Dodgers dictate to me what to say and when to say it."
This has always been Dodger Talk's unwritten philosophy. It is where fans come to cheer, to cry, to vent.
Because the hour-long show occurs on the Dodgers' station, immediately after a game, it is far different than any other sports talk show,
The callers feel like they are talking directly into a clubhouse still filled with players, or across a row still filled with fans.
It's important to let those fans speak freely. And it's important that the host creates an atmosphere in which they are encouraged to speak freely.
Harvey, a 54-year-old man who has spent his career as a Southern California radio personality and is paid by KFWB, has done that.
In his first full year as a Dodger Talk host, Harvey has watched every game on television, and worked every night on the show, and thus developed strong opinions about what he's seen and heard.
Not only does he allow callers to rip the Dodgers, but he often agrees with them, challenging Little's moves and Ned Colletti's transactions as often as Frank from Placentia.
At times, it seems the Dodgers are angry with him for egging on those fans. They claim, however, they only want him to be informed enough to challenge them.
Harvey acknowledges he has only attended one game at Dodger Stadium this year. The Dodgers want to see him more.
"We think Dodger Talk is a great outlet, we think it also ought to be a great show," Johnston said. "But to be a great show, the host ought to be informed. That is not too much to ask."
The question is, informed about what? If Harvey doesn't debate a fan who claims Logan White is a better executive than Colletti, does that mean he's uninformed about Colletti?
Are the Dodgers saying they want him to check his facts when, actually, often they want him to check his spin?
Late this summer, Harvey received a couple of e-mails from Rawitch, the Dodgers' earnest young publicity guy who has shown an admirable willingness to fight for his team.
Rawitch wanted Harvey to give "a little push back" when a fan was ripping a club official or player. Rawitch never asked Harvey to change his facts, he simply wanted him to restate the facts to create a balanced argument.
"I'm pretty surprised at how negative the show is and how little push back is given to callers even when they're totally off base," Rawitch wrote.
You can't blame Rawitch. He is aggressively trying to do his job. He is up there hacking like some of the other Dodgers youngsters, guys like Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier.
But, like with Kemp and Ethier, that aggression can understandably sometimes lead to strikeouts.
This is what happened Sunday, when Rawitch called Harvey in the middle of the broadcast and angrily debated him.
What Harvey said next, on the air, apparently made some Dodgers fans pull off the road.
He announced, "During the break, I got a call from Josh Rawitch, the p.r. director for the Dodgers who has not been a fan of the show all year because, as a host, I've tried to tell it like it is, and not tell it like it is from the Dodger viewpoint. Now I've assumed from the calls that we received that fans wanted it that way . . . that they appreciated having a guy here who was not a homer."
He added, "First of all, to be called during the show and to be told that this show is embarrassing, well, that's a personal affront to me and I would think a lot of Dodger fans who have called in and been part of this show would take affront at that."
Many among the Dodger Talk faithful have grown to love Harvey and his honesty. These folks felt insulted. They expressed their displeasure in e-mails and phone calls.
It turns out, officials at KFWB, which is still vying for future radio rights with a couple of other stations, have encouraged Rawitch to call Harvey with questions or corrections, even supplying him with the studio number.
"I like Josh Rawitch, and I've invited his comments and suggestions," said Andy Ludlum, KFWB's program director.
On Tuesday, Johnston also supported Rawitch's actions, questioning only the use of the word, "embarrassment."
"It could have been said in a more effective manner," she acknowledged.
Yes, the word was lousy. But, yes, I agree, Rawitch should not take the fall for this. We don't boo Kemp or Ethier with every whiff, we shouldn't boo him.
This is bigger than Rawitch. This is bigger than Johnston. This issue should land directly on the desk of McCourt, who needs to get involved here and make a decision.
He has the right to muzzle anyone associated with his broadcasts. But he needs to understand that Dodger Talk is not his broadcast. It is Los Angeles' broadcast.
It is one of the few pieces of that franchise that still feels like it belongs to the fans.
It's crazy, but it's a connection.
Bill Plaschke can be reached at [email protected]. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/dodgers/la-sp-plaschke19sep19,1,1128303,full.column?coll=la-headlines-sports-mlb-dodger&ctrack=1&cset=true
Its a good read.
Brass should shut its mouth
September 19 2007
It's punks growling from the carpool lane, grandmothers crooning from their couches, weary men banging on steering wheels and giggling teens cheering through blankets.
It's Grady Little stinks, and Russell Martin rules, and, hey, if Frank McCourt's listening, Johnny from Upland just ate two soggy Dodger dogs and he's not real happy about it, OK?
ADVERTISEMENT
It's crazy, it's uncut, it's occasionally uncouth and always uncalculated.
But it's a connection. It's our connection. It's the most endearing, enduring link between the Dodgers and their fans, the one place where the guy in the pavilion can talk and the suit upstairs can hear them.
It's Dodger Talk, and I listen. Since Ross Porter began moderating in 1990, I've listened.
Officially, it's the Dodgers post-game, radio call-in show. Unofficially, it's a wonderful extra inning that embodies McCourt's public commitment to maintain his team's ties to the community.
Which makes what happened on Sunday so scary.
A Dodgers official, upset all season over perceived errors by the show's host, phoned the KFWB News 980 studio during the middle of a broadcast.
During a reportedly heated off-air conversation, Josh Rawitch, Dodgers director of public relations and broadcasting, told host Bob Harvey that the show was "an embarrassment."
Then Harvey returned to the microphone and recounted those words to his listeners, many of whom were outraged.
And now, with the Dodgers still negotiating a radio deal for next season, with the Dodgers officials faced with the task of replacing Vin Scully one of these years, these fans have to wonder.
Do the Dodgers really consider dissent an embarrassment? And will future broadcast decisions reflect that?
"We have no problem with fans saying whatever they want," said Camille Johnston, Dodgers senior vice president of communications. "We have a problem with Bob Harvey not being informed. As a baseball partner, he should be held to a higher standard."
Harvey made his feelings clear on Sunday's broadcast.
"I'm not going to sit here and be a homer," he said. "And I'm not going to be a guy that is going to have the Dodgers dictate to me what to say and when to say it."
This has always been Dodger Talk's unwritten philosophy. It is where fans come to cheer, to cry, to vent.
Because the hour-long show occurs on the Dodgers' station, immediately after a game, it is far different than any other sports talk show,
The callers feel like they are talking directly into a clubhouse still filled with players, or across a row still filled with fans.
It's important to let those fans speak freely. And it's important that the host creates an atmosphere in which they are encouraged to speak freely.
Harvey, a 54-year-old man who has spent his career as a Southern California radio personality and is paid by KFWB, has done that.
In his first full year as a Dodger Talk host, Harvey has watched every game on television, and worked every night on the show, and thus developed strong opinions about what he's seen and heard.
Not only does he allow callers to rip the Dodgers, but he often agrees with them, challenging Little's moves and Ned Colletti's transactions as often as Frank from Placentia.
At times, it seems the Dodgers are angry with him for egging on those fans. They claim, however, they only want him to be informed enough to challenge them.
Harvey acknowledges he has only attended one game at Dodger Stadium this year. The Dodgers want to see him more.
"We think Dodger Talk is a great outlet, we think it also ought to be a great show," Johnston said. "But to be a great show, the host ought to be informed. That is not too much to ask."
The question is, informed about what? If Harvey doesn't debate a fan who claims Logan White is a better executive than Colletti, does that mean he's uninformed about Colletti?
Are the Dodgers saying they want him to check his facts when, actually, often they want him to check his spin?
Late this summer, Harvey received a couple of e-mails from Rawitch, the Dodgers' earnest young publicity guy who has shown an admirable willingness to fight for his team.
Rawitch wanted Harvey to give "a little push back" when a fan was ripping a club official or player. Rawitch never asked Harvey to change his facts, he simply wanted him to restate the facts to create a balanced argument.
"I'm pretty surprised at how negative the show is and how little push back is given to callers even when they're totally off base," Rawitch wrote.
You can't blame Rawitch. He is aggressively trying to do his job. He is up there hacking like some of the other Dodgers youngsters, guys like Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier.
But, like with Kemp and Ethier, that aggression can understandably sometimes lead to strikeouts.
This is what happened Sunday, when Rawitch called Harvey in the middle of the broadcast and angrily debated him.
What Harvey said next, on the air, apparently made some Dodgers fans pull off the road.
He announced, "During the break, I got a call from Josh Rawitch, the p.r. director for the Dodgers who has not been a fan of the show all year because, as a host, I've tried to tell it like it is, and not tell it like it is from the Dodger viewpoint. Now I've assumed from the calls that we received that fans wanted it that way . . . that they appreciated having a guy here who was not a homer."
He added, "First of all, to be called during the show and to be told that this show is embarrassing, well, that's a personal affront to me and I would think a lot of Dodger fans who have called in and been part of this show would take affront at that."
Many among the Dodger Talk faithful have grown to love Harvey and his honesty. These folks felt insulted. They expressed their displeasure in e-mails and phone calls.
It turns out, officials at KFWB, which is still vying for future radio rights with a couple of other stations, have encouraged Rawitch to call Harvey with questions or corrections, even supplying him with the studio number.
"I like Josh Rawitch, and I've invited his comments and suggestions," said Andy Ludlum, KFWB's program director.
On Tuesday, Johnston also supported Rawitch's actions, questioning only the use of the word, "embarrassment."
"It could have been said in a more effective manner," she acknowledged.
Yes, the word was lousy. But, yes, I agree, Rawitch should not take the fall for this. We don't boo Kemp or Ethier with every whiff, we shouldn't boo him.
This is bigger than Rawitch. This is bigger than Johnston. This issue should land directly on the desk of McCourt, who needs to get involved here and make a decision.
He has the right to muzzle anyone associated with his broadcasts. But he needs to understand that Dodger Talk is not his broadcast. It is Los Angeles' broadcast.
It is one of the few pieces of that franchise that still feels like it belongs to the fans.
It's crazy, but it's a connection.
Bill Plaschke can be reached at [email protected]. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/dodgers/la-sp-plaschke19sep19,1,1128303,full.column?coll=la-headlines-sports-mlb-dodger&ctrack=1&cset=true