415 Media Exclu: Rick Barry Fires Back at Ray Ratto

Rick Barry

IT ALL STARTED OUT OF NOWHERE...OK, so I don't agree with Rick Barry on this Trump deal --Barry, one of the greatest Warriors forward of all time, a Hall-of-Famer, made these views first to USA Today.

Then NBC Bay Area columnist, Ray Ratto, wrote about Barry on Trump.

He has every right too but since when did Ratto become a part time shrink?

I contacted Barry to get his response to Ratto's rap on the Hall-of-Famer. Barry thinks it's all personal and he didn't mince words.

"I'm disappointed that 'Ray Ratto' continues to bring up the past with regards to me. As he wrote, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but for him (Ratto) to make a statement as to what I meant by what I said is so far out of line it's embarrassing."

I said earlier I'm just as outraged as anyone on Trump's Tuesday bizarro. It was surreal at best and literally crazy at worst. Like many others, I was completely dumbfounded and searching for answers. Is this the worst it can be?

That said, everyone, even Rick Barry, is entitled to their opinion --Ratto sort of piled on and he's been doing it for awhile.

Ray Ratto

What else is new?

Sussman and A&G on KSFO and KGO Radio Still Stick Up For Trump on Charlottesville Bizarro Presser

EVEN THOUGH a slew of Republicans criticized President Trump over his controversial Charlottesville statements --in which he said "both sides" were at fault for the violence and seemed to equate White Racists and Neo-Nazis on the same footing as the counter protesters  Right-Wing talk-show hosts here still DEFENDED the POTUS.

On KSFO, Morning Show host, Bran Sussman, who has been a sturdy Trump supporter no matter what the circumstances, said it was "left-wing" agitators who "didn't even have 'permits' to demonstrate at the rally" who were the troublemakers. (Stephen Colbert had a great line about this: "Yeah, Nazis are much better with paperwork.")  Sussman, who is Jewish and should know better, remarkably didn't offer one bit of Trump criticism --I think he's still star struck.

On KGO, "Armstrong and Getty", offered mild criticism for Trump but seemed to defend the Prez because "the left-wing was just as egregious as the White Supremacists." Are you surprised? I'm not. KGO is trying desperately to DUMP the gruesome twosome from their station but don't want to have to pay off the remainder of A&G's contract. Yes, their ratings are that low.

While The World Reacted to the Trump Presser KGO Radio Was Discussing Anorexia (Video)

THE TRUMP PRESS CONFERENCE  (Video) was quite a show, quite TOPIC A around the country via the electronic water cooler.

Twitter was all over it; so too Drudge; so to the NY Times; the SF Chronicle --plus Buzzfeed and The Daily Beast.

On KGO Radio, Brian Copeland devoted the bulk of his chat show to ...anorexia! --because, you know, KGO barely believes in news and instead prefers holistic health and Facebook, Fashion, --the "7F".station where PD's are hired on the cheap and news events; MAJOR news events be damned! If Watergate were being played out today, KGO would do a three-hour show on the history of doughnuts and how a gluten-free diet is good for your colon. This guy would be the host.

What's even more laughable is that the very demo that KGO is going after, (who don't own an AM Radio) were those on Buzzfeed and The Daily Beast reacting to the Trump charade hours earlier.

For the record, Copeland talked about the Trump presser but only marginally; Dopey Copie is under orders to follow the 7F handbook because he wants a pension and has two of his kids working at KGO so he's not about to mess with management's orders --"YES SIR, MR. ANTHONY!"

SF Judge Dismisses Mickey Mouse Medical Claims; Ishimaru Versus KGO-TV

Heather Ishimaru

The tab might come soon for KGO-TV and Circle Seven’s News Director Tracey Watkowski-Silva.  And it might make a night at the House of Prime Rib followed by a nightcap at the Top of the Mark look cheap, just like me!

A SF Judge just threw out a major component of the company’s argument against claims that Watkowski contributed to a debilitating aneurysm suffered by reporter Heather Ishimaru in 2013. 

Ishimaru built a reputation as a solid street, police beat, and courthouse reporter during her time at the Bay Area’s ABC O and O.  Her assignments included some water cooler topics like the San Francisco Dog Mauling Trial, the Scott Peterson case, and the Fajitagate scandal that clipped the wings of many SFPD top brass.

Ishimaru has accused her former boss Watkowski of creating a hostile work environment that generated life-changing stress.  Ishimaru’s lawsuit has demanded a sum north of $80 Million dollars from KGO and its corporate parent, the Walt Disney Company.  With Judge Harold Kahn sustaining an objective by Ishimaru’s legal team against testimony brought by a pair of Mickey Mouse medical experts, the door might have just opened for KGO-TV to cut its losses and pay.  

Isihimaru may not receive the tens of millions her suit asked for, but it is likely that a few million here and there will keep this matter quiet thus avoiding an embarrassing moment for an image conscious and so-called family friend company.

Tracey Watkowski-Silva

And if you’re a betting man, there are odds this could be Trixie having to turn in her mouse ears.  Watkowski’s bar tab will likely surpass $10 Million with her latest legal scrape.  Any company must ask itself if an employee who doesn’t generate revenue is worth such losses.  When you factor in the intangibles of broken newsroom morale and sinking ratings, not even a pre-diet Oprah could counterbalance the bill Trixie has generated. 

So where does KGO go if Trixie mounts her broom and flies away from the Tragic Kingdom? Right now, Trixie’s second in command is on maternity leave and that might set up an ugly cat fight between two, ambitious female executive producers who on a good day could credibly pinch hit for Disney archvillianess Cruella Deville.

Does GM Bill Burton bring in a KABC mid-manager from Dodger Country to irritate a room of Giants fans?  Or does a savior parachute in to restore goodwill and loyalty among a tattered staff?

Stay tuned, lots could be going at KGO's, real “News Scene."

On Terrible Day in Charlottesville Giants' Broadcasters Ignore Racial Incident --Error on the Announcers

Charlottesville is roughly 116 miles to Washington DC--where the Giants were playing ball over the weekend and near the center of the riots and mayhem that killed three people and set off another racial storm that is at the center of the news domain today.

Yet, the Giants broadcasters; Jon Miller, Dave Flemming and Jeremy Affeldt  did not mention a word about what took place in Charlottesville ---NOT A WORD. That is simply out of bounds and incredibly, shockingly, unprofessional at best and irresponsible at worst.

Why do baseball announcers have a responsibility to mention something such as Charlottesville? (and I do mean mention, at the very least) Because as broadcasters YOU JUST DO SO. This was not some fire or small-scale disaster like a flood or inclement weather--THIS was a major news event that received world-wide coverage and involved everyone from the White House (maybe not so much) to the Nation's conscience --it certainly touched a nerve and therefore not even acknowledging it, represented a major disconnect from life and reality --yes, it was only a baseball game but it was a baseball game in the Nation's Capital a few hours from the center of the storm.

Miller is a Hall of Fame announcer and should know better. Flemming is younger but quite capable too. He also should have at least said something but was silent. Jeremy Affeldt, I really don't care. 

The World is Going To Hell And KGO Radio Is Still Talking Bullshit

EXCUSE ME, The World is Going Crazy and KGO Radio is still talking Major Bullshit. Wait, MAJOR BULLSHIT! The same, usual, banal, idiotic dumb ass minutiae not fit for human consumption unless you're some insane putz with a quarter brain just released from Napa State Hospital.

NO, I'm not going to let this go. What we have here is BROADCAST MALPRACTICE --perpetrated by some numb nuts who have NO CLUE on how to run a radio station.

YES, I know, KGO is on life support and barely registers a pulse, I get it. I'm not going to reinvent the wheel but I AM GOING TO CALL THEM OUT and not let them get way with it. PROMISE.

THIS IS SERIOUS SHIT NOW.

KCBS Weather Lady, Roberta Gonzales Just Made a Huge Blunder on The Radio This Monday Morning

I'VE HEARD SOME CRAZY THINGS BUT THIS TOPS EVERYTHING...

At the top of her 7: 20 AM Weather Report on KCBS this Monday Morning...Roberta Gonzales said  something thoroughly STUPID --maybe one of the BIGGEST blunders in local radio history.

Gonzales was on a sailboat Sunday --going on the delta from Pittsburgh to Stockton..."Yeah, We Were Going 120 Miles an Hour!"

Wait a minute. Huh?

KCBS anchor, Stan Bunger, was immediately perplexed. So much so, he allowed Roberta to correct herself and not sound like a fool because we all know doing 120 MPH on a sailboat on the Delta is IMPOSSIBLE!

Only, get this? Roberta DOUBLE-DOWNED!

"Oh no, Stan, we were going that fast." I think what she meant to say was that the craft was going 12 miles an hour. Surely NOT 120!

Everyone makes mistakes. Happens every day. THIS IS INEXCUSABLE ...and downright embarrassing and irresponsible ...ESPECIALLY when the anchor allows you the chance to CORRECT YOUR MISTAKE! Instead, Gonzales sounded even more crazy.

This is bad. How bad? About five minutes after her on-air BLUNDER, a news guy called me and said "something like this can get you 'fired." "The boss can tolerate a mistake but this thing is a 'major credibility issue."

You can't do 120 miles an hour on a sailboat in the Delta and you sure as hell would be stopped by the cops if you could, unless of course, you're Roberta Gonzales on KCBS at 7: 20 on Monday. It would be the equivalent of her saying, "it's 100 degrees right now at Ocean Beach."

This blunder, one would hope will be corrected later in the newscast --I sure hope so.