Out of the blue a complete surprise took place on the KNBR morning airwaves Monday: Ray Woodson filled in for the morning frat boys, "Murph and Mac", who, I guess, took the day off. Those of you that think morning radio has to be morning zoo review got a break Monday. Woodson is not morning zoo; he doesn't have to resort to cheap sound effects nor manufacture any phony "bits." In fact, the idea of intelligent and creative radio without the barrage of audio histrionics is a newfound concept. Thankfully, Woodson didn't get the memo.
Woodson is: a funny, clever, irreverent sense of humor- guy with an innate ability to guide the ship and not run aground. He's probably not wacky enough to host the morning show, any morning show for that matter but his performance Monday was refreshing. Refreshing talk, normal dialogue and compelling enough CONVERSATION with Ted Robinson, for example. How nice to hear and relax without the mind-gutting, un-authentic pile of crap we're accustomed to from the frat boys.
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As I perused the internet,All I heard on Comcast was Radnich saying how great he is,how great Krueger is and how he's in demand world wide,and how all the callers are beloved of him. And ratings? ho-ho! through the roof. That was for the first 15 minutes solid.
ReplyDeleteI like Ray a lot. I wish he was on the air when I wasn't asleep.
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad the children will be back in class tomorrow. But Mr. Woodson is too intelligent for the brain dead listeners of The Sports Bleeder.
ReplyDeleteGood post 10:35am.
DeleteI have a dream that one day the "children" at KNBR will grow up.
Ok,and how about this? Radnich went on how he hates bullies...then outs the bullied football player as gay. Kate Scott stood up and said its wrong to speculate. So, Raddy then later reads an email from a purported gay man who says its easier to call somebody gay then be racist. Raddy didn't even see the irony as he read that.
ReplyDeleteNO 1 sports radio show on the westcoast!
And you continued to listen, Stan?? More irony.
DeleteYou can always count on me Marc!
DeleteI always thought Ray was Gary's best partner. Don't know why they didn't stick with it to begin with. Now they just need to pair him up with someone more dynamic and set the afternoon show to sail.
ReplyDeleteHad I known, I would have tuned in. I have turned KNBR off for the part, with the exception of Tom, he gets it. The morning show to me has always been BM and his phony laugh, and sidekick PM who is much better suited to being BEAMED OVER to a heavy metal FM station or be the guy who reads 30 second updates, preferably on the FM non sports station. if u want to enjoy a real sports show that includes humor, knowledge, and good interviews give 95.7 a try
ReplyDeleteRich, I can agree with just about everything re:Ray except, don't you think there are and have been lots of guys on radio through the years that just fit better in the evening? Wacky frat-boy antics bug me too but, at what point do we accept the basic fact that after so many years of radio in general most of us are accustomed to just a more 'upbeat' presence in the morning and that suffering through 'wackiness' is the price we pay?...for the record, Ray is one of the best
ReplyDeleteRich - Ray didn't take over, sounds like he merely filled in. Way to get a click using a misleading headline...
ReplyDeleteIn a very weak radio personality market, Ray who has been around for years can't crack the regular lineup. That should tell you something. He comes off as a smart guy and in fact, perhaps he is. He certainly is thoughtful. But he's no better than anyone who works at KNBR when it comes to sucking off the local teams, executives, players and coaches. The next time he says something critical and harsh about a team that isn't apart of popular opinion - it'll be not just his first time doing it - but yes, the first time anyone on KNBR has.
If you want to consider him the best of the worse, ok. But what is that saying?
Good call, Rich. Good call. You know, I, well, I hadn't thought about.... when you put it like that, I guess I'd have to agree with you. You know, didn't we have a song parody based upon that Van Halen song that mentioned Woodson being an articulate dude? I mean, let's go to our next caller Dre in the 707 and see what he has to say? Dre? Oh, hold on Dre, we got a funny Twitter from the 510 about the Warriors... Oh wait, Kate Scott has something to add? Kate? Yeah, you know, I can see it from one perspective, but I can also see it from the other side, too. Ok, thanks for that Kate. PCon? Back in the South I'm not so sure that they care for an articulate dude. I saw a movie yesterday and they barely spoke and I kinda relate to that.
ReplyDeleteThank you. your post describes perfectly the numbskull conversation that goes on between 5:00-9;00am.
DeleteThere are times that Murph sounds like a girl. He gushes like a schoolgirl when he talks to Kuip.
ReplyDeleteAgree with your Ray Woodson comments--surprised when I mistakenly hit KNBR and he was on. The usual morning rotation is John Feinstein until commercial or he keeps talking about golf, then the Rise Guys until they get to goofy and then back to Feinstein..... Woodson took the placed of the Rise Guys this AM.
ReplyDeleteWormy guy, sounds like Mr. Rogers. Like the rest of the knbr guys, tries way too hard to be funny
ReplyDeleteObvious to everybody Ray's a good guy. And he knows sports. But you hit the nail on the head, Ray's forced jokes or worse,his two beats late witty comebacks. He's got to really cut the dead air time on that.
DeleteIt helps though when you are a likeable sports host and your show sidekicks help you out with a laugh--or better --punchline.
The only time I really was opposite a Ray opinion was when he was with the "Bad Influence Man" (guess who) And they agreed that Lew Wollf and the A's had a right to remove protest signs fans put up at A's games.
DeleteSince taxpayers own the Coliseum, I think your normal bed sheet as a protest is a right.
Ray is all those good things, but the problem is he doesn't tell you anything you didn't know.
ReplyDeleteWord--nice guy, no edge, uninteresting, nothing new, zzzzzzzzzzzz
DeleteYes agree with your post RL. Ray Woodson is a breath of fresh air.
ReplyDeleteNever gives you BS and is respectful of the callers.
Ray is in the same group as Krueger and Bruce. Knowledgeable but with an opinion.
KNBR needs more of these on-air hosts.