Supposedly, Comcast SportsNetBay Area's Dave Benz is a little annoyed that he's been 86ed from anchoring the 49ers pre and post-game shows.
Behind the rancor, according to an insider: Dave Feldman, the Bay Area native that was recently hired as a replacement for the departed Damon Andrews, happens to be a good buddy of Jim Harbaugh, (they've been friends since high school), and that Harbaugh nudged Comcast brass to get Feldman the gig.
Not so, according to Comcast President Ted Griggs They arefriends from Palo Alto HS, but absolutely never heard from Harbaugh about Feldman or anything else. I think Harbaugh focuses on coaching 110% of the time and would never waste a moment thinking about the media. We hired Dave because he was #1 Sportscaster in DC, he's really good, and really wanted to come home.
I believe Griggs. Moreover, while Benz is capable and more than adequate as an anchor, his style is not exactly move-the-needle material, (as Griggs likes to see), as to nix the more accomplished Feldman, who's resume has a Bay Area address. And yes, it doesn't hurt that the Niners' coach likes him and the Niners' broadcast hierarchy is happy with the hire. End of story.
*NBC Bay Area is cranking out all stops as host market for its network's Olympics coverage. KNTV hopes that the Olympics will be a springboard for its own news blocks. Raj Mathai will provide updates from London.
*KNBR's Damon Bruce, the best sports-talk talent in this town, is going syndicated. He'll start out with a few small stations in the state and hope to build an empire, a la, say, Jim Rome, in the near future. He'll go into specifics during Friday's show, (Noon- 3 PM 1050 AM)
*Quirky, smart, creative and interesting SF web blog: SFist, check it out and say hi to Brock Keeling, its most creative blogger.
*A star reporter at an unlikely station is being wooed by some outside forces, (read: cable), and that unlikely station that takes this person's work for granted better pony up or else it faces losing one of its more prized contributors.
*I've been fairly critical of 95.7 FM' because of its foot-stomping bravado in spite of poor ratings, but give credit when credit is due. The content has been lively of late, (please, however, do get rid of the contest clown on Sunday); it helps too that the A's are a story and Chris Townsend has tons of energy.
*Those of you who have noted that a few of the Knibbers have taken vacations, relax and rejoice. The world ain't gonna end and, for a change, we're all cleansed. Their vacation is yours.
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Raddy claims Andrews was let go because "He didn't suck up enough". Was he just guessing? Probably. And of course, the man who grovels at the feet of Bunghole,Salvatore and the Dickeys should know what sucking up does for you.
ReplyDeleteWow, that's great for Damon! That really shows you how good his show really is. He will be known a little more nationally now, at least outside of the Bay Area. Hopefully he stays in the Bay Area though. But yes, great news for Damon! I'm sure he will be thrilled. If this doesn't tell you that Damon needs to be back on 680, I don't know what does. But yes, I'm happy for him!
ReplyDeleteAs far as Dave Benz goes, that sucks for him. I was surprised they took him off the 49ers pre and postgame show for the new guy, Feldman. I wouldn't be surprised if Feldman's friendship with Harbaugh played a role. Feldman so far, hasn't been that bad on SportsNet Central, and maybe CSN Bay Area wanted a guy who could add more to the 49ers postgame shows.
No offense to Benz and Dwight Clark last year, but 49ers postgame on CSN Bay Area was kind of boring last year. I'm sorry. The 49ers winning record made it more worthwhile last year. When Gary, former mayor Willie Brown, and Eric Davis were doing 49er postgame on CSN Bay Area, that was more entertaining than Benz and Dwight Clark last year, despite the 49ers being a losing team at the time. They would all say something that made you laugh. I'm not a huge fan of Gary, but you put him on with Willie Brown, and it was entertaining.
With that being said, that sucks for Dave Benz. I wonder if that will affect his opinions on Harbaugh in general.... On the bright side, at least he will still be hosting SportsNet Central, Chronicle Live sometimes, and A's pre and postgame for some A's games. Hopefully he will still get to do those weekly 49ers Central shows on CSN Bay Area.
I was never a fan of the Raddy and Da Mayor post game show. It was hard to take the show seriously with those two on. They became the focus and not the game. Thank goodness ED was on as the only expert. Now, two years later, we see ED's star still rising. The other two? Not so much. :)
DeleteI agree Willie Brown & Raddy "were" entertaining during their post game wrap-ups for the 49ers...
DeleteBut don't think that "Da Mayor" is letting any moss grow under his feet! Willie Brown writes a column for the SF Chronicle for the Sunday newspaper, and is on KPIX Ch, 5 with Phil Matier wvery week also.
That guy who Raddy invited to rip him? Something must have spread as the show got TWO crank calls..one I missed-just saw and heard the shaking of heads and asking how he got through?..THEN another who greeted the three and "Hairy"?.."Harry?" Raddy asked "Yeah how's Kate's Bush?" was the crank callers punchline.
ReplyDeleteThe guy was on hold for 45 minutes to just say a naughty joke.
Dave Benz doesn't seem to realize,he's got a loose screw or two. No big deal overall but he was the guy who last October asked Papa and Kawakami if they were going to wear "Al costumes?". Al Davis had just died a couple of weeks earlier. No,they didn't laugh. And Benz asked if it was too soon?. Yes,it was Dave.
ReplyDeleteI think you just said the key phrase about 95.7's the game content, Rich. "The A's are Winning." Nothing more, Nothing less. I tuned in yesterday simply to hear A's talk because... You guessed it "They are finally relevant and interesting to the fringe fan in me". The problem in the past is that 95.7 has tried to be relevant in spite of the A's and never could garner enough momentum for fans to make the switch Now they are finally relevant BECAUSE of the A's. Same goes with KNBR. If the Giants were completely floundering right now, the problems with KNBR would be magnified.
ReplyDeleteEven though 95.7 has been the A's flagship station for over a year, they almost go out of their way to avoid talking about the team. With the A's hot streak the hosts are forced to talk about them now. But after a recent win I tuned in immediately after the game. There was 10 minutes of A's talk followed by "what's wrong with Timmy."
DeleteLooks at the numbers that Rich posted a while back when baseball started. KNBR gets a bump when the Giants start but The Game doesn't do a thing when the A's started. They have no choice but to embrace more Giants talk just to survive.
DeleteThey aren't FORCED to talk about them. They WANT to talk about them. But there wasn't much to talk about when the team wasn't playing good ball. The Giants dominate the market here while the A's have really fallen off over the recent years. It isn't some grand conspiracy. It's simple economics and survival.
Has Damon said anything? I've been listening since 1 and have not heard anything.
ReplyDeleteRich has insider info on 'the best sport talk talent in this town'.
DeleteHe mentioned it at the beginning of his show yesterday. He just said that his show will be on syndication, and it will be picked up in Modesto or something like that. He will still be on 1050 and everything, but he will just be syndicated.
DeleteFeldman might not have benefited from Harbaugh's help,but he sure as hell mentioned his famous school chum on his resume!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to Damon Bruce.
ReplyDeleteHowever I think his show and others like his excell preciesly because they are local.
When you go national you tend to lose the local end and simply become another Dan Patrick, Jim Rome or you name it show.
No sense of any connection just another invisible sports talk show.
Is Kim Coyle back with KPIX or just free lancing thought she was gone for good?
ReplyDelete95.7 still needs to have better coverage to be relevant in the bay area> Coverage is real bad here in San Jose
Yeah the "Guru" screams a WHOLE lot... I listened for the first time last Sunday after the A's game (never turned the radio off) and while different, wasn't that bad. Takes some getting used to.
ReplyDeleteDamon Bruce is a fat-ass, loud mouth windbag, who thinks he knows everything about bay area sports, and doesn't know squat!
ReplyDeleteTom Brooks...it fits juuuust right. Dreadlocks with a spank'in NEW Def Leopard sweatshirt. Fits perfect.
ReplyDeletedamon bruce is a talented guy for sports and better than most in the area. i'm just wondering if he hits the back of rich's throat.
ReplyDeleteI turned on KNTV's 6 PM news show on Friday. Of course it was all a promo for the Olympics, which I expected. But it was insulting and dishonest that they acted like the opening ceremonies hadn't occurred yet, when in fact it had occurred hours earlier.
ReplyDeleteI switched to KPIX at about 6:10 PM. I couldn't take KNTV anymore.
Dave Benz should stop complaining and be appreciative he's got a job. With broadcast management practically brain-dead these days, Benz is lucky he hasn't been replaced by some screaming, cynical young Jim Rhome-wanna be!
ReplyDelete