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| Tom Tolbert (l) Larry Krueger (center) and Rod Brooks |
The all-sports AM bleeder; which made a great fanfare of re-tooling its weekday and evening line-up has created carnage on the air with out-of-place hosts, insincere yelling and pontificating by guys who wouldn't know an original thought if their life depended on it.
YOU CAN'T MANUFACTURE CHEMISTRY. Chemistry is something that happens over time and when it doesn't work and it sounds artificially created than you lose your few listeners and lose any sense of cohesion. There is ZERO cohesion at Thee Sports Bleeder; morning, midday, afternoon and evening.
The "Morning Show" has been a certified joke since its inception and only gets worse and worse but is allowed to remain on the air because, for a morning-drive radio show, it has modest ratings and serves as an appropriate PR vehicle for KNBR's breadwinner, the SF Giants, who have found a sudden nirvana and made it possible for its booster club to continue to buy panda hats and Paulie Mac, the insufferable mutt less Murph' to continue his materbatory, canned sound effects and voice disease.
At 10 AM begins another audio train wreck, which I've already alluded to as verbal vomit although it's less gruesome than its 6-10 garbage dump; occasional conversation, albeit uninformed and mostly consisting of banal, toilet humor and Greg Papa's arrogance and sudden, fake inspiration as a 49ers PBP broadcaster is much more tolerable than Murph and Mac's outright slaughter on the human senses even though the bulk of those senses are from horny truck drivers from Lodi who think Paulie Mac is a hoot. The same trash that prefer Wheel of Fortune over Jeopardy and put ketchup on a hotdog.
KNBR and its increasingly doofus PD, Jerimiah Crowe, really reinvents the sinking of The Titanic in the afternoon from 2- 6 PM when the chaos called "TKB" --Tolbert (Tom) Krueger (Larry) and Brooks (Rod) take to the air. It's not even a well-thought-out disaster with forced humor. That's its only redeeming value. There's much more mayhem to talk about here and mayhem litters the airwaves.
Tolbert sounds lost and doesn't know what/when to say anything at all about sports, beer, pop-tarts, the Giants, whatever. He's kidnapped by two unhelpful louts; also out of place; out of time and sync. Because they say little of value and pounce on their almost every word, there's ZERO cohesion and lots of unforced errors. Worse yet, not one guy aids or abets the other. And even more gruesome, the fake "takes" that are about as fresh as a twenty year-old can of tuna fish don't work and the listener knows it. You can't have THREE voices in a studio; I've dissected it; It's not good technical radio when it's perfect and it's downright unlistenable and uninteresting at its worst which is the case most of the time with this sinking ship.
Krueger is way out of place here and if Crowe's idea was to find a spot for the statistics guru it would have been far more effective had he put Krueger back on night following Giants' games and placed the annoying, but possibly palpable Mark Willard in the PM drive show. Of course that requires careful thought, something foreign at the Bleeder.
Then there's Rod Brooks, oh my god, yeah, one, Rod, Brooks. I have NO clue as to WHY there's a Rod Brooks in the first place other than, I guess, KNBR and its incoherent Cumulus mother, to satisfy FCC hiring and administrative requirements. Brooks has befuddled me for over ten years because I never seem to understand where he's going or whatever he's trying to say and it's an impossible journey. And by the way, it has nothing to do with Brooks hellish delivery; he
What is an issue is Brooks hideous cackle and fake laughter heard what seems like every second. It's as if Brooks is trying to compliment the other voices only he isn't; it's OK once and awhile but when you hear his cackle it reminds you of his former yahoo, the insufferable Rudy (now gone somewhere in time wearing a Notre Dame sweatshirt and practicing his Chase Center bits for next year.
Brooks doesn't help out Tolbert who really doesn't need any help but when he tries to pivot to Krueger and form some canned debate about the 2020 Warriors it doesn't work and it makes Tolbert aloof and sounds, once again, manufactured and contrived. There's no coordination and pace, like a really good pastrami on rye can be totally murdered if the mustard sucks --in the case of TKB, there's shitty mustard; there's no pastrami, more peanut butter and jelly sandwich and glass of milk.
THIS HAS NO CHANCE. It will eventually crash and burn. It doesn't work because there's no connection and drive. It was put together more on the idea of making space available for Krueger and Brooks. Tolbert is the big loser here having now lost two of his most ardent co-hosts, the retired/fired, Ralph Barbieri and the penis-joke, sophomoric sycophant known as John Lund but even the sordid Lund provided aide to Tolbert; now Tolbert has to coexist with these two miscreants?
Oh Nellie!
Oh, Rich Lieberman dislikes the new show on KNBR. How many weeks ago was this item written?
ReplyDeleteHow about wash, rinse, repeat? Like all of that station's programming?
DeleteYou said it yourself: Chemistry is something that happens over time.
ReplyDeleteLet's see what happens before we bury them.
Phew!!!! Well after all of that, there isn't much to add.
ReplyDeleteMaybe bots can do a better job than the three dickheads? Don't put it past the owners.
DeleteYou can say a lot of things about Papa & Lund, and I'm not a fan of the too-frequent sex/toilet humor. But uninformed? Hardly. Particularly Papa, who I agree can come across as arrogant, but to say he's uninformed is far off the mark.
ReplyDeleteI've seen you stoop pretty low in criticizing people, but alluding to Rod Brooks being on KNBR solely because of his race may be a new low. Fine, you don't like him. I'm not a big fan of his work either - pretty ambivalent. But to throw out there that he only has his job because of the color of his skin is just wrong.
As for TKB, if you go by these first couple of shows, I agree, it's pretty awkward and forced. When I heard this was coming, like most people, I thought, huh? Three people on a sports talk show is too much. It's almost impossible for them to feel that they can contribute without stepping all over each other. However, I do think it's unfair to judge a brand new show the first couple of days. They do need to build chemistry which may never happen but the only way it can is over time. Let's give them a few months to develop before throwing the show in the garbage.
You're kind of a pain in the ass, Pete, but I'll give you credit for at least IDing yourself and not posting anonymously.
DeleteAs for my remarks about Brooks, I only say what others won't say because they dare speak out for fear of being labeled racist. Brooks is a total embarrassment --he's not singled out by local media for yeah, his race. And media won't dare write critical b/c of that. I WILL.
By the way, those who know me and my past know I'm not racist, never have been, just dislike lousy hosts, sports, news, and otherwise.
If Brooks were White, I'd say the same thing.
If you don't like my opinion, Pete, fine we can agree to disagree, but stop your patronizing, insulting, critiques otherwise you're history here.
Um, first of all, who is Pete? If you think I'm someone named Pete, I'm sorry, you're wrong.
DeleteSure, you have a right to voice whatever opinion you'd like. I just happen to feel throwing his race out there without any proof of anything is wrong. Not sure I understand your comment that if Brooks were white, you'd say the same thing. You'd allude to him having his job because of his race if he were white?
While I don't agree with you mentioning race with respect to Rod Brooks having a job, I never said or meant to imply in any way that you were a racist. That is not a term to be thrown around loosely and I have no reason to believe you are.
I really don't understand the anger, Rich. How am I being patronizing or insulting? I'm just expressing an opinion, and I'm trying to express it respectfully. Maybe I don't always succeed in that, and if I've come across as patronizing or insulting, I apologize. That is not my intent.
Sorry Greg, didn't realize I called you "Pete."
DeleteSimple deal: you can agree or disagree with me. Please, DON'T LECTURE ME. Passionate debate is fine, in fact I thrive on it.
"Anger"? I never met anyone who gives a shit a person who doesn't have anger. I'm not angry more bored.
Take care.
No worries, Rich. In re-reading my original post, I can see how it might have come across as having a "lecturing" tone. That sincerely was not my intent and honestly, it's good feedback for me to improve my communication skills. Thanks and take care.
DeleteWe need more replies from Pete!!!! Keep up the good responses!!
DeleteChill, Rich.
DeleteDamn! That's a scathing article if I've ever read one.
ReplyDeleteOk. I actually agree. Very poor grouping here. Yes, Krueger is better alone at night. And Tolbert is the drive guy but needs a goober to set his pins.
I do like Rod Brooks. He has some good stuff to say and he can do a show alone much like Krueger.
I do think Krueger gets hosed here. He has to work with Radnich for 5 years and for what? This?
Krueger got robbed by Papa, no doubt!!
Nellie bailed. He's now in Hawaii, smoking and selling bales of weed.
ReplyDeleteLarry proved he could set up a big personality when he worked with Gary - he should be able to do the same with Tom. Rod is just getting in the way.
ReplyDeleteGood point at 3:04pm.
DeleteRod Brooks is "getting in the way" of the free flow of the program. It sounds disjointed.
As others have pointed out, Larry Krueger is adept at setting up the anchor host Tom Tolbert.
Turned on Papa today and liked the show.. A little later I gave Tolbert a try and everything was going well until Brooks chimed in. Five seconds later I was gone..
ReplyDeleteWhy does Tolbert get a pass on juvenile humour it seemed he enjoyed it with Lund or if not went along with his antics.
ReplyDeleteTolbert is overated and should have let go.
That morning show is a showcase of how not to communicate.
ReplyDeleteYou have 4 and sometimes 5 people trying to talk over each other at once. When it is just Murph and Mac, ok. Why did they add the chick? Bonnie-Jill adds NOTHING and is a terrible reader. Ok - she was a Lakers Insider - but this is Warriors Territory. She needs to go. "Copes" is overly opinionated and seems to think he knows it all. He must have pics of someone, somewhere.... Blow it up - or go to a national feed.
DeleteRich: Thank you for suffering so the rest of us won't suffer. Smart move by the Warriors to leave the bleeder years ago. I can see the real Steve Kerr - not the one who pops up on your page using his name - not wanting to see his former Arizona teammate become a shell of his radio self. Can't blame him or the W's for wanting to avoid this Tolbert Train Wreck of a station. And Tom T is just a symptom under the current doofus PD! Should be interesting to see how the other two SF teams will coexist between August & September, and possibly October if the G-Men stun all of baseball and grab a Wild Card spot. Will the Niners still handle being second banana behind the Giants? Stay tuned (or not).
ReplyDeleteI moved from KNBR to KSFO to listen to Dr. Savage.
ReplyDeleteLove that Savage added a second hour. Interesting interviews.
DeleteWe agree with Rich, you can't have three voices in one studio.
ReplyDeleteThree voices confuses the message and focus of the program.
You have too many guys trying to come up each other with stupid one liners that fall flat on their faces.
Rod Brooks was good when he hosted KNBR 1050 by himself, but when he is paired with another host he tries too hard to be Mr Funnyman.
Keep Tolbert and Krueger and exit the cool cat.
Rod Brooks has zero talent and has zero excitement for his job, Mr. Monotone, Tolbert knows sports, but is such a blow hole, and is juvenile, and just goes on and on and on. Krueger knows sports, but since I have stop listening to them years ago, I can't add anymore to it. How about those Giants !!
ReplyDeleteHey Rich,
ReplyDeleteIt looks like the Warriors are letting go of the wrong person. They want to replace Jim Barnett, instead of pompous ass, that is sad. Hope they replace Fitz with Ted Robinson.
agree with most of what rich says, the fm sports talk station also is trying three man shows, and they are both awful..you can always tell when they are trying to kill time till they get to a break when nobody is calling in, the topics always revolve around the same we've run it into the ground subjects as before
ReplyDeleteRich's comments about RB is not crazy.If anyone has lived a little they have seen minorities become untouchable in a workplace environment. It happens. Kate scott leaves, and all of a sudden the morning show gets a token woman for the station to come on board. It seems knbr is a little light on the women and minority hires for on air personalities. Even with the relatively new 5 am show that replaced PCON....RB is their main up front minority on display for those who keep track and want to make an issue of this type of thing. If RB is ever fired they better have a minority person ready to take over his spot....because thats the world we live in.
ReplyDeleteThats why kruger should realize that he is more expendable of the 3.
I also agree that there is no cohesion. 3 way drive time doesnt work. And if Tolbert is supposedly a pillar of the station...then by adding an extra person you are diluting Tolbert. He has less time on air. Is that what you do with a popular radio personality? Water down his ion air time???
ReplyDeleteKruger went from his schtick with gary where he would just dissagree with whatever gary said......to kissing toms ass and trying to fit in by trying to sound knowledgeable about AC/DC and metalica. It sounds so phony . Today with RB away, Kruger spent 30 min on teabagging. God help us
Absolutely, 7:54.
ReplyDeleteKNBR should have given Tolbert -- at this point the "face/voice" of their station -- the choice on who he works with, if anyone.
There's no way he would have suggested a 3-way with Mr. Boring and Mr. Thinks-He's-On-A-Late-Night-Cool-Jazz-Station.
am I Imagining....or has the station across the board reduced taking calls by at least 50 percent. As if there is a directive. Alot of talk between hosts. And when there are 3 in the morning and drive time....there is less time for callers.
ReplyDeleteLund is long winded and repeats himself over and over so he take sup air time.
But for me, the right mix of callers is important to keep me from falling asleep.
After all the guests are all recycled from show to show during the week. Once you heard the guest on one show you hear him on the other shows.
Totally agree. Shows are better when they take listener calls. Marc Willard only one who takes many calls & fill in host for his show. I've written to Knbr, no response.
DeleteKGO cannot be taken seriously as long as those two cowboy-booted yahoos from Sacramento hold down the morning slot. Apologies in advance to anyone offended by this.
ReplyDeleteThe people who say that Larry was adept at setting gary up are off base. Larry wanted to show to be about breaking down the numbers and he constantly tried to steer gary away from all the other stuff. He doesnt realize that talk shows that only break down the games are a dime a dozen. They are everywhere and Larry is just another numbers guy...nothing special. If it wasnt for gary wrestling away the boring breakdowns away from larry....the ratings would plummet.
ReplyDeleteKruger is only good for doing a show that breaks down the games. Thats all he did when gary would be on vacation and hes a one note radio personality. He is good for the people who have no lives and live and die with a team.For the people who sit in a room and wring their hands and rock back and forth when their team doesnt make the playoffs. He didnt set gary up....in reality he tried to aim the show in the direction he felt it needed to go. So you ended up with a mix of sports and non sports......and that was the reason for success. Each person going in their own direction...and it balanced out.
Knbr morning show is pathetic. murph, mac, etc. talking over each other. How many "dude" sayings in 4 hr. show? I like Adam Copeland but not on this show. Papa & Lund- rarely ever, some days, no listener calls. TKB, again, too many hosts not enough listener calls. I like Marc Willard, good personality & takes many calls. I mostly listen to 95.7 the Game now. Even with 3 hosts on some shows they at least take some listener calls.
ReplyDeleteRich,
ReplyDeleteYou seem to think the entire current KNBR line-up is a disaster. I’m especially surprised by your criticism of the morning show which is a huge ratings hit. If you’re the KNBR Program Director, who do you realistically replace Murph and Mac with? Who would meet your high standards of a great morning sports radio show in the SF market and draw as big or even bigger ratings than Murph & Mac?
It's 2 years later and still spot on. Brooks ruin(ed)s the show. He was a tough listen at the noon hour, but especially toxic in the afternoon. With Giants in the playoffs and new 49er QB getting playing time, I've been listening lately. But, that will soon end (again).
ReplyDeleteYou're a idiot, Ron
ReplyDeleteGo back to the 30's
Rich was right...a ratings nightmare..and rod and Larry are gone. Maybe a suggestion would be to talk to the unpredictable fans rather thanalways the predictable same guests each week
ReplyDelete