KTAR Programmer's Posts

The View: What's Wrong with America

If you want to see what's wrong with America today watch The View.

"The Clip" has taken over YouTube.  Yes, in these United States today you can learn more about what's wrong with our country on YouTube than you can in watching the nightly news.

If you haven't seen it, I've got it for you below.  Let me just say this first.  This country should be furious at the media.  I am.  You see, the media is taking this country for a ride and most people aren't even aware of it.  The problem is the media loves the fact this country is divided.  They are giddy that people disagree and that we don't seem to be making progress towards solutions.

I believe the overwhelming majority of people in this country are mad beyond words about the lack of progress towards solutions in Iraq, immigration, health care, and the tensions between Islam and the West.  We don't care who solves the problems.  We think the democrats have some good ideas.  And, we think the Republicans have some.  If we had our way we'd vote a little for Obama, Edwards, McCain, Rudy, Romney, and maybe even Hillary.  They all have something (with some its smaller than others) that we like.

The problem is no one will talk to each other.  The problem is everyone makes everyone else out to be the devil.  Bush should be impeached.  Pelosi should be deported.  That's all we hear in the media.  The more extreme you are, the more the media loves you. 

The media doesn't care about solutions.  They care about yelling.  I deal with this crap everyday in my business.  You see, in talk radio, you're told you can't succeed on-air if you don't yell and scream.  It's not about making a difference in the world.  Screw that.  The goal is to fire up the extremists.  You know what I'm talking about.  Listen to your radio.  Most stations that do "talk" wouldn't know how to hold a conversation if you forced them to.  They only give voice to people who think everyone who disagrees with them is evil. 

I'm sick of it.  I'm sick of talk show hosts who don't give a freakin' pile of crap about solving immigration.  They act on the radio like they care.  How stupid do they think we are?  All they care about is getting people riled up about immigration.  It gets ratings.  And the sad part?  They've had an impact.  They've trained millions of people across this country to hate compromise.  They've created a culture where it's completely black and white.  It's us versus them.  Red versus blue. 

I don't know when the silent majority will speak up, but I am growing tired of waiting.  Yes, we should all disagree.  Yes, we should all be vocal.  And, yes, we should seek the middle ground.  Do you have any doubt we could find solutions to Iraq if people from the left and the right sat down and truly sought solutions?  What about immigration?  Health care?  Etc.

Instead, the media fans the flames of confrontation and division.  And, then they turn around and in their newscasts report on how shocking it is that the country is becoming more divided.  It makes me sick.

That's why everything that is wrong with America is fully contained in the clip from The View below.  We don't know how to sit down and TALK anymore.  We only know how to yell.

And, the media couldn't be happier.  Clips like this one are what producers and TV executives LIVE for.

Update on Sports on KTAR-FM

This is a follow up to my post a few months ago about game broadcasts on News 92.3 KTAR-FM.  Some of you loved hearing the Dbacks and Suns on 92.3 FM in the last two months and some of you hated it.  As I explained before, when both teams played at the same time one of the broadcasts went to 92.3 FM. 

The update is that with the Suns season now over, there will be no game broadcasts on KTAR-FM for quite some time.  All the Dbacks games return now to Sports 620 KTAR.

In order to make sure you know what to expect, the next time a game broadcast will be on KTAR-FM is in the late Summer when the Cardinals season starts.  Those games are, of course, almost all on Sundays.  So, in the late summer and Fall the Cardinals will be heard on KTAR-AM and KTAR-FM on Sundays.  With the exception of the one Monday night game the Cards play this year, there will be no game broadcasts that will interrupt weekday programming on KTAR-FM.

So, for now, the Dbacks return to 620 AM and the news, traffic, weather, and talk you want to hear on 92.3 FM goes uninterrupted. 

I wanted to keep you in the loop.

A Disappointed Spurs Fan

Forgive me for the lack of posts in recent days.  Travel, and life have gotten in the way.

But, now that I'm back on track I have to say something about the recently concluded Suns-Spurs series.  I know, I'm late to the party.  But I have to say something because I have just ended what was for me, the most tormenting NBA playoff series of my life.  You see, I am a native Texan who was born in San Antonio. 

The Spurs have always been my team.  I have actually flown a Spurs flag in my yard during a playoff series years ago.  I've traveled to distant cities and payed huge amounts of money to watch huge playoff games.  I've admired Pop, The Admiral, and Duncan for years.  I've been to games in the Hemisphere Arena and later the Alamodome.  I am a Spurs fan.

Well, I think I am. 

When employment took me here to Phoenix a year ago I began attending Suns games.  I wasn't a Suns fan.  Well, not until about three minutes after I arrived at my first game.  How do you not cheer for this team?  Their arena is one of the best.  Their organization creates one of the most entertaining atmospheres in sports.  And then, there's the team. 

No one is more exciting to watch.  No team is easier to cheer for. 

And so, over the last year I became a Suns fan.  While staying true to my Spurs, as well.

Then, came the series that just wrapped up.  I heard the claims that the Spurs were the biggest babies and actually laughed.  I wondered if people around here actually watched the same team I had cheered for for years.  Ya, they complained about calls.  But, their style of play was anything but in its infancy.

It took only a few games and everyone around here changed their minds.  No, the Spurs weren't babies.  They were thugs.  Well, maybe not thugs but bullies.  Clean cut bullies. 

At first I balked at the Suns' fans whining.  I couldn't believe how the team I had cheered for here in the valley had suddenly become the babies they made the Spurs out to be.  I couldn't believe how much the fans turned into complainers.  If there were ever victims it was this team and those who cheered them on.  Sorry, but to play in the NBA playoffs you have to bring it.  You have to be tough.  You can't play that cute, fast-paced, fun regular season crap.  The playoffs are about survival.  Win, or go home.  Right? 

It took the Suns a few games, but they finally caught on.  And then, my Spurs fell apart.  Big Shot truly did turn into Cheap Shot.  Pop fizzled.  And, the Coyote turned into a Jackass. 

Part of the reason I've cheered for San Antonio (despite the Hill Country blood that flows in my veins) is the character of the team.  Robinson proved nice guys could finish first.  Duncan proved finesse could beat out vanity.  Avery showed that heart was more important than height.  The Spurs didn't only have rings.  They had class. 

That's why I cheered.

And now?  Now, the fans at the fairgrounds have changed.  A fan base created by an Admiral now gives standing ovations to a poor sport.  I understand the emotions of the playoffs can get the best of anyone.  But, tonight I am one fan whose not satisfied.  Not impressed.  In fact, disappointed. 

Disappointed that a team built on class showed none in their series with the Suns.  When it mattered most, no one on the Spurs roster or payroll stepped up and agreed the Suns got the unfair side of the suspensions.  Duncan, Parker, & Manu looked anything but like three big men when they benefited from a cheap shot by a teammate.  Should they have contested the suspension?  Of course not.  But they should have echoed the thoughts of the entire NBA crowd outside Bexar County and stated that what Horry did was wrong and that they wanted this series to be about basketball not suspensions.

Instead, Popovich told a reporter he thought Bob did nothing wrong and that Nash might be behind Gore in line for an Oscar. 

And so now, this Spurs fan, is witness to a change. 

Success seems to have clouded class. 

Victory has fueled vanity. 

And unfortunately, when the boats carry yet another trophy along the water in the River City in a few weeks no one in San Antonio will care about any of this.  Maybe even this fan.

Today, more than ever, winning is everything.

Unfortunately.

A Target on Our Backs

I just got home from tonight's Suns v Spurs game two.  The Suns are now back in what I think will be a long series.  I love the NBA playoffs.  This league puts on my favorite postseason in professional sports.  One of the perks of my job is the opportunity to attend playoff games.

Something happened tonight that got me thinking.  Actually, it started in the last playoff series with the Lakers.  If you pay attention at all to the NBA you know what happens when a player like Kobe Bryant has possession of the ball in a vistor's arena.  The hostile crowd turns vicious.  It happened again tonight, not nearly as bad though, when Tim Duncan touched the ball.

The crowd roars boo.  The opposing team's fans, in this case Suns' fans, taunt and yell at the biggest stars on the floor.  In reality, everyone in the arena wishes they could play as dominant a game as Kobe, or be as masterful as Duncan.  Their jeers are in some twisted way a signal of respect for the superstars.

Tonight, and no I was not drinking, I got thinking about how few people there are who could actually handle the target that's placed on the back of great performers.  It's so easy to be mediocre.  To be exceptional takes intestinal fortitude.  Most people think it would be so easy to be Kobe, Duncan, or Nash.  We might think, if we had their skills, their bodies, their God-given talent, life would be a cake walk.  In reality, the opposite is true. 

So few of us could handle the assault the best players in sports face constantly.  No one wants to be the bench player or the guy cut from the team, but aren't their lives so much easier?  They don't get the praise.  But they also escape the target that champions have on their backs.

In my opinion, this situation is not unique to the NBA court or even sports in general.  Think of Microsoft.  Wal-mart.  Google.  The United States.

When was the last time you heard someone blaming Canada for the world's problems?

The U.S. is targeted verbally, and physically, because it is the most powerful and greatest nation on the earth.

And so it is in all of our industries.  The most powerful and greatest are also the biggest targets.  No one pays attention to the mediocre.  True champions become such by fighting and grinding their way to the top.  And, the truly special among us reveal themselves when they are able to somehow withstand the onslaught from wanna-bes and defend their crown.  It's why the repeat champion is so highly revered, and rare, in sports.

Radio is no different than the highly competitive and cut-throat industry you work in.  And, quite frankly, the situation I write about tonight is exactly why I so thoroughly enjoy working with the group employed at KTAR. 

They know nothing of the ease of mediocrity and everything about the targets printed and placed by wanna-bes.