Mile High Sports Shakes Up Denver Sports Radio...

On September 30th, Denver sports radio listeners are going to have to check their dial, their watch and adjust to the shake-up that has come to their radio dial.  Mile High Sports is throwing out their old script and going with a completely new line-up.  The line-up is as follows:

7-9 a.m: The Press Box with Peter Burns, Mark Kiszla and Oren Lomena
9-11 a.m.: The Reed Marks Show with Zach Fogg
11-noon: Whiteley on Sports with Gil Whiteley
Noon-2 p.m.: The Irv and Joe Show
2-4 p.m.: Danny Williams and Cello Romano
4-6 p.m.: Drive Time with Eric Goodman, Mike Pritchard and Lance Britton
6-7 p.m.: The ReKnowItAll with Renoud Notaro
7-10 p.m.: The Brandon Spano
10-midnight: Denver Sports Nation with Adam Kinney, Dario Correa and Josh Dover

Mile High Sports has always bucked the traditional 3 hour time slots (6-9 am, 9-noon, noon-3 p.m. & 3-6 p.m) that so many other show have gone with in Denver sports radio past.  They have done this for awhile and the overlap with other programs allows listeners to pick and choose their flavor of the day.  With all this change at Mile High, let's breakdown what this changes means to the scope of Denver sports radio and evaluate your choices.  I am forgoing any national shows because ESPN and 1600s line-ups are full of guys I can get turning on the TV or using my ESPN Radio app.  Oh and I can get them live instead of the tape delay we get delivered.  Still, I mostly stay local so here is your breakdown:

Starting at 6 a.m. you have one local choice in the morning.  The choice is Nate Lundy and Mike Evans starting The Fan Morning Show on 104.3.  Vic Lombardi needs an hour more of beauty rest until 7 a.m.  The sad part about this show is it's only talent in Vic Lombardi is being suffocated by the wind being blown by the unimaginative  Evans and should-be in the bosses chair instead of the radio chair, Lundy.  Vic is this shows only talent. and when he gets rolling, I find it tough to not stay tuned.  This show is complete garbage from 6-7 a.m. and when Vic isn't in studio to challenge Lundy & Evans and is instead at home or on the golf course calling in for the show.

What is missing at 6 a.m. is competition for The Fan.  Mile High Sports lost a very morning friendly show when Morning Edge co-hosted between Andrew Fogoros and ex-Buff and NFL player Matt McChesney.  These two are lifetime friends and are entertaining for both their sports takes and humor.  Their audience was the angry, tired crowd from 6-7 a.m. and you could tell Matt with two young kids was angry and tired.  These two have been revived with their new show, The Blitz, moving to 1580 ESPN Colorado Springs-Pueblo on September 23rd from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.  These two needed an extra hour daily and some of the best shows I heard from them was when their ads couldn't play so they talked for an hour straight and when they got an extra or Matt filled in on The Press Box.  They needed more time and finally have it. I am excited for this opportunity for these guys and the southern big cities of Denver have got a treat adding these two.

Ah, The Press Box with Peter Burns.  This 7-9 a.m. time slot should honestly become 6-9 a.m. to really push 104.3 The Fan into a full tit for tat program.  The show spends half its time trying to get Mark Kiszla to get his point through.  He uses the phrase "But, but, but, but, but..." to start a really big topic at least 3x a show.  I actually enjoy this show more when Kiszla is calling in due to being out of town to cover a local team or go to the Olympics.  Peter Burns is kind of a big deal and is a young modern metrosexual Ron Burgundy.  Burns is the pivot point to this show and is really a very entertaining guy but Smug Ass Peter Burns shines through at times though his make-up covers up nicely.  Oren Lomena has added a solid element to this show that was much needed when Kiz and Burns seemed to spin their wheels for an entire week.  The problem with this show is it has added another strong voice in Brandon Krisztal and 3s Company but four is a crowd!

At 9 a.m. Denver sports radio changed to a completely different scope.  You have the more "cerebral" choice in Sandy Clough's "Clough Talk" on 104.3 The Fan or on Mile High Sports 93.7 FM/1510 AM the entertaining, fan friendly show in Morning Mayhem with Williams & Romano... oh wait that show got moved and we'll get into that later.  Morning Mayhem has been replaced by Reed Marks from 9-11 a.m.  Replaced is a bad word, how about brought in to try to fill the shoes of a great show.  Reed Marks was a great late night local guy that talked about things I enjoyed, University of Colorado athletics and the scope of Colorado sports, and he had an amazing repertoire with his producer Zach "Honey Bear" Fogg.  I have to admit, I hated Fogg's move to mornings.  He seemed completely angry and uninterested in working with the shows in the morning.  He was a great producer for ReKnowItAll, Spano and Reed Marks and teaming him up with his old friend is a great move.  I am excited to see how this show will do though it comes at the expense of a show that held me over until 11 a.m.

Sandy Clough has been a staple of the Denver sports market for many years and I have listened to him since 1999 when he was teamed up with Mike Evans on The Fan.  Sandy is a very intelligent guy that works well with others and is great to listen to.  The problem is The Fan is taking a great "top" in Clough and he is flying solo instead of working with a "bottom" daily (it's a BDSM term, Google it).  Clough on the weekends with Terry Frei is great listening and unfortunately that shows format isn't what you get daily.  Instead we get the real Know-It-All in Denver sports where we get about 15% of Clough's show filled with dead air while he gathers his thought while discussing a topic and 35% filled with him reading "texters".  Sandy doesn't take callers regularly it seems and when he does it's the caller making a point and Sandy discrediting the "idiot" caller.  I have listened to Sandy make a point for an hour and then a caller continues on and says the same thing and Clough chews them apart.  It has drove me away completely and every time I give it a chance I get disappointed.  Sandy is a great sports mind and can have some great takes but I need that most of the time, not 25% of the time like Sandy brings from 9 a.m. to noon.

The geriatrics continue their run on Mile High Sports but thank goodness it is from 11-2 p.m. instead of 11-3 p.m.  Irv and Joe take an hour away from Gil Whitely with the shake-up.  I actually enjoy Gil's movie information and local eatery knowledge, but I honestly can't listen to him for more than 10 minutes.  Nice guy, but past his time many years ago.  Irv Brown and Joe Williams have been on in Denver since before I was born in the early 80s and together for most of my years.  They were great... until about 10 years ago.  I quit listening to Irv and Joe in 2003 because I had graduated both from Mines and from the tired schtick their show had become.  It's tough to say goodbye to a legend but these three are past their time and I'll get to why they are still on at the end of this piece.

From noon to 6 p.m. the choices are a whirlwind.  ESPN finally becomes local after "Lou from Littleton" sold out from an all local angle to taking the money of the national shows.  Lou seems to have mixed things up correctly for the 6 hours he goes local.  Les & CJ are on 102.3 ESPN noon to 3 p.m.  Les Shapiro is another "Look at me, I've been in Denver sports for so many years, I know everything types".  CJ actually fits well with Les.  He seems to be more on focus than he was with Nate Kreckman on the drive home and seems to keep Les a little grounded.  Good pair, but doesn't hold my attention. 

Against them from 12-3 p.m. is Drew and Scott with Scott Hastings and Drew Goodman.  Both have had a hand in Denver sports since I was a kid.  Such as Drew calling Nuggets game on Prime Sports Network that Hastings played in.  The problem with this show is Goodman has spent so many years toeing the company line that he can't say anything degrading of the local sports teams, especially the biggest problem of all being the Rockies.  These two are constantly on the road between Drew and Scott's television schedules with the Rockies and Nuggets respectively.  I have to say that when they are interviewing someone, I can't turn off the dial but otherwise the show doesn't have the strength it could.  Again, Hasting with Big Al makes more sense.  Two strong, testosterone filled formal professional players were radio gold a number of years ago.  The Fan continues to make the mistake of not teaming these two up.

And now for us "less cerebral listeners" as Colin Daniels blog about the shake-up in Radio Row: MHS Changes calls fans of the show Danny Williams and Cello Romano put on.  It has changed to be 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.  Well even though my intelligence may be questioned, I know what this move is, it's a direct "SCREW YOU" to Matt McChesney and Andrew Fogoros new show The Blitz on 1580 ESPN that is not coincidentally on at the same exact time.   Mile High Sports knows that a large group of the listeners that enjoy Williams and Romano enjoy a similarly entertaining show in McChesney/Fogoros.  The listeners of both programs are torn.

What Colin Daniels and the more cerebral listeners of Sandy Clough fail to realize is listeners have thousands of avenues to get knowledge about sports locally and nationally through multiple media outlets' sports articles, podcasts and other avenues that they don't want one guy talking about one or two topics for hours on end.  They want to hear other fans opinions, they want entertaining stories about guys similar to them and they want a fans perspective, not some know-it-all that really is just someone who is a robot trained not to cheer for the local team such as Sandy Clough, Eric Goodman, Les Shapiro and Mark Kiszla.  The four most anti-Denver "experts" that have a history of knowing Denver sports but missing out on the big picture, THE FANS/fan-dom they are talking to/about!

I am pretty disappointed with this change from Mile High Sports.  I believe Danny and Cello could hold their own in any time slot and will be a great transition to the afternoon drive but honestly they have been better than the Drive Time that Mile High Sports has put out there and still are better than the new show if you had flip flopped them but kept Pritchard with them for 4-6 and let Britton and Goodman make great radio 2-4 for that transition.  I don't know how I'll do it yet but I will be supporting both The Blitz and whatever Danny and Cello call their new show, I vote my more cerebral Afternoon Asylum, from 2-4 p.m.

From 3 to 6 p.m. (see the 3 hour time slot can't be changed, it's a staple in sports) you have The Drive with Big Al and D-Mac on 104.3 The Fan and The Locker Room with Nate Kreckman, Tom Nalen and Gary Miller on 102.3 and coming in an hour late with Drive Time on Mile High Sports on 93.7 FM/1510 AM.  Big Al and D-Mac are awful.  You want to talk about a lack of intelligence?  Their listeners and these two morons are unbearable.  Big Al spits out facts that are completely wrong and D-Mac is yuck-yuck-yucking his way with him.  As Mike Gundy would say, It's Garbage!

The Locker Room is actually the best show in Denver at this time and pushing Morning Mayhem/Williams & Romano.  Gary Miller is a very intelligent, and not a boisterous, long-time staple of Denver's sports scene.  He had been overshadowed by Vic Lombardi's shine on Channel 4 and when they hosted the best sports radio show (though Jim Armstrong and Tim Neverett were pretty amazing together) in Denver from Vic's basement for years and seems to be a perfect fit between Kreckman (is it a surprise Kreckman gave Danny Williams his first shot?  They both are funny, entertaining sports guys) and Nalen.  Nalen has a great football knowledge and I have enjoyed him during football season.  He is getting comfortable with this group.  For whatever reason this group talks about urine quite often.  I like gross humor so I can appreciate it.

I am looking forward to Afternoon Drive with the shake-up.  Mark McIntosh seems to get distracted by whatever other info he was trying to gather.  He just didn't have the right fit with Eric Goodman.  Eric is good.  He is intelligent but at times I can't decipher if Sandy has taken over his soul.  Mike Pritchard is a great former football player to add which seems to be the format for the drive home.  Grab an old vet that contribute to the show.  The real player in this game is Lance Britton.  Lance fills in for other shows from time to time and I love listening to the guy.  He is very knowledgable of the local sports and a human encyclopedia for the Broncos.  He is also amongst the best looking and dressed in Denver sports radio.  I am glad to see him finally be a full-time guy with his name attached to a show.

This is where the local angle ends on ESPN and The Fan.  I don't do the runs, oh did I see runs, I mean re-run of the worse show in Denver that truly has the least astute, insightful, perceptive, clever and intelligent listeners in the sports market by re-listening to the replay of those two least cerebral sports DJs in the Denver market.

This is where Mile High Sports continues with the local angle and Renaud Notaro has solid guest co-hosts including the guy that referred to me as unintelligent in Colin Daniels on Thursday evenings 6-7 p.m.  Renaud has been around for many years and has always broguht a solid angle.  His sister is the famed Tig.  Her humor is not for all but I DIG! and Renaud is pretty darn goood in my book as well.

From 7-10 p.m. you get He is I, I is him... Brandon Spano.  Spano makes a BIGGER deal of himself than anyone else can.  He is ummm, okay.  The good thing is he isn't a moron and has some solid regular interviews (Chris Harris Jr for one) and is in on the boxing scene which is good with the great locals like an old teammate of mine in World Champion Mike Alvarado.  If there is a game on and I am driving, I'll listen to that.  If there is just Spano, you could do a lot worse like national guys like Van Dyken and Dibble.  He is solid, just not a huge fan.

From 10-midnight, you will now been fully introduced to two of the hardest chargers in Denver Sports Radio, though Dario Correa is a pretty dang wingman to the mighty twosome of the hard working Adam Kinney and the smooth voiced young gun that is also a producer extraordinare in Josh Dover.  I have to be up by 6 a.m. but I will be listening to their podcast if they continue that tradition to hold me over when I can't stand the shows coming in and especially around lunch time.

Denver is blessed to have the opportunity to have MANY local choices in sports radio.  There is the ability to make 102.3 ESPN and 104.3 The Fan even better.  With 105.5 ESPN now broadcasting to Denver and up north, I don't understand why I have to listen to the same show on two stations.  The local ESPN affiliate should give Cecil Lammey a daily show like he had on the former Ticket.  He is a regular on ESPN and kills it in Riding Shotgunn and in his appearances.  He should talk fantasy and draft 365 days a year, well at least the weekdays that aren't holidays, to help with that itch that needs scratched daily.  Football is now around the year and this guy from 9-12 on 102.3 would be great and adding Jim Armstrong who also fills-in would help in the slower months where football isn't king.  Armstrong was amongst my favorite columnists and The Denver Post cut him loose even though it should have stuck behind him.  This is where 102.3 ESPN could steal or co-partner with their Colorado Springs brother and put McChesney and Fogoros on 6-9 a.m. on The Drive-In.  There is a lack of humor that has been missing 6-9 a.m. and these two were great 6-7.  Heck, even let them sleep in and give them 7-9 a.m.

James Gomez is a great producer and hosts a very solid show on the weekends.  Put him on 104.3 The Fan from 6-8 p.m. after the Afternoon Drive.  This is where my less cerebral listening may have got to me but give Ron Zappolo his own show and let him pick a solid young host from 3-6 p.m and get rid of the clowns from 3-6 p.m..  Zappolo is a legend in Denver.  I have always enjoyed him and he would kill it!!!

So my rant about Mile High Sports Shake-Up ends with this.  I believe this move is mainly financial driven.  I understand it.  Sponsorship dollars keep stations on-air and the hosts pay the station through these sponsorships.  The problem is they keep old guys around for their old listeners but mainly old sponsor dollars and it takes away from other shows hours and has forced better shows out.  McChesney and Fogoros could have been saved at Mile High Sports by putting them on 12-2 with Morning Mayhem adding the extra hour its listeners have been clamoring for.  I will still be listening to 93.7 FM/1510 AM more than any other station in Denver, but I don't see this crowded and clouded sports talk competition working out without more shake-ups happening in the near future.  Let's give it a couple months and I'll rank how I see both the shows in Denver and the individuals in Denver sports radio.  Happy Listening... even for the less cerebral listeners in Denver.