IMHO, a huge loss for The Zone and ATL talk radio. BA never took the obvious viewpoint, but offered a unique, refreshing take on the topic du jour. A devoted 790 listener, this move weakens The Zone as it faces an up-hill battle with 790 and satellite radio.

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Maybe they can fill his spot with some more ghetto talk, while trashing whitey and lots of interviews with the brothas!

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Let us hope that this creates a vacuum in the industry that will suck Kincaid from our city. Do you notice that he lisps more and more the drunker he is or the more excited he gets. What a Philly hack, let’s hope the writing is on the wall for his a## as well.

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take your so pain in the ARSe back to NY or Jersey and out of so called loserville – idiot!!

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Rush Limbaugh? Couldn’t this guy say Dan Patrick,or even
Don Imus. If he idolizes Klan-baugh,then imagine the conversations
a the production meetings. I prefered the weekend deal,I pickup the
Zone on the internet here in SC.

Maybe I should move back to Atl and apply for this gig.

BTW,met Steak at a Braves/Mets game,this SOB acted
like I wasn’t there. After an unprofessional tirade against
Jesse Jackson(not a fan of) some years ago,I lost interest
in Cellini. Chris Dimino was well thought of by me before
I left Atl. Mike Bell was a New York dickhead,I liked
AJ Cannon better.

Don Imus said it best, “Tube Steak” Shapiro.

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Pollock is simply for dumbass Jawja Buttsniffer fans. Use him as
such,he has no substance.

WZone-you’re right. If it makes your dumbass upset,then MO
GHETTO TRASHTALK,WITH MORE WHITE GIRLS WHO
ARE DOWN FOR ANYTHING.AND I MEAN ANYTHING.

If this were a sports talk 24/7 town,it would probably be
UGA all damn day.

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There’s definitely a disproportionate amount of 790 bashing vs. 680. I have a feeling 680 mgt encouraged its staff to post negatively about 790 and its talent. This is an unusual volume of posts for a relatively unknown mid-day sports talk host.

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Rude – never played sports in his life. A hippie doing morning drive sports talk? He would rather be ’shrooming at a Greatful Dead concert any other day of the week.

Leo – probably should be coaching somewhere and wishes he never left the good thing that he had going in ATL. I’m willing to bet he’s been black balled for bad mouthing the Orioles organization as much as he does. And who gives a crap about ND down here anyway?

Perry – no problems there, offers serious insight.
Kincade – good analysis, but often times has to keep repeating the same point when he’s solo.

Cellini and Bell – always cracking me up in the car.

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BA seemed like a good guy and he had some talent but needed time (and maybe a smaller market) to work on some things. Good luck to him as he, like a lot of us these days, takes a new career path.

Regarding 790’s mid-day replacement, how about pairing a Tech homer and a UGA homer? They could discuss other topics rationally, but when addressing anything Tech, UGA, SEC, or ACC related, they could become contentious, nasty, attacking a$$holes like many of us on the blogs. Would need equally talented debaters (and maybe a referee), but something like that in the mid-day could be interesting. Also, if they are holding auditions, I’d like to hear what Chadd Scott from 680 can do.

Regarding format, I think including some local flavor (restaurants, concerts, etc.) and personal life (“my wife’s such a ballbuster”, etc.) mixed in with competent sports talk can be entertaining. But, it’s a fine line and it’s a constant challenge for the hosts to remain interesting, crazy, or humorous in their personal lives. Take the AM show at 790: used to be great but there’s very little mayhem anymore. Cellini’s mesmerizing roid-rage rants about someone taking his lunch from the company fridge or similar nonsense was like walking up on a street fight. Now that he’s settled down he’s not half as enjoyable. Mike Bell, would recount some lecherous, “out all night and sleep in your clothes” shenanigans which was somehow appropriate when he was part of this crew, but now seems Johnny’s Hideaway-ish given his age and when juxtaposed against Saint Pollack. And even Steak’s side notes were listenable back when he seemed excited to let us know about a great new spot or an exclusive party from which most of us are excluded. But, lately there’s a sense of boredom and big shot entitlement that can come across. On the other hand, maybe there just isn’t that much new and interesting going on in Atlanta or sports in general at the moment.

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Just talk about Baby Sophie, cigars, gambling, and steak houses during the morning. Have the 2LiveRacists start earlier in the day, and then hire a few strippers to sit in with Bell in the afternoon and you’re all set Steakie. (Actually I try to hate Steak but I kind of like the guy!). Please tell Domino to get gone, he’s on my last nerve. If I hear him say, “By the way” ONE MORE TIME!!! grrrr…Oh yeah, Matt Edgar, how’s that “We don’t care if white people listen to us anymore during the afternoon” thing working out for you?

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I agree… fire my son.

What I learrrrrrrrrrrrrrrned from reading this blog is my bald headed, loud mouthed, know it all Jew son is truly hated in the ATL.

Steak sucks

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2,

U got played and served.

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Good riddance. He was a rude guy.

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Steak Shapiro has to go, cha cha! He is by far the worst on air personality in Atlanta. But of course he’s going nowhere since he’s management. B&W was too bland for me. You could always tell Brandon was too much of a Georgia fan and was sometimes too biased.

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Brandon followed his dream to become a talk show host. He was a wonderful teacher before that and he will be a wonderful teacher again. He is a wonderful man and is one of the few genuinely nice men left out there. Please stop bashing him.

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Ok we get it……you really like Brandon Leake. But if anyone is going to call themselves “Home Team”, they first need to learn actual big moments or actual events of years past for the home teams. He constantly butchered references to past performances, appearances, etc……. Good guy and had a knack for the radio business, but he can cut out the home team reference until he actually knows a thing or two about the home teams.

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Brandon always came of as a know-it-all and was often condescending

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Brandon took things to seriously. It wasn’t fun to listen to his show. He always talked over his partner. I hope he really wanted to leave. I don’t think so, no one WANTS to leave a radio gig.

Steak is just awful- Full of himself, not a great personality. Thinks he is funnier than he is.

Stews- Just appalling. Can’t believe they are still on the radio. Hate white people and think being ghetto is funny. Bad Bad Bad radio listen.

Dimino-Love him. His passion for baseball is reflected in his work. He is Always prepared and must die a slow death everyday he works with steak

“Hometeam” always classed up the joint. Disagree he butchered Atlanta history. Knew his stuff. He, Chernoff and Kang should have been kept by 790.

Pollack and Bell-Dumb listen. Guys have nothing in common. Gave it a try, then gave it up.

790 really has gone down the drain. Used to be a fun listen everyday, now…not so much.

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Good sports talk requires two things – neither one exist in Atlanta, unfortunately.

One, good hosts who have a distinct point of view and then are prepared with facts, etc. to back up the argument. They need the debate skills of a good lawyer with the creativity and style of a well versed sports fan.

Two, good callers. The reason that the sports stations here are filled with “blow hards” is because neither of them, especially in drive time, can get a decent call to save their life. I would say a good call comes in once a week, at best. Ever dial into drive time? You can get on the air in under 30 seconds…unless they have filled the 5 hours with “guests” and replays of “guests” in order to deal with the void of callers.

What makes sports talk anywhere that it thrives – NY, Philly, SF, Chicago, etc. – great is the depth of calls and the hosts who field them.

Here, we have neither….

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I enjoyed the show Brandon, you carried Wolverton whose voice is so high pitched. Wish you well in your new endeavors. I listen to 790 in your time slot. I can not listen to the time slot before you, that crew does not get it it aint NY, it’s Atlanta, all their inside jokes and coulda shouda wouldas drive me insane the despite the fact most of them have been here they still seem to love to inject the damn Yankee sense of humor that does not get it. Besides your now former or soon to be former competition in your time slot 680, has the herd, since I am not a sheep I do not herd well. Good Luck to ya buddy.
Some of the stations here just do not get it they shoved Steve McCoy out of the door, they brought in some crew of idiots which was supposed to be Mark Canov’s swansong and it was they rode that crew to the lower rankings, and sent the Steve and Vickie fans trying to find them on another station, or a station that they could identify with.
So when is some station going to wake up and start an FM sports talk station that can be heard past Peachtree Road and Lenox, it is so hard to get my Grundig receiver to work in my car to hear the weak signal broadcast by the sports AM stations.

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790 needs to get more hood with another version of the Stews.
steak is a ZERO! At least Brandon won’t have to work for free anymore. 790 cheap…680 killing them.

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I have to comment on this. I used to produce that show, was an intern there at the start and with the show for more than a year. Al could not have been more accurate, that if anyone in blb reads what he stated, I bet they will think it came from me or another former producer of the show. My guess is Al is either a former intern of the show, a friend of an intern, a former/current producer, or someone who works/worked there with knowledge. The only thing he’s wrong about is that I wish I got at least $50 a day from them. I can personally attest to the effort and work BA put into the show. I do agree with some of the statements about trying too hard and drowning out Woolvey in conversation. Though several comments are just down right mean spirited, but that’s the way of things. We enjoy blasting those who have it better than us who we think have no right to. BA & I often didn’t see eye to eye on ideas for how things should be done or things that they should be doing instead, but I know he always wanted what he thought was the best for the show. To all those saying, I can do as “good” as him, I dare you to put up and try it. Send a demo to Edgar or any other Pd and see what they tell you, if you hear back that is. Running point on a show, hell even being on-air talent, is something that is so easy to say I can do, but not as easy to actually do. Okay, now having said all that I will say, that was a show I honestly would not have listened to if I didn’t have to, (actually most zone shows have become that for me and now that I don’t have to I hardly ever listen to them). I agree about the uga stuff. It was a joke when I was producing the show, and with the producers who followed me when we talked, that at least once a week we would have to have a show devoted to Georgia football. It was an absolute must. Btw, having come from a family that was blue & orange (my dad, and two of my three aunts having gone to UF as well as Grandparents who lived in the heart of Gator country) and being a Tech guy, you can imagine how fun those shows were for me. I do think he was forced out, and I have no inside information confirming this but as someone commented earlier “you don’t leave a radio gig on your own” unless it’s to a better radio gig, and I do think he is taking the high road. To those that say he detested teaching, you must know a different BA, because the one I knew left a job he liked for a chance to pursue his dream job, something most of us would have done.

As for all the stew bashing saying they are racists? I can say they are not, though even I have to admit there are times it seems Doug hates white people, but I do agree there are times they play the race card when it really shouldn’t be played, but to me that makes them ones who cry wolf not racists. Jesse Jackson, now he’s a racist. To those who complain that they are not dogs or poodles and get all worked up about it, get over yourselves, seriously. As a white guy with a lot of 20 something friends both white and black, I can tell you, we don’t call each other dude or whatever thing you called each other, it’s “dawg” though I have never called a girl/woman poodle nor do I know anyone who does. Not going to get worked up about it though because it’s not any dumber than calling a girl chick. The show does cater to a different crowd, but that doesn’t mean it sucks (the Arsenio Hall intro is a bit much and dated IMO), and money making wise, it’s probably the only thing 790 has left. To those who commented that used to listen and don’t now (which I fall into), I agree with everything they said. The show started going down even before it went national, but it has really gone downhill after Shaggy was canned by sporting news (not 790 to those who blame them, as sporting news has complete creative control over the show when it started syndicating them and thus has control over who produces it, not 790). Also, off the air, Ryan is very well spoken, do you really think he talks like that all the time? There is a reason he’s starting an acting career. I will say though, that for the love of all that you hold dear, how Roger or whoever the exec prod is, can continue to allow Jazz on the air is beyond me. You want to talk about nails on a chalk board. Unfortunately for me the few times I’ve tuned in to listen to the Stews have been when she’s on, and the dial can’t change fast enough.

As for all the other 790 bashing, some are on point, some are not. And to clarify something I’ve seen numerous times on this thread and others, neither Chernoff nor Oliver was fired. Matt wanted more money and a morning drive spot (which he did do when he first got to 680) when his contract was coming up for renewal, and Kang was never under contract during the time he left (which for the life of me I don’t know how management would allow that) my understanding was he was getting paid per show, which is why he was able to be on-air pretty much the next day on the fan after leaving the zone. As for tizzle, they did do him wrong, but that’s how management there has been the past few years and honestly how this business goes, just something those working in it have to be used to. Yes, they are cheap (and I can rail on about that but won’t as it serves no real point other than making me sound like a bitter former employee which I’m not), and that cheapness, whether because of St. Louis or not is really coming home to roost. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my time and most of the people there, but I do not miss the cheapness of management one bit and am happy to have moved on to other things. I had to say a few things because BA was getting unjustly ripped on things he shouldn’t have been ripped on here and a bunch of the other misconceptions I’ve seen posted in the commentary on here and on other blogs.

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“I left 790 to go back to a profession with constant layoffs and furloughs”………….Bullshiaaat.

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nobody reads long posts.

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I suspect you aren’t bright enough to read long posts.

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