Post Game Call-In Shows
- Thread starter KevH
- Start date
I think so. WRSU is particularly disappointing. It seems like they have abandoned discussion altogether with sports. Seems like they are more interested in going right to some awful radio programming and niche interest music immediately after any games. Its so sad because WRSU used to be a vibrant station which produced many guys who went onto bigger things. Now its just totally irrelevant
Damn. I was afraid of that. Years of tradition... gone. Miss that Knightline theme song.
Back in the day, I had plenty of good times at The Kevin Bannon show @ The Hyatt. Was it Draft Picks?
John from South Brunswick, Skip "good to be with you" from Elizabeth and Mark from Branchburg , some of the all time great callers.
Thank you Hinson, I am Mark from Branchburg. Miss Skip.
Is Coach Pikiell doing a radio show this year? Been a long time since we had one.
Yup. Could always count on those guys for good calls.
I think I may just give WRSU a call. I'd like to know what led to Knightline's demise. As far as WCTC goes, I remember the number of post game calls began to go down dramatically. The host would be practically talking to himself. Neil Solandtz was one of my old favorites, but who was the last guy, Pavlichko?
John from South Brunswick drove me nuts. The world was going to end with him it seemed like. The best was the 2008 season when RU started off poorly and John thought the team had no chance and then we played well the rest of the season. Football i mean.
I used to enjoy post game call-in shows, highlighted by the prank calls (when the show aired live, no time delay).
Considering how popular sports talk radio is around the country and how playing music on the radio is dead, it seems ass backward that WRSU has eliminated something that could actually help someone prepare for a career.
Remember Mike from West Orange, who later (I believe ) became Mike front Las Vegas? He was another naysayer .
Miss it on the ride home from games especially. Always seemed to be some annoying naysayer after every game or somebody that wanted to call in and talk about Syracuse or something but still...
Also used to enjoy it when Donnell Lumpkin's mother and sometimes his father would call in. She was a regular. Wonder if Donnell knew she was calling in.
Also used to enjoy it when Donnell Lumpkin's mother and sometimes his father would call in. She was a regular. Wonder if Donnell knew she was calling in.
Too bad they don't have any post game call in shows . Maybe if the hoops team gets better wctc will bring it back. Lots of good people came from wrsu, with Erika herskowitz being the best of the bunch I believe.
Football USA on wctc is a good Saturday show.
Football USA on wctc is a good Saturday show.
Certainly the internet and later the social media push has worked to kill the call in shows. I mean it was declining in the 2000s but now totally dead. The futility of the programs didnt help but remember back in the hey day of the 90s, I would switch back and forth between Knightline and Knightcap. I was such a nerd in the early and mid 90s I would write down a summery of what people said on a pad, I think I still have few and Ill try to post them
Interesting point. Do you see the call in shows like on Wfan dying off? I think they are extremely popular with sports fans over 35 or so. I don't think so much with the younger guys .
I always figured John as one of the consistently negative posters on this board, but no one ever fessed up.
Don't forget Zubin Mehenti (ESPN), Rich Edson (Fox News), Rich DeMarco (Army football... got his call on national TV on Saturday) and Pav. WRSU has produced a number of quality broadcasters/reporters. They really need to bring back Knightline... it's great experience for the on air personalities to practice thinking on their feet; not to mention they would have the sole market for a call in show if WCTC doesn't bring back Knightcap.
gotta shout out to my friend and classmate Neil Solondz who has a great gig announcing with the Tampa Rays
Another cool thing was when WRSU alumni would run the show on homecoming weekend. How in the hell could they let tradition just die like that ? smh
Hard to believe that Knightline doesn't exist anymore. Had a lot of fun hosting and being on it. Except for one time. The engineer screwed things up so badly, there were no calls and apparently all you heard on the air was echo. Of course, I had no idea. Fun times. Especially trivia nights, when prank callers tried to sneak things past the engineers. (and did a few times)
LOL. Phil in East Brunswick always wanted to talk about Syracuse. John from South Brunswick did nothing but complain and started every sentence with, "The fact of the matter is"...
I wonder what happened to Skip. Chicago from New Brunswick was another classic caller.
I wonder what happened to Skip. Chicago from New Brunswick was another classic caller.
One of my then painful moments (now to quote Bruce "Someday we'll all look back on this and it will seem funny)" was when my ole buddy Mark from Branchburg finally got a chance to be a WRSU "announcer".
Now Mark, mind you, at a game would quite possibly the loudest person around. Occasionally embarassing but if you know Mark he bleeds Scarlet red. Like my mandatory social worker/"speech therapist" says Mark had the equivalent of "forced speech" when talking Rutgers sports-and he could go on and on and know RU trivia with the best of them.
From what I remember the story goes that Mark wanted to be on WRSU. I think for 1-2 years mark went to the WRSU studio as a volunteer. Perhaps he was wanted on his Rutgers history knowledge alone.
One day Mark got his big chance. I think it was an "alumni" session of guest former DJs. There was a big roundtable discussion on the game or similar and after numerous former panelists state their opinion the lead announcer states.
"Mark-what do you think? Now normally if one of us said that we'd get a solid 5-10 minutes of solid RU history. However unfortunately my buddy Mark froze and there was 30-45 seconds of dead air. "Mark! Mark!, Mark...Oh Mark...."
Cringeworthy at that time but funny in retrospect. Whether related or not to his credit he's the 1st person (and perhaps least I expected) to take a voluntary "toastmasters" class.
Makes me feel guilty every time I pass the meeting rooms in the Somerset County Library and almost as bad as seeing Mark's cringeworthy social services "double" forever looking at comic book covers, Japanese anime and Japanese anime porn on the library's PCs just about every time I'm in there.
TYPICAL WRSU CONVERSATION IN THE EARLY 80's...
ANNOUNCER/PANELIST-"Well toKnight Donnell Lumpkin did this (insert given technical foul or possible minor criminal violation here) tonight....
ANNOUNCER/Panelist #2-"It was embarrassing, horrible, yada"
5-10 minutes of airtime passes. Donnell's Dad Mr. Lumpkin calls in...
MR LUMPKIN-"he's innocent I'm telling you". "He's a good kid" He's just an excitable boy!".
ANNOUNCER "1 or 2-yes but he's done this X Number of times/years now"
MR LUMPKIN- "He's a good kid-just an excitable boy"...
Remember by Donnell's Senior year Mr. Lumpkin stopped calling in?
ANNOUNCER/PANELIST-"Well toKnight Donnell Lumpkin did this (insert given technical foul or possible minor criminal violation here) tonight....
ANNOUNCER/Panelist #2-"It was embarrassing, horrible, yada"
5-10 minutes of airtime passes. Donnell's Dad Mr. Lumpkin calls in...
MR LUMPKIN-"he's innocent I'm telling you". "He's a good kid" He's just an excitable boy!".
ANNOUNCER "1 or 2-yes but he's done this X Number of times/years now"
MR LUMPKIN- "He's a good kid-just an excitable boy"...
Remember by Donnell's Senior year Mr. Lumpkin stopped calling in?
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If video killed the radio star "Scarletnation" killed "Knightline". Everyone can now immediately post game immediaterly gripe or b*tch mercilessly here now vs calling in..
It was our only means of b*tching and griping back then. You could only b*tch only so much with friends post game and often most were so fed up they didn't want to talk period. Now you can come here discreetly/indiscreetly and complain pretty much all you want.
One of my Dad's (RIP) funniest comments/observations in his lifetime was about "Knightline". I guess I used to listen with him on the way back from those killer 55-3 killer losses at Giants Stadium from about 1979 through the 80's. Dad, not one to get that emotionally involved (maybe a smile or laugh after my oft then gamebuddy "Mark from Branchburg"/Shields was once again on the phone) deadpanned
"You know you could take a tape of Knightline from 10 years ago, play it, and you couldn't tell (maybe except for the announcers) what year the tape was from! (It was always the same complaining from the same callers).
"You know you could take a tape of Knightline from 10 years ago, play it, and you couldn't tell (maybe except for the announcers) what year the tape was from! (It was always the same complaining from the same callers).
God bless his poor soul but does anyone remember a caller who probably had throat cancer/similar and likely talked through his throat? The announcers oft couldn't tell what he was saying and there was a delay with the guy talking back leading one to bELieve there was a problem with your radio or at the WRSU stereo? You'd always have the feeling the poor guy was gonna pass right in the middle of the call?
Many regular callers I remember. Jerry from East Brunswick who was too optimistic at times who is no longer with us. I remember Dan from Piscataway (I think). He has stats from every game going back 40 years. John from East Brunswick used to change names and locations numerous times on both stations but you could tell it was him. I hated the guy who called in after an RU game and talked Syracuse.
Skip from Elizabeth was crazy at the games. Didn't know he was in the next section from me until I heard him scream during the Fred Hill years. He stopped coming to games I believe in Hill's last year. Never forgot him standing up during a quiet period during the game and yelling , Hill you destroyed this program.
