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Bill Rhoden Says Mad Dog ‘Feeding Into’ White Supremacist Ideology

“This isn’t the first time Russo has been questioned over a racial issue.”

Brandon Contes

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A white radio host of nearly 40 years and a Black columnist of nearly 50 years engaged in an uncomfortable, yet somewhat incredible conversation of race last week. 

What began as a discussion about the NBA players protesting for racial equality, morphed into SiriusXM’s Christopher ‘Mad Dog’ Russo asking former New York Times columnist William C. Rhoden “Bill, do you think I’m a racist?”

Rhoden started to say “yea,” before giving an uncomfortable chuckle and avoiding a clear answer. Instead, he pointed the question back at Russo, who answered “I don’t think I understand the Black community as well as I should, but do I think I’m a racist? No.”

Russo was likely shocked to hear that someone such as Rhoden, who he’s known for decades, might believe he’s racist, but the term ‘racist’ has become more complex than it was years ago. No longer is it just about a blatant act of racism, but it’s about contributing to something that a person of another race believes to be mean or unfair. 

Rhoden did say he believes Russo is feeding into a white supremacist ideology by believing the riots in Portland, OR and other areas of the country are caused by the protesters.

“How dare you, you’re calling me a white supremacist…I’ve been on-air for 40 years,” Russo fired back. “That’s not right, I don’t say that about you! You don’t say that.”

It’s fair for Russo to defend himself from being called a white supremacist. He expressed outrage over the recent occurrences of police brutality in MN, WI and KY, but he questioned the response of rioting. Russo’s argument of being in talk radio for 40 years was odd though. I’m not sure having a long career in radio excludes you from potentially pushing white supremist narratives.

This isn’t the first time Russo has been questioned over a racial issue. In 2014, he claimed the lack of diversity on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Radio channel was because there might not be Black hosts worthy of a national show and if there were, they haven’t applied. 

But by the end of this interview, both Russo and Rhoden closed the conversation very amicably, acknowledging disagreements are OK, while offering respect for each of their long careers.

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101.9 The Horn in Austin Sold to Norsan Media

Norsan has appointed Edgar Saucedo as Southwest Market President overseeing all of the company’s Texas operations and Ramon Loo as Austin Program Director.

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Logo for 101.9 The Horn in Austin, TX

A Radio Insight report says Norsan Media has purchased 101.9 The Horn in Austin, Texas from Genuine Austin Radio. According to the report, Norsan had already been operation a couple of Genuine Austin Radio’s stations and will now take add the rest of their stations, which also includes country stations 99.3 FM.

The report also says Norsan has appointed Edgar Saucedo as Southwest Market President overseeing all of the company’s Texas operations and Ramon Loo as Austin Program Director.

The Horn used to also be on 104.9 FM and was the University of Texas flagship station for Longhorn athletics. That stopped when Norsan took over the signal to air Regional Mexican programming. The Texas Rangers games air currently on The Horn.

Should anything change with the programming or format at The Horn, we will keep you posted.

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AJ Hoffman Headed to Mornings on San Antonio’s Sports Star

“Excited for my next chapter post-Vegas and stoked to start building an audience in San Antonio!”

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Photo of AJ Hoffman and a logo for 94.1 San Antonio's Sports Star

AJ Hoffman announced via his X account he will be back on local radio in Texas doing mornings at San Antonio’s Sports Star. “Life announcement,” Hoffman wrote. “I’m moving back to Texas. Starting May 6, you can find me back on local radio, doing mornings on San Antonio’s Sports Star. Excited for my next chapter post-Vegas and stoked to start building an audience in San Antonio!”

Hoffman had worked for several years at ESPN 97.5 in Houston and was most recently in Las Vegas serving as the executive vice president and director of digital content for Pregame, an information site for sports wagering.

Hoffman had hosted the popular show, The Blitz, with Fred Faour for more than 10 years and then became the station Program Director in 2019. He exited the station in the summer of 2021 to take the position with Pregame.

San Antonio’s Sports Star made a change earlier this year in mornings when Rudy Jay left the station in mid-January. RJ Ochoa, Managing Editor of the ‘Blogging the Boys’ website, took over for Jay, doing the show with station Program Director Rob Thompson.

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Steak Shapiro About Pat McAfee: “Dude, Relax”

“That is the definition of cringe. You have to be authentic.”

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Graphic for The Steakhouse on 92.9 in Atlanta and a picture of Pat McAfee

Sports radio has spent a lot of time during this football offseason talking about Bill Belichick. From his ending in New England to the search for a new head coaching position to being a free agent in the sports media world, his name has come up often. Steak Shapiro and Sandra Golden hit on the topic this week during The Steakhouse on 92.9 The Game in Atlanta.

A lengthy story from ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr., Seth Wickersham and Jeremy Fowler this week reported Belichick may not have landed the Atlanta Falcons head coaching position because of a conversation Falcons owner Arthur Blank had with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Another part of the story says the executives around Arthur Blank didn’t have Belichick in their top 3 of candidates which had interviewed for the position.

The same report also divulged that Belichick is expected to sign a deal with Omaha Productions to provide analysis and is interested in potentially coaching either the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles or New York Giants after taking this year off.

The same day, The Pat McAfee Show had Belichick on as a guest and announced the coach would join McAfee and team for their annual Draft Spectacular.

Shapiro and Golden talked about the article as it related to Atlanta, but also about Belichick’s appearance on McAfee’s show. “[Belichick] on McAfee trying to be this lighthearted guy that loves The Pat McAfee Show, it’s a stretch dude, that is a stretch.”

“That is the definition of cringe,” Golden replied. “You have to be authentic.”

Shapiro does an impersonation of McAfee talking excitedly about hanging out with Belichick and said, “Dude, relax, relax…the whole thing…I wish we hadn’t gotten started on this…”

Back in late January, McAfee had said on his show about Belichick, “I would like to let everybody know…I will make this promise that if Bill Belichick is going to do TV, ol’ Pat McAfee will be in the running to try to get Bill Belichick to join our progrum [sic],” McAfee said. “Belichick… knows everything about the NFL. Every game that’s ever been played…every player that’s ever been great — that’s why he was so great on [NFL 100 All-Time Team]. And after what we saw on College GameDay, he’s got moxie too. He’s great on TV, I think we’ll all be incredibly lucky if that’s the case.”

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