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‘The Sports Junkies’ React to Audacy Severing Ties With Washington Commanders

“It doesn’t change our show one bit or another. Like, we’ve done our show with the rights and without the rights.”

Derek Futterman

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With the 2022 National Football League fast approaching, a major announcement was made Wednesday morning regarding the radio broadcast rights to Washington Commanders games in 2022 and beyond. As first announced on The Team 980’s The Kevin Sheehan Show in Washington, D.C., Commanders football games will no longer be broadcast over Audacy stations, including The Team 980 and sister station 106.7 The Fan, along with 910 The Fan in Richmond, Va.

In the announcement, Sheehan cited a disagreement between Audacy and the Commanders organization regarding “the value of the broadcasts” as one of the reasons for the split, along with ensuring that the stations can provide objective coverage of the team. While games will no longer be available to hear on Audacy, ESPN 630 The Sports Capitol, at the moment, will still be broadcasting games in 2022, although that could be subject to change.

After the news went public, The Sports Junkies on 106.7 The Fan reacted to the news of Audacy dropping the Commanders from their programming lineup, and provided some telling insight regarding the relationship between the team and stations now formerly part of its radio network.

“It doesn’t change our show one bit or another,” said show host John-Paul Flaim. “Like, we’ve done our show with the rights and without the rights.”

Aside from the Commanders failing to win a Super Bowl championship since 1991, the team has had its fair share of issues off of the gridiron, including outrage at resisting to change the team’s name from “Redskins” and team owner Daniel Synder being investigated by the NFL for allowing a workplace culture of unchecked sexual harassment throughout the organization.

Snyder, who once owned the flagship station of the team, has been at the center of debate regarding his responsibility in the team losing various sponsorship deals, such as a multi-million dollar contract with Anheuser-Busch InBev. Additionally, attendance has been considerably lower over the past few seasons at the team’s home stadium, with the apparent lack of maintenance and repairs at FedEx Field making for less than ideal conditions for attendees and players alike.

Junkies host Eric Bickel stated that he did not believe 106.7 The Fan received any benefit from putting Commanders games on its airwaves, and in a particularly revealing remark, said that the station has had no relationship with the team for two decades.

Being able to cover the team in an objective manner while holding the radio rights was something that, purportedly, affiliates were struggling to do without complaints or fear of retaliation from the organization. This morning, co-host John “Cakes” Auville reaffirmed 106.7 The Fan’s commitment to bring its listeners thoughtful and honest commentary and analysis about the football team.

“Look, if the team does really well and then starts making the right moves, we’ll praise them – we’ll be the first to praise them,” Auville said. “If they continue to flail and be mediocre to bad, we’re [going to] spotlight that too. That’s just what we do. We’ve been doing that for 25-plus years, and this news doesn’t affect us.”

“No, it doesn’t affect us at all,” interjected Bickel into the conversation. “It should affect us… We should have probably gotten some better treatment [in the past]. It actually really didn’t help us.”

The Sports Junkies will not be changing the format of their show because of the station dropping the Commanders. Instead, the program will now be able to more comfortably provide objective coverage to its audience.

However, one thing the show hosts hope eliminating team broadcasts will do for them is to allow the station to allocate more money towards the show – something that the hosts believe provides more value to the station than the Washington Commanders.

“Let’s hope they’re assembling a war chest for the Junks instead of sending it on [to] the [Commanders],” quipped Auville.

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Sports Radio News

Jason Puckett Launches PuckSports.com

“I am super motivated right now and I can’t wait. I have probably been busier now than I’ve ever been in the last 48 hours.”

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Logo for PuckSports.com

Jason Puckett, who decided to walk away from a contract offer from iHeartMedia’s KJR in Seattle after finding out his partner Jim Moore had been laid off, has launched a new venture – PuckSports.com. ‘Puck’ has a baseball opening day show posted on the Puck Sports YouTube page and also posted an introductory message about his new venture and what led to creating it.

“I wanted to talk to you guys, the listeners out there, the viewers out there, sorry for all of this,” an emotional Puckett said. “Sorry for what has happened and what has taken place. Thank you for all of the comments and the well-wishes and what you have said about myself and Jim.

“It has been a whirlwind of a last few days, for sure and I do want to say that I feel for the people that we used to work with. “I know it’s not easy to go through that, I have been on that side of it many, many times in this industry when someone is let go and you have to sit there and answer all the questions about them and for them…It’s unfortunate and it shouldn’t be that way, but the reality of this business is it’s like that.”

Puckett then told his fans that PuckSports.com and YouTube are where you will be finding his content along with Moore. “I am going to take what I have learned over the years and apply it to a new age of media,” he said and noted this was a direction he had been thinking about for a while.

As for what took place that led to his decision to not sign his contract and talk away, he said, “I just want to take you briefly back to last week. I don’t want to get too much in the weeds, I’m not here to lay any blame or point any fingers at anybody…there’s too many good people that I have worked with that I don’t want to drag into this. It was a process that was at times handled fine, handled perfectly, and at other times it got to a point where it just went on too long. But that’s corporate media and that’s what happens.”

Continuing on Puckett said, “…I had been without a contract since about January…when I was away from the station that was something that we and the station agreed upon…to see if we could get something done and we were all hopeful that we would…I was only supposed to be gone a couple of days…unfortunately as these things sometimes happen, it just went a little bit longer…We received the deal and it was what we wanted, but unfortunately with that news a few hours later came the news from corporate that Jim had lost his job. Obviously there was a mix of emotions with that from me.

“I wrestled with that and the decision and what I would do. It was hard for me to move forward…I couldn’t fight the perception more than anything that I had received a new deal while at the same time, my partner and good friend, guy I love to death, who I grew up reading…it was a hard reality…The loyalty I have, I couldn’t live with myself even though Jim knew what the truth was.”

Puckett said he was aware Moore was planning to step away from the radio show at the end of the year and was looking forward to the nine months they would have left to work with one another. Then, when iHeartMedia made the decision to make Moore a casualty of their latest round of layoffs, Puckett knew he needed to revisit the idea of starting his own venture.

He said, “It has kind of changed my timeline as far as what I wanted to do and where I felt I was at…I am super motivated right now and I can’t wait. I have probably been busier now than I’ve ever been in the last 48 hours.”

Puckett said several of the show’s regular guests would stay with the show and he thanked several sponsors who he said would remain supporters of the show with the new venture. ‘Puck’ noted that starting next week, “…We get underway in full force…I’m going to continue to try and make people laugh and entertain you and talk about sports…and all of the other things you have become accustomed to with this show.”

As he started to wrap up, Puckett said, “I’m jumping into the deep end of the pool and I am going to see if I can swim or sink.”

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Sports Radio News

Kirk Minihane: WEEI is “Going to be Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb in Afternoons”

“Maybe the two most sensitive c***s in the history of radio. That’s a show we are going to ruin.”

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Photos of Kirk Minihane and Rich Shertenlieb

As the speculation continues on where Boston sports talker Rich Shertenlieb will end up, one former WEEI host said he has the scoop on what is going to happen. Kirk Minihane, now with Barstool Sports, said, “What I heard was, initially, was they were moving Rich Keefe from nights to middays, moving Adam Jones from afternoons to middays and keeping Fauria there, and moving Andy Gresh to afternoons…But now it appears Rich Shertenlieb is going to do afternoons with Andy Gresh.”

On Wednesday, Boston Globe sports and sports media columnist Chad Finn put out a post on X, saying, “Didn’t think Rich Shertenlieb would end up at WEEI after leaving Sports Hub. I do now, most likely in afternoon drive. Audacy management has been telling people to expect changes.”

Minihane continued commenting on the matter, saying, “It’s going to be Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb in the afternoons, which is going to be so awful. Maybe the two most sensitive c***s in the history of radio. That’s a show we are going to ruin…we haven’t done that in a while, we are going to take that show down…Once that show starts, we are just going to blitz them with phone calls because Gresh can’t handle that.

“What they don’t understand, because they are so dumb, is that…Rich Shertenlieb has no fan base…no fan of [Toucher and Hardy] in the morning is going to be like ‘I’m not going to listen to Felger in the afternoons, I’ll now listen to Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb.’ It’s going to be dreadful.”

Recapping what he has heard the rest of the WEEI lineup will be, Minihane said, “…And then in middays you have Adam Jones, failed afternoons. Rich Keefe who has now failed middays, drivetime, nights and is now going to fail again in middays… and Christian Fauria who has never drawn a rating in his life.”

WEEI has not commented on any of the speculation. BSM will have more as the story unfolds.

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Sports Radio News

Former 670 The Score Host Tommy Williams Has Died

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Photo of Tommy Williams
Courtesy: Lakeshore Public Media

Tommy Williams, who was heard for a decade on 670 The Score, died on Wednesday at the age of 66.

Williams began his broadcasting career in his hometown of Gary, Indiana in 1982 at WLTH before moving on to The Score. In 2003, Williams became the PA Announcer for the Gary Southshore RailCats of the American Association where he had his signature call to get the attention of the fans, “People, People, People.”

A story in The Times of Northwest Indiana said, “The longtime RailCats public address announcer and Lakeshore Public Media sports journalist was known for broadcasting countless games, interviewing countless athletes and covering Region sports at all levels. The Gary native and co-host of “Prep Sports Report,” “Prep Football Report,” and “Lakeshore PBS Scoreboard” often signed off shows saying, “Gary, Indiana, you know I love you.”

“The cadence he had in his voice echoed across the Region in a way we may never see again. He was widely known and widely loved,” Tom Maloney, vice president of radio operations at Lakeshore Public Media told the paper.

“He’d want to be remembered as the voice of Lakeshore sports,” his Regionally Speaking co-host and producer Dee Dotson told The Times. “Most people will remember him for covering prep sports all the way up to semi-pros. He’ll be remembered for treating each of his subjects like they were world champions. His depth of knowledge of sports at all levels is commendable. He was a walking encyclopedia of stats.” 

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