F-that: Coupla sports talker jobs to open in Des Moines soon...

Marty thinks he has the juice, because he brings in Bob Ryan, and other notables to the show, not to mention his ego. Cotlar's the opposite: gregarious, friendly, and actually does his job, since he's been in the business for nearly 3 decades.

Whoever said that all of them were in the wrong, is dead-on correct. Cotlar was not on this morning. KXNO ran Steve Czaban and Dan Patrick live in his place. I expect the national shows to run in Tirrell and Ken Miller's spot this afternoon. KXNO has yet to announce what they're going to do and no word has been sent to the Register. That's the update I have as of this morning.

I wouldn't be surprised if this get swept under the rug, both guys serve suspension, and see back on the air. But with Marty, he's on his final strike in the DSM market because every sports station he's been on, he has burned bridges at each stop.

 

DM Register reports that Cotlar, his engineer/sidekick Geoff Conn (who was on the board when it happened) and Tirrell has been suspended until further notice by KXNO. Tirrell will continue to call Iowa NBA D-League ball, but weekly appearance on KCCI is up in the air.

 

Of course, Ty, because you, and in that matter, most of us don't listen to local sports radio, remember?? Besides, local radio is for listeners who want to hear about their local teams. To you, they are a dime a dozen. To the local listeners, they feel connected. As it was made perfectly clear on these boards a while back, most sportswriters prefer national shows. There's nothing wrong with that, but local listeners don't give a shit how sportswriters feel about local radio hacks. "Talk about our team and we'll be happy" is the motto.

Hopefully to put a nice bow on this deal, here's an update.

http://tinyurl.com/d48h22

Both Cotlar and Tirrell were fired on Tuesday, along with engineer Geoff Conn, who was on the board. Conn was caught off-guard on the tirade and didn't think of turning the mic off until it was too late.

On Thursday, the NBA D-league team here in town, announced that Cotlar will be doing color analysis for the team, alongside Tirrell (the team's pbp). The team's owner, whose ass and rings Marty's kisses, thought it might be a good idea to have the both of them talk to the crowd, extend apologies, and then call the game this Saturday night.

Either Cotlar was caught off-guard or was insulted by it. Today, he sends a statement saying "thanks, but no thanks." Which is translation for, IMHO: "I'm not going to be a part of this PR sham, not after being berated like a child by that asshole."

Tirrell, who has been calling games all year long, without an analyst, will have former Chicago Bull and Iowa analyst Bobby Hansen do color for the rest of the season. (The M.F. didn't feel the need to have one. Why have one now?) I don't see Marty getting another gig in this market, unless he goes on-line. He's burned too many bridges, big-timed too many people, and too arrogant for any radio station in the DSM market to touch him.

We recently picked up a second sports station a few months ago, affiliated with ESPN. My synopsis, FWIW, is that Cotlar will get hired by the new station by April 15th. Personally, Larry got caught up in the moment, and while many say that he had to be fired (I won't disagree with that), the guy does his homework, personable to everyone, and has nearly 30 years under his belt in the business. It would take an act of God to get him angry and sadly this incident was the one.

 

I can assure you that Ty does indeed listen to his local sports talk radio and your assessment of him couldn't be more inaccurate.

 

My boy Slappy is right D-3. I have been in radio and TV my entire professional career. Local sports talk - for the most part - is great. I do a show in Birmingham, we talk a ton of Alabama, Auburn and SEC (Slappy will attest to that). It's that focus that allows us to beat XM. I visit this site to see stories and keep up with the industry.

I think you misunderstand my point. I was saying, from experience, that every market has the "guy who is credited with bringing sports talk to the market". That guy generally has a far to inflated opinion of himself and his abilities. Stereotype? Yes. I contend you'll find me correct on that assumption most of the time.

By the way, producers always take the fall for this. Hosts have money tied to them, they get a slap on the wrist. You never have that argument in a studio. Every mic is a live mic.

 

Man, just chill out and have a little Herb.

 

Awwwww.

Clear Channel'l have to cough up some cake?

Couldn't happen to . . .

 

Knowing Clear Channel, they'll make up for the cost of the fine by laying off 20 people.

 

I know very few people on this board get that but you have my applause. Well played.

 

How's he supposed to learn his lesson if they let him keep a primo gig like that?

 

Seems to me, given his history, that nothing would force him to learn his lesson. Even if he were left with no job, no source of income at all, it would somehow all be someone else's fault, never his own.

 

Damn, evey time I think the blue font isn't needed ...