Syndicated radio host "Papa Joe" Chevalier dies

Not to mention that politically, he absolutely came from that direction.

 

I got into South Park originally after hearing the drops they'd use on One-on-One .. not just Renshaw, but some of the other shows as well.

And Spanier's take-no-prisoners approach to Cowboy fanbois was one of the only things that made working in Cowboy fanboi hell tolerable.

 

Love Renshaw. Still do. He always made me laugh my ass off.

 

Didn't Renshaw get fired because he got in trouble for showing up drunk to work? I seem to remember that after he got out of rehab, he was on another radio show talking about how he would go out partying the night before and head straight to the studios to start prepping for the show.

(I could be thinking of another host, but I don't think so.)

I could take or leave Papa Joe. Arnie Spanier syndicated was usually a good listen - he kept it light and was good at interacting with the callers. Then he went to Los Angeles to 570 AM, which was in the middle of trying some sort of "shock sports talk" experiment, complete with Joe McDonnell ripping off Phil Hendrie's schtick and doing "fake" interviews. They decided after Spanier had been there a few weeks to make him the "East Coast guy who hates LA sports," leading to the "Oh Lakers Faaaannns!" line. I found this ironic, since I believe he went to college at Arizona, and no one bought it. Not only was it fake, but instead of earning him the "I have to listen to him to hear what he says next!" type of hate, all he got was the "please go back to the Midwest and get off my radio" hate.

Bob Kemp was the best. Many, many long nights heading up the I-5 from Santa Ana to LA after a shift were burned listening to him. I appreciated any host who had such low regard for the intelligence of the "average" radio caller and wasn't afraid to just cut off a call after five seconds if they guy was an idiot.

I think what made One-on-One Sports work was that you had a diverse set of voices, and management seemed to want to get out of their way and let them develop their own show rather than fitting into the "brand" (Hi YF) or what had to work for that slot.

 

When Papa Joe was on Sporting News Radio and I listened, I remember a blusterous regular caller that sounded like a WWE grappler when he blurted out "What's Up Papa Joe?" and continued to talk at that level.....I always wondered what happened with that guy.

 

I heard and read some old accounts about Renshaw. Greg Hall (ex KC Star sports guy, now at KC Confidential) wrote back then that Renshaw was talented and could go anywhere, but some of his personal demons (alcohol, drugs, whatever) held him back.

My god, Renshaw was a must-listen overnights during the early days of Fox Sports Radio and on Kansas City radio. He's currently in Louisville, if memory recalls.

 

Listened to Papa Joe and Arnie Spanier when 1510 AM in Boston was One-on-One Sports back in the late 90s or so.

Can't remember which one had the thick Pittsburgh accent, but I enjoyed listening to it because it made me feel like I was in the same room with my late grandfather (who grew up in the Hill District, raised his family in Squirrel Hill and retired to Oakland).

 

Who could forget:

1-800-777-TWO!!!!!...907... (He always yelled the two and took a long break before finishing the number)

That was a fun network to listen to, I agree.

 

I'll have to tune in Spanier's Dallas show to see how he's faring now that he lives and works in the belly of the beast.

570 KLAC is Laker slobberfest radio 24/7 nowadays, even with being the flagship for FSR, so I can see how an anti-Laker schtick didn't last long there.

By the way, here's Spanier's Twitter address for anyone interested in following the Stinkin' Genius:

http://twitter.com/#!/stinkingenius1

I'm guessing peter pics are a no-no, tho.

 

Heaven must have needed a One-on-One Sports Flash.

 

Oh man, the nostalga is coming in waves.

Anyone remember the Rodd and Rae show in the morning? I believe it was around during the Sports Entertainment Network days before it was folded into One on One (for a while, it was One on One Sports Entertainment Network before becoming One on One Sports). It was pretty entertaining. I was even a regular caller -- the only time I've been a regular on any radio show, local or national.

The local sportstalk station also had the Fabulous Sports Babe back when ESPN was in its infancy, though I believe it was still a One on One affiliate at that point.

 

Don't remember Rodd and Rae ... only morning guy I remember from that era was Czaban ... I used to call in for his weekly "I Believe" segment.

SEN was based in Vegas, as I recall, and One on One was in Chicago (Northbrook, if you want to get technical).

The other thing I remember about One on One was it having a cool theme song. Listened to the network back in the days before online streaming, and living in the Rio Grande Valley, it was nice to have our own sportsradio station. Being an AM signal, it would fade with the skip at night when you got out of the Valley, but nice to listen to as you drove all over creation chasing the Friday night lights of South Texas.