RIP Art Rust

[YankeeFan]

A true pioneer in sports radio.

The first talk show host I ever listened to.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/sports/14rust.html?hpw

 

[Baron Scicluna]

I remember as a young kid listening to Rust's show while in the car with my dad.

RIP

 

[cjericho]

He had a great memory, it was cool listening to him talk about games he went to with his dad.

R.I.P

 

[fishhack2009]

RIP, Mr. Rust.

Where else can one go these days to hear thoughtful, meatball-free sports talk radio?

 

[Boom_70]

RIP, Mr. Rust.

Where else can one go these days to hear thoughtful, meatball-free sports talk radio?

That was Art's show in a nutshell. He was a class act.

He made the 1980's nightly drive time sitting a various traffic clogged NY arteries bearable.

He is now in the big ball orchard in the sky . RIP

 

[shockey]

art was a good guy. i was a guest on his show maybe a half-dozen times, twice in studio. he had some, um, issues -- he was famous for asking guests in the biz if they had some cash to spare (to help with gamblng debts) -- but he didn't have a hurtful bone in his body.

and he had a great memory.

rip, my friend.

good night, art and edna, baby. :( ;) :'(

 

[X-Hack]

My brother called in when he was a freshman in HS. We'd recently moved to NJ. He called Art to talk about the Tigers. Art was classy enough to humor him.

 

[cortez]

Somebody called into Francesa and brought up Art's passing, inviting a reaction. The Big Guy barely raised an eyebrow

 

[YankeeFan]

Somebody called into Francesa and brought up Art's passing, inviting a reaction. The Big Guy barely raised an eyebrow

I was wondering about this.

Anyone with any class would have mentioned it and paid tribute to Rust. It shouldn't have even taken a caller to bring up the subject.

Without Rust's success on WABC, there might not have even been a WFAN.

People forget how revolutionary -- and questionable -- a decision it was to go all sports talk when WFAN launched.

What an egomaniac he is to not even acknowledge the passing of a pioneer like Rust.

 

[BYH]

Somebody called into Francesa and brought up Art's passing, inviting a reaction. The Big Guy barely raised an eyebrow

I was wondering about this.

Anyone with any class would have mentioned it and paid tribute to Rust. It shouldn't have even taken a caller to bring up the subject.

Without Rust's success on WABC, there might not have even been a WFAN.

People forget how revolutionary -- and questionable -- a decision it was to go all sports talk when WFAN launched.

What an egomaniac he is to not even acknowledge the passing of a pioneer like Rust.

You can't be surprised.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Was anything but a compulsive Rust listener, but he surely had his place.

And I always give bonus points to guys who don't automatically shift into oaf mode when compelled
to handle callers.

 

[Drip]

Somebody called into Francesa and brought up Art's passing, inviting a reaction. The Big Guy barely raised an eyebrow

Somebody called into Francesa and brought up Art's passing, inviting a reaction. The Big Guy barely raised an eyebrow

I was wondering about this.

Anyone with any class would have mentioned it and paid tribute to Rust. It shouldn't have even taken a caller to bring up the subject.

Without Rust's success on WABC, there might not have even been a WFAN.

People forget how revolutionary -- and questionable -- a decision it was to go all sports talk when WFAN launched.

What an egomaniac he is to not even acknowledge the passing of a pioneer like Rust.

First off, RIP to a great pioneer and great human being. Art Rust ventured into lilly white press boxes and earned his respect from those who wouldn't have given him the time of day had he not had a microphone in his hand. Darryl Strawberry looked up to him as a father figure of sorts. Rust was the oldest African Americans who worked the Mets locker room at that time. I don't recall anyone black or white or Hispanic saying anything bad about him. Rust and the late great Larry Whiteside always had great stories to tell whenever they got together.
You're right about WFAN. They should've given Rust a call or something. I don't know the particulars but I think the powers that be didn't think 1, he was needed and 2, they already had one African American voice in Dave Sims, the current TV voice of the Seattle Mariners.
Finally, **** Mike Francesa. If he knew as much as he think he does, he'd be a dangerous person. While I respect his opinion on various subjects, I'm not caught up with his big ego. His not giving condolence to the passing of Art Rust Jr. isn't surprising. Francesa has never been known as a class act.

 

[Gold]

RIP to Art Rust and sympathy to his family.

That said, I have to disagree with the evaluation of his shows and the way he was with his show and writing the Strawberry biography.

I read his book, "Get That ****** Off The Field" and that was a good book which described his experiences going to major league games as a young African-American. I remember he did the weekend sportscasts on Channel 4 in New York, and yes, that was a break through. Once he broke through, I don't think he was much of a professional as a journalist or a straight shooter.

In the Strawberry book, Strawberry wrote something about the negative feeling regarding race on the Mets. In the book, Strawberry supposedly wrote something like feeling like it was Dred Scott Stadium. A reporter asked Darryl who Dred Scott was, and Straw didn't know. That was a case of Art Rust writing this and pretty much making up a quote.

His radio show by today's standards might seem civil, but he could be rude and abrupt with callers who disagreed with him. Yes, he knew sports history. Like Keith Olbermann, he seemed to have an attitude that he was the only one who knew sports history.

His show also featured a disproportionate amount of boxing and very little about hockey. I always felt it was because that was what Art Rust knew about and was involved in.

As for him paving the way for an all-sports station like WFAN - no way on the green earth. In those days, WABC had the Yankees and game broadcasts took up much of the evening schedule. WABC had a monster signal which could be heard in most of the eastern United States after dark. Art Rust would have been on WABC when WFAN went all sports, and WFAN didn't spend a lot of money at the start. Once WFAN got going, they really didn't need Rust. His lack of knowledge about sports other than baseball and boxing really wouldn't fit with an all-sports station. Dave Sims is an outstanding broadcaster and is always well prepared - the same couldn't be said about Rust.

Art Rust isn't as lacking in integrity as Francesa, but I didn't think of Rust as someone who had a lot of integrity.

 

[Drip]

RIP to Art Rust and sympathy to his family.

That said, I have to disagree with the evaluation of his shows and the way he was with his show and writing the Strawberry biography.

I read his book, "Get That ****** Off The Field" and that was a good book which described his experiences going to major league games as a young African-American. I remember he did the weekend sportscasts on Channel 4 in New York, and yes, that was a break through. Once he broke through, I don't think he was much of a professional as a journalist or a straight shooter.

In the Strawberry book, Strawberry wrote something about the negative feeling regarding race on the Mets. In the book, Strawberry supposedly wrote something like feeling like it was Dred Scott Stadium. A reporter asked Darryl who Dred Scott was, and Straw didn't know. That was a case of Art Rust writing this and pretty much making up a quote.

His radio show by today's standards might seem civil, but he could be rude and abrupt with callers who disagreed with him. Yes, he knew sports history. Like Keith Olbermann, he seemed to have an attitude that he was the only one who knew sports history.

His show also featured a disproportionate amount of boxing and very little about hockey. I always felt it was because that was what Art Rust knew about and was involved in.

As for him paving the way for an all-sports station like WFAN - no way on the green earth. In those days, WABC had the Yankees and game broadcasts took up much of the evening schedule. WABC had a monster signal which could be heard in most of the eastern United States after dark. Art Rust would have been on WABC when WFAN went all sports, and WFAN didn't spend a lot of money at the start. Once WFAN got going, they really didn't need Rust. His lack of knowledge about sports other than baseball and boxing really wouldn't fit with an all-sports station. Dave Sims is an outstanding broadcaster and is always well prepared - the same couldn't be said about Rust.

Art Rust isn't as lacking in integrity as Francesa, but I didn't think of Rust as someone who had a lot of integrity.

Some interesting points made by Gold but the end result is still the same, Rust was a broadcast pioneer and Francesa is tool.