PTI Fans, Tony's Back on the Radio! (1 Viewer)

[Roberto Carlo]

Tomorrow marks the return of Tony Kornheiser to the airwaves. M-F from 9 to 1. And, yes, Andy Polley will be there. I don't know if it's only DC but you can listen to the show at sportstalk980.com

 

[Dheiner]

Andy Pollin!

 

[Chris]

Holy crap! This just made my day! I missed him greatly when he signed off from ESPN Radio. I'll have to hunt him down!

 

[Mike Miskulin]

So what was the REAL reason he left espn's morning slot anyway? I enjoyed his show a lot when it was on.

mike.

 

[Roberto Carlo]

Andy Polley, a.k.a. Andy Pollin, said something about Tony retiring before he was fired. Tony explained that he only came back because the radio show was local. I think he just got tired of the suits at ESPN, at least those in the radio department. The conflict was there from the start of his tenure at ESPN Radio. Tony's show isn't about sports, it's about him. At it's best, it was like Larry David on the radio, filled with complaints, rants and calling people "dopes." He would explode callers who would begin with "how ya doing?" The polls would be about nothing except a chance for some very funny people to make us laugh: Steve the Sycophant, Jim the lawyer and others.

ESPN never got this. I think that at some level they didn't even want Tony to say anthing that might remind listeners that he's Jewish. (They did tell him not to say anything that might give away his location, Washington DC.) I don't mean they were anti-Semitic, they just wanted white-bread sports radio with 43 callers asking about the Cowboys' offensive line or the Rams' linebackers. Tony and Andy aren't about that. They, especially Andy, know their stuff but they're entertainers.

 

[Chris]

Yeah, I think ESPN was looking for a catch-phrase happy program, which they certainly got..

Tony always looked for the story behind the story, had me laughing along with him at more then a few moments (his declaration of his son singing "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" was fantastic)..

Tony just had a way that I really enjoyed to listen to.

But, I guess not for everyone; local ESPN affiliates dropped it for ratings, so *eh*

 

[Joe Bernardi]

Roberto, thanks for the heads up!

PTI never made up for Tony's absence from radio.

I just turned the show on.

 

[DaveBB]

Granted, but XM channel 140 (ESPN Radio) replays PTI at 6:00 pm central. I always listen to it on the way home from work.

Maybe XM or Sirius could make a run at Tony to do a regular show.

 

[Chris]

Yep, SIRIUS also plays PTI at 6PM CST It makes my day

 

[Chuck Mullen]

Roberto,
You and I remember Tony's local show before he went to ESPN in the first place. Hopefully the new show can hit the stride that had. I do look forward to Tony taking calls again. Some of the old callers, Steve, Clay etc. were hilarious!

 

[Roberto Carlo]

He seems to be going for just that. He's calling someone "Gary." I'm wondering if that is none other than Gary "Big Time" Braun. Is there anything more certain to bring a smile to your face the words "Tony, my liege?" By any chance, do you recall the show right after Don MacLean on lez Boulez (that's the Washington Bullets for non-Washingtonians) scored a bunch of points in a game. The poll was about MacLean's sudden turnaround. It was Clay, I think, who told Tony, "Tony, he just knew if got his chance he could make those people dance and maybe they'd be happy for awhile." Still among the funniest things I've seen or heard. Or the "Doc" draft with Aldridge selecting ER's Susan Lewis was the first overall pick and breaking down her skills using Mel Kuyper's voice.

I'm happy now.

 

[Mark Pfeiffer]

Roberto said:

Of course, many of the other ESPN Radio guys spend just as much time talking about non-sports stuff as Tony would. At least he's funny.

 

[Cory Pals]

Thanks for the thread. I have missed Mr. Tony on the radio and am listening to the show now.