The election is unavoidable. Everywhere you look there they are, Barack and John, spewing partisan rhetoric.
I use sports to get away from all of that; when Joe the Plumber and Joe the Vice President are too much, I tune into a game or listen to some sports banter. But one sports outlet has made escapism through sports impossible.
WEEI took over 95.5 and 95.9 on the FM dial replacing WRED and WJAB. Considered the number one sports radio station in the country, WEEI now provides Mainers with an all-sport alternative.
One problem: it isn’t all sports.
Seldom can you listen to Dennis and Callahan without hearing the conservative, Obama-bashing and socially inept criticisms of WEEI’s shock jocks. And while, admittedly, WEEI is a strong hold on my presets, I enjoy their content in the same way I enjoy listening to politically-slanted pundits like Rush Limbaugh or Al Franken.
They are entertaining not because of their wit or intelligence, but because of their closed-mindedness and their inability to see beyond the veneer of their candidate’s public persona. I am also not so na’ve as to think this isn’t intentional on their part. Controversy breeds ratings. Being conservative in arguably the bluest state in the bluest part of the United States is a sure way to garner ratings. But, at that point, calling WEEI a sports station is a bit of a stretch, isn’t it?
Inviting Curt Schilling onto your programs, like WEEI so often does, is a subsequent invitation for political rantings and unfounded personal attacks. If viewers want a taste of Schilling they should read his blog.
Unfortunately, intertwining sports and politics isn’t the only flaw I’ve noticed in WEEI in attempts to attract listeners. Their broadcast journalists, if you can call them that, often resort to personal attacks while inhibiting intelligent discussion and comments by their listeners.
There’s no place for this, anywhere.
Recently I was listening to a WEEI program when the topic of Tom Brady’s health took center stage. The pundits on the stations immediately entered rave mode making insensitive comments and uttering phrases that sound like they came directly from the O’Reilly Factor.
In talking about Brady’s recent knee surgery the commentator questioned Brady’s choice of surgeon, insinuating that the man who performed the ACL reconstruction was somehow inept. To corroborate his point the pundit compared Dr. Neal S. ElAttrache, Brady’s doctor, to the sex-crazed and infinitely unethical doctors of the FX TV show Nip-Tuck. Of course, if anyone has seen the show they know that doctors like that are pure works of fiction.
But what was equally disturbing was a comment that followed declaring Dr. ElAttrache a skeptical choice based on his last name – in fact, this so called journalist cited the random “capital letter” in the middle of his last name as a red flag for his lack of medical acumen.
In what sounded like a discussion facilitated by Anne Coulter the crew at WEEI didn’t pause at these clearly Anglo-centric and insensitive remarks.
In reality, ElAttrache is more than qualified to cut open one of America’s sports heroes. He’s won awards and fellowships. He’s written 14 textbooks, filmed ten instructional videos and facilitated over 150 lecture.
Nip Tuck, he’s not.
WEEI never ceases to amaze me on my trips from Saco to Portland with their sideshow diversions.
I only wish I had some hip-hop to take my mind off all this political talk.