Posted by huh on February 09, 2008 at 17:18:22:
In Reply to: WMVP's Chet Coppock suspended for remark posted by chicagomedia.org on February 08, 2008 at 17:03:25:
Chicago sports radio stuck in sewer
February 9, 2008
BY JAY MARIOTTI Sun-Times Columnist
It's a good thing Chicago's two sports radio stations, WMVP and WSCR, are bottom feeders in the quarterly ratings. Otherwise, the perception might be that their hosts define the city. And heaven help us if we were personified by a collection of crude, disgusting cavemen who spew anti-Semitism, conduct ''hug a Black'' missions, make fun of people on life support, refer to a female TV executive as ''a b###h'' and react to Bill Wirtz's passing by asking which local figures should die next.
This isn't just irresponsible behavior. It's really sick and demented, making shock jocks sound like cool-jazz DJs.
Hardly a week passes without one of these creeps finding trouble. This time, it's WMVP's Chet Coppock, who wins the Marge Schott award for slurring Jews on his show last weekend.
For some peculiar reason, Coppock was asked on the program how he spells Jewish. ''M-O-N-E-Y,'' he responded. It is a flagrant Jewish stereotype, of course, and it follows a recent bizarre pattern in which Coppock was suspended for dropping his pants in the presence of a female employee -- he was trying to moon another male host, I'm told -- and was assaulted by a fan outside Allstate Arena after a DePaul game. Obviously troubled, the 58-year-old veteran of the local broadcasting scene shouldn't be anywhere near a live microphone.
But he continues to work because he and other hosts are enabled by executives who confuse smut with cutting-edge programming -- and, by extension, attempts to drive ratings and profits. At both stations, numerous episodes have been deserving of dismissals, particularly those that represent a second, third or fourth offense. I could make an aggressive case that Coppock be fired, knowing WMVP is owned and operated by ESPN, a company that demands good taste and high ethics and won't stand for deplorable dreck. Unlike ESPN2 host Dana Jacobson, who regretfully slurred Notre Dame in the context of a private roast, Coppock made his insensitive remarks on the air. Yet he merely was suspended for five weekend shifts and will return Feb. 23, which ultimately sends a message to other hosts that you have to ax-murder someone to get fired.
As one who has worked five-plus years for ESPN, does a daily TV program seen globally and respects the network's solid on-air standards, I'm stunned at what is tolerated at WMVP. Dan McNeil is a talented afternoon-drive host, but he narrows his audience and demeans his reputation with high-maintenance madness. Last June, he voiced anger on the air that Lissa Druss Christman, a Comcast SportsNet producer, didn't answer his question about something. So he called her ''a b###h,'' earning him -- you guessed it -- another short-term suspension. If it was a first-time offense, maybe the incident would have passed idly. But McNeil has been suspended more times than Dennis Rodman. He's also the guy who responded to Wirtz's death by gleefully asking listeners who they'd like to see die next in Chicago.
Fortunately, few responded, and he quickly changed the topic.
Was McNeil punished for a warped idea? Nope.
Another problem is allowing sports hosts with low IQs to pontificate about social issues. For years, WSCR's Mike North has embarrassed his hometown by forcing his views on race, religion and current events when, in truth, he's just a goof who was pulled out of a hot-dog stand 15 years ago. North has a hard enough time putting together a sports argument, much less breaking down Hillary vs. Obama. But there he was, mimicking and mocking brain-damaged Terri Schiavo during her right-to-die drama. Sorry, but why is a sports host telling me about Terri Schiavo? And wouldn't I want to scream if I heard him ridiculing her, wondering how he might feel if she was one of his family members?
North is a crude, rude product of the streets who is stuck in the 1970s. He has used racial and ethnic slurs throughout his radio career, finding trouble as recently as last year. I used to cringe during his ''Hug a Jew/Black/Asian/Hispanic'' segments, blown away that he viewed himself as a comedian when no one was laughing. So why is North still on the air? Oh, because he successfully curried the favor of White Sox and Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, who sees himself as a similar rags-to-riches story and placed North in his trusted circle many years ago. As co-chairman of Major League Baseball's Equal Opportunity Committee, Reinsdorf helped formulate the successful Diverse Business Partners program. So why on earth would he befriend a person who could be viewed as insensitive to minorities? Shouldn't he detach himself from North to preserve his own public image?
Seems Reinsdorf is a hypocrite. He shows his true colors when he keeps employing a manager, Ozzie Guillen, who drops homophobic slurs, calls Magglio Ordonez ''a Venezuelan (bleep)'' and uses crude slang his every waking hour. Last year, Guillen phoned North's show and tore into the host with an expletive-filled rant, all because North defended A.J.
Pierzynski over a playing-time issue. ''Oh, shut the [expletive] up!'' Guillen told North. ''I know you like A.J., but there's no reason for you to make lineups and [expletive]. Believe me, I'm tired of you guys and this bull[expletive] every god[expletive] day.''
Reinsdorf never responded to that exchange. As long as he allows his ''guys'' to get away with ill behavior, North will do as he pleases on a station that shamefully sold its soul to the chairman.
Radio is a dirty, unscrupulous business in most cities, but Chicago sinks into the gutter with alarming regularity. As a passionate sports village, we deserve sports stations that talk about -- how's this for a solution? -- SPORTS! Attacking specific age demographics, station bosses emphasize ''guy talk'' that often morphs into ''Animal House'' talk, though most hosts are old enough to be the fathers of frat boys. Thank goodness for the steadier likes of WSCR's Mike Mulligan and Brian Hanley, both Sun-Times sportswriters, and WMVP's Tom Waddle and Marc Silverman. And how curious that two early thirtysomethings, WMVP's Carmen DeFalco and WSCR's Laurence Holmes, speak eloquently about sports and rarely resort to foolishness.
Yes, I've had two radio whirls in Chicago, both at WMVP, which qualifies me to address this topic. Believe me when I say there is no bitterness. Remember, I was caught in the middle of a taffy pull between the stations for Reinsdorf's two-team broadcast rights and refused when a WMVP boss -- true story -- demanded I sign a form agreeing not to criticize facets of the Sox and Bulls. Our meeting came at an Arby's off Lake Street, which is metaphorical.
Around here, sports radio reeks like processed lunch meat.