Whenever I write about sports I feel I owe it to my readers to warn them ahead of time. As I see the readership statistics of my blog on a daily basis, I know that majority of the people who read Don’t Blink mostly like to read my posts on social media, girl problems, and current fads. My sports posts? Not so much. But because this blog initially claimed that sports would be a large part of it, I want to stay true and still take time to write about my number one passion.
As I have mentioned several times before, I am a sports talk radio junkie. When I get up at 6am every weekday I turn my TV on and watch the simulcast of Mike & Mike. When 7am hits, I hit the shower and then I switch back and forth between Mike & Mike and the Dan Patrick Show. When Mike & Mike signs off at 8am I am just getting to work and while I begin my initial tasks to start the day I am switching between the DP Show and The Herd (Colin Cowherd). Then I transition into the Scott van Pelt Show, turn my radio off when the Doug Gottlieb Show comes on, and then listen to Hill & Schlereth on the ride home from work. I like each show for what it is and of course I like some shows as a whole better than others. I don’t know what I would do without sports radio.
At the end of last week, a pretty nasty feud developed between competing shows on different stations as Dan Patrick called out Colin Cowherd.
Quick history before I explain the feud and give my reaction: Dan Patrick used to of course work at ESPN. Along with his co-anchor Keith Olbermann, he made Sportscenter what it is today. He was pretty much the face of ESPN, he anchored all the major events and stared in many “This is Sportscenter” commercials. But not only was he the face of ESPN, he was also the voice of it as well. The Dan Patrick Show on ESPN was immensely popular, it helped to really establish the network in the radio business. Towards the end of Patrick’s tenure at ESPN, Colin Cowherd was hired at the station and began his show. When Patrick left the network, The Herd took over DP’s old time slot.
On Thursday of last week, Kurt Warner hit the sports talk radio circuit. Throughout the day he talked on all the various shows he appeared on about BountyGate and Junior Seau (Seau had committed suicide the day before). Warner appeared on Dan Patrick’s show first. During the interview, Kurt Warner stated that he really did not want his kids to play football when they grew up. Because of the great sports sense that Patrick has, he realized the power and significance of what Warner had said. Immediately after Warner hung up the phone, Patrick was replaying clips from the interview and offering his commentary on what Kurt had said. Patrick knew it would make news throughout the day.
A short time later, Warner appeared on The Herd. The very first question that Colin asked, without referring to the Dan Patrick Show, had to do with whether Warner would want his kids to play football when they grew up. He gave the exact same answer to Colin that he gave to Patrick. The comments of Warner came under fire. Throughout that whole day, the media, players, and coaches/general managers debated his stance on preferring for his kids not to play. Some called Warner a smart parent, others called him a traitor. However, something funny happened over at ESPN. Whenever they mentioned Warner’s comments, they attributed them to the Dan Patrick Show rather than The Herd.
Fast forward to Friday morning. I am dressing in my room when the Dan Patrick Show starts. He leads off the show by absolutely blasting Cowherd. You have to hear the anger in Patrick’s voice to really understand how pissed off he was. Probably about three times during his rant he called Cowherd “lazy.” He accused Colin of ripping off the show and devaluing the hard work of Patrick’s small staff (called the “Danettes”). At the end of his tirade Patrick fumed that he would take on the empire (ESPN) and that he “liked his damn chances.” He made his point.
I really wish Patrick would sometimes calm down a little and not worry so much about ESPN. I think he feels way too threatened by the network when really he should just find comfort in his talent and in his own show. Colin Cowherd is not half of the radio host that Dan Patrick is. While Colin is great at brewing controversy, coming up with off the wall statements, and making clever analogies that compare sports to business and relationships, he does not hold a candle to Patrick. The knowledge, the confidence, and the dry sense of humor that Patrick embodies into his show topples The Herd in overall quality. This is not to even mention the superior interviewing skills of DP. No one in sports conducts a better interview than him. No one gets more out of their guests or asks better questions than Patrick. It truly makes his show such a pleasure to listen to…until he starts ripping ESPN.
I do like hearing stories about the inner-workings of the world’s largest sports network that sometimes Patrick reveals but a lot of the time he goes from cool little facts about Chris Berman or about behind the scenes at Sportscenter to bashing the “suits” and the network as a whole. Every single show Patrick talks about ESPN. I am not kidding, it would be interesting to figure out how many times he averages mentioning “ESPN” or “The Mothership” per show. You know how you can listen to someone on the radio for a while and then they start to kind of wear on you? Whereas I have had this feeling for Colin Cowherd for probably the past three years, I am now starting to develop it for Patrick as well and it is pretty much just because of his constant ESPN bashing. I don’t want to be turned off from the show, believe me, but it seems as if his bitterness and contempt for his former employer keeps getting worse and worse when you would think that it should be going in the opposite direction. It is just monotonous and unprofessional.
Of course what Colin Cowherd did was lazy. He should have cited what Kurt Warner had told Patrick earlier in the morning when asking him that opening question. If Cowherd really did not know that Patrick had already asked that, one of his producers should have briefed him about it before he went on the air. If in all reality Cowherd really did not know nor did his producers, he should have later on given credit to Patrick before the show ended. I find more outrage with the way Patrick handled the whole situation rather than the lazy question asked by Colin simply because I expect more out of DP. Like I said, Dan Patrick is leaps and bounds above Colin Cowherd. Don’t worry about him. Don’t let him get under your skin. Obviously, ESPN policed themselves and gave credit to Patrick instead of Cowherd. What a slap in the face to their own employee! Patrick should have just taken that as vindication enough and moved on. Unfortunately, he let Cowherd get to him and Patrick wasted a lot of breath on his biggest rival the next morning.
In the end, “Cunning Cowherd” got the last word. When a listener tweeted The Herd asking what Dan Patrick’s deal was, Colin tweeted back the following: Dan talks a lot about ESPN in his show apparently. I talk a lot about sports. Just different approaches.
He’s right.
Dan, you are better, act like it. Don’t Blink.
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