For almost a year now, I have The Dave Smith Show on Sporting News Radio on my home from work. The commute is only about fifteen minutes, so I'm not exactly an expert on the program, but from what I've heard it's a solid show that generally avoids the sensationalism to which many other hosts are prone.

There are, however, a few things about Smith that drive me crazy. Seeing as how this is a blog about announcing, I decided to throw my thoughts out there and see what the AA readership thinks.

1. Man Card Violations: Smith likes to do this bit whenever someone in the professional ranks or associated with his show does something "unmanly", such as his producer's tendency to carry a "man-purse". They seem to do it a lot, so either I'm listening at the wrong time every day or he needs to cut back. It came to a head last Thursday with a discussion of Tony Parker and Eva Longoria that lasted for an entire segment. Painful, Dave, painful. And if I have to hear, "I'm so sorry - YOU'VE LOST YOUR MANCARD!" much more, I might snap.
2. No Reading Off Scripts: Every day on my drive home, Smith opens the segment by telling the audience how his show is different from others because he doesn't read off scripts, no callers reading off scripts, he actually has callers who disagree with him, and so on. Stuff like this might be good if his show's reach is quickly growing and he wants to tell new listeners what he's all about, but it ignores those who have been listening for awhile and know where Smith is coming from. From my perspective, it comes off as unnecessary filler.
3. Shaq Obsession: Smith is a West Coast-based host, which I actually like because it provides a balance to the rest of the national media and helps offset the dreaded "East Coast Bias". That's great. But what bothers me about this is Smith's reliance on his anti-Shaq platform. This stance is not in itself a bad thing - he's right when he notes that O'Neal often gets a free pass from the media and fans, even when he is clearly in the wrong. The problem is that we get to hear a segment about this at least once a week (at least it seems that way) - Shaq isn't that great, Shaq's overpaid, Shaq has all the local sportswriters in his pocket, I'm the only one who has ever pointed this stuff out, and so on. It gets old hearing the same information repeated time after time.

I guess the important thing to stress here is that I like Smith overall. He can be funny and incisive and interesting to listen to much of the time, and it's unreasonable to expect that he present a perfect show every single day. But if he cuts back on some of the stuff listed above - cuts BACK, not cuts COMPLETELY - he might be off to a good start.

Any other thoughts?