What's With All Of The Secrecy Regarding Dan Patrick?
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Haven't brought up DP in awhile, but an Anonymous commenter made a good point in an older post. Why haven't any of the fill-ins for Dan Patrick even mentioned him or his final week? Seems odd that they wouldn't try to have someone in place to replace them....get a ton of listeners for DP's last show (this Friday)....and try to get them to carry over. Instead they aren't mentioning anything about the spot at all.
With all of that said, Neil Best collected a ton of great quotes from DP (some call it an interview). Here are a few of the best (get it?!)....
"I felt like a stationary bike after a while," he said. "The highs weren't high and the lows weren't low. I was mired in mediocrity ... There wasn't anything I could hang my hat on and say, 'I am proud of doing that."Definitely Dan. That's more than just okay. Also, I never root for the demise of anything, but ESPN Radio needs to get their act together....and quick.
"Maybe I'll get a rocking chair and an autographed Chris Berman picture and then just ride off into the sunset."
Patrick did say this about the ESPN experience: "It's a big umbrella, but sometimes it's too big, because you're asked to do a lot of different things. I think sometimes you can get lost in the shuffle at ESPN, sort of 'out of sight, out of mind.'"
"I'm sure years from now, it's still going to be, 'Hey, you're the 'SportsCenter' dude!' That's OK."
Dan Patrick to sail uncertain course after 18 years with ESPN (Newsday)
13 Comments:
ESPN Radio started to suck when they kicked off Korheiser and brought in Cumdumpster Cowherd.
Good info Chip...that makes a lot of business sense.
Tirico made mention of DP several times last week, mostly when he was co-hosting with Van Pelt, but other than maybe Michael Kay, I can't remember anyone else. He will be back on Friday for a good-bye show; kind of a greatest hits from what I've heard.
Chip is correct about standard practice in the industry, but it seems very heartless considering that Dan Patrick is (a) one of the most high-profile personalities in the history of ESPN, and (b) such a pro that he would never, ever go on the air and trash his soon-to-be-ex-employer, which is the usual worry.
This next hire will say a lot about the future direction of ESPN Radio. They seem to be tilting toward solo hosts who can fill an entire segment with a rant on a single subject -- not only Cowherd, but also John Seibel in the afternoon and the insufferable John Kincaid on Sundays. If they hire another Cowherd clone, then ESPN Radio will be almost entirely unlistenable. What they should do is either hire a solo host with a brain and good connections, or develop another duo act like Mike & Mike.
ESPN Radio could so easily be not only a dominant force in sports radio, but also entertaining and informative. Here's hoping they don't turn it into the sports equivalent of Limbaugh/Savage/Hannity et al.
I listen to ESPNRadio every day and here's my .02 dollars.
Mike&Mike are palatable. I'll usually flip over to Czaban on FOX when M&M start boring me and i'll get stuck there because they don't get stuck on the obvious headlines for the entire show.
Cowherd is entertaining. He sounds like a prick, but he is entertaining, and usually when i flip him on, I'll stick around.
John Seibel is atrocious. i can't even put my finger on it. I dont like his voice, his demeanor, or his presence.
The day Kuselias left, I cried. Other than Kornheiser, he was my favorite ESPNRadio voice over the past 10 years. Eric is smart, fair, and knows how to keep things interesting. Same goes for Tony K.
Gottleib > Seibel, but not by much.
now i'm jsut rambling.
Anyone ever heard Linda Cohn filling in?
I had to take a roadtrip a few weeks ago and ESPN radio was the only sports channel I could get. My ears still bleed from that show.
For the record, Kornheiser left of his own volition. He wasn't (god help us) replaced for that other guy.
Remember when ESPN Radio was this great all-day line-up?
M&M, TK, DP, Doug Brown, Chuck and Chris Moore, Bobby V and Todd Wright?
that's like 5 or 6 years ago now.
wasn't Dan supposed to get a "final week" of shows, not just one final show?
DP will be missed... I also thought he was to have a final "week" and not just one final "show." Oh well...
I agree that ESPN radio is in trouble... they are going down a path that I probably won't follow. Seibel really sucks in the afternoons, and Cowherd is such an arrogant ass, I'm not surprised his wife left him. I appreciate Gottleib for his college b-ball wisdom, but he too is getting pretty arrogant. He misses his own show more than half the time, seems like ESPN isn't sure where to put him (might see him show up in DP's old spot). M&M gets old quickly as they stay on one topic waaaaay too long (and greenie just annoys the crap out of me). Eric is pretty good, but the rest of them, they can keep.
The reason why no one has seen Dan Patrick lately is because he actually died many years ago.
ESPN secretly replaced him with another bitter, middle-aged white guy who knew sports (luckily they could find one) and no one seemed to notice.
I'll always remember the 90's Dan!
I wonder if they will Bring back dibble on Friday as a guest.
Big Lead just posted a story saying Dan will get "three day" goodbye bunch of shows.
Radio mentality is that once you announce you are leaving you are dead to whomever you are leaving.
They are not too concerned about listeners on Dan's last show because it falls in the summer ratings book which most sports stations do not even acknowledge.
They also don't want to waste promotional dollars on a personality who will soon be on another network competing with them.
If they are doing anything, it's very quietly lining up advertisers for the final show and trying to maximize that. The listener part is irrelevant to them.
If anything, the local affiliates might promote it to get people to listen to their station. I would.