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  . . MEDIA SAVVY

"Superstation?" Yeah Right, and
the Braves are "America's Team"

What was it Jerry Lewis said about the big fence in China? “I’ve seen the Great Wall of China. It’s not a great wall. It’s a good wall.”

And the new configuration of XTRAs 690 and 1150 AM is just a tad short of a “Superstation.” It’s not a super station. It’s a good station.

Let’s start with Lee Hamilton. Look, it’s not that Hacksaw’s a racist exactly. I mean, who knows? When Hamilton says Tom Berenger’s acting made Bear Bryant “look like a fruit,” it really says more about the man’s cluelessness than his deep dark inner feelings.

Whatever. For some reason Hacksaw gets numbers, and the “Best Fifteen Minutes of Football” continues.

Jim Rome is still cool, but the current flagship gets zero credit for that, especially after all this time and since they had nothing to do with it in the first place.

JT “The Brick” is a slightly less annoying version of Arnie Spanier, who reaffirms only that clones should not get their own shows. Vic “Formerly the Brick” Jacobs on the other hand, is a man, just about the best thing the station has going.

Baseball is handled professionally by Jeff Biggs and A. Martinez. Lee Klein’s OK too. No complaints there.

Instead of Dodgers play-by-play, it’s Bruins, Clippers and Avengers -- way way way too much Avengers. Of course, any arena football is too much arena football.

With Bill Werndl running for cover instead of Los Angeles, Steve Hartman hangs in as the Loose Cannon, singular, his parade of auditioners getting old fast. Chet Forte was a great Cannon, Werndl was a great Cannon, Petros Papadakis, like the big wall, is just good…

Listeners missing the old XTRA catch a break with the new XERPS-AM, aptly named “The Mighty 1090.” 50,000 watts of good stuff.

Execs John Lynch and Bill Pugh, the brains behind 690, wasted little time bringing in familiar voices John Kentera, John Fricke and Billy Ray Smith. It’s especially comforting having the Coach back on the air. High fives all around.

The 4 to 8 p.m. slot works nicely with Steve Mason and Bill Werndl. If Werndl blurts out his old partner’s name, he’s covered…

KFWB’s excuse for its microscopic coverage of Dodgers’ spring games is lame. Nobody cares about a month’s worth of 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ratings…

“He missed the tag!! He missed the tag!!” The Baseball Hall of Fame can use a few laughs, and Bob Uecker is just the ticket. Remember his spots with Johnny Carson and the classic “passed ball school” bit? And Uecker’s response to the “How many home runs did you hit” question? “Oh, I banged out 14 of em…”

Don’t miss this piece from the good folks at TheOnion.com:Yankees Ensure 2003 Pennant By Signing Every Player in Baseball…

And for some sleek photography of MLB parks, check out photographer Ken
Bondy...

Vinny, you’re the greatest….

Howard Cole

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