WEEI

Staties vs. Barstool Sports, blogger vs. old-media blowhard

A couple of Staties visited David Portnoy of Barstool Sports and suggested it might be best for all concerned if he took down the nekkid photos of the Brady kid, if you know what they mean, and they think you do, so he did. At least, for today.

Meanwhile, Glenn Ordway, apparently tired of driving more people to Portnoy's site through his anti-Barstool radiothon, turned his sputtering mike and frothing listeners on Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch for daring to suggest Ordway just shut up already about the whole thing. Allen returns fire today:

Had WEEI just condemned and moved on, would this story have gotten as much attention as it did? While plenty of other media outlets did pick up on the story, there is no doubt that WEEI's incessant banging of the drum increased the visibility of the story.

I heard you state that the extended discussion of the topic had nothing to do with ratings. That is a boldface lie. Everything done at WEEI is for ratings. Are you claiming that this was some sort of selfless public service you were performing here?

WFNX about to go way of WBCN?

The Weekly Dig, which, granted, isn't the most disinterested observer in such things, reports (third item) the hot rumor in local radio circles is that Entercom wants to throw some money at the Phoenix to buy 'FNX and replace it with that milquetoast Mike format from 93.7 so it can move faltering WEEI onto FM and try to smack the Sports Hub around.

WEEI producer did a bad, bad thing

The Herald reports dude got himself suspended for sending "vulgar" texts to rival WBZ-FM, a.k.a., the Sports Hub. Props to columnist Jessica Heslam for this:

Massaua never responded to repeated text messages seeking a comment.

It's good to be a two sports-talk-station town

On the Boston Radio mailing list, Roger Kirk reports he fiddled between the Sports Hub and 'EEI on the way home last night to compare the two:

98.5's DA was discussing the Topic Du Jour i.e. Teddy Bruschi's retirement with callers.

The Sox had the night off, so WEEI's host was engaged in animated conversation with a caller comparing the breast size of Serena Williams to other Tennis Players.

The SportsHub vs. WEEI

Bruce Allen compares and grades Boston's newest sports-talk station and its established archrival.

Could this be the knock-down, drag-out all-out sports-media war we've all not been waiting for?

David Scott dons his Kevlar and reports from the uneasy truce line between the Globe and WEEI, following yesterday's incursion by Globie Chadd Finn:

... If there's going to be a sports media war in this town, it certainly isn't going to include the Boston Herald or any other of our local pretender sites. ... As for a WEEI/Globe escalation of activity, I say, "Bring it on." Something has to shake up the status quo in this town and if Chad Finn's WEEI Manifesto is it, then let 'er rip. ...

As long as he's on the topic of the Globe, Scott wonders when "Curt Schilling's BFF" will just start publishing "Best of ..." columns instead of pretending he's offering new insights in his columns.

Hello, caller - you're live in the courtroom

A Cambridge wedding photographer faces criminal charges for a series of phone calls he allegedly made to WEEI last fall.

David Banner, 57, pleaded innocent in Brighton District Court yesterday to two counts of criminal harassment, two counts of threats to commit a crime and one count of making annoying phone calls to employees of Entercom Communications in Brighton, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office. Banner was released on personal recognizance and ordered to not call any radio station in Boston.

The charges focus on four calls Banner allegedly made to the station in October and November:

In an Oct. 29 call that began with an expression of displeasure over his perception of the station's politics, Banner allegedly stated, "And another thing, the next time [Employee #1] laughs in somebody's face with his snide snickering laugh, I'm gonna come in there and kick his [expletive] teeth in. And then I'm gonna look for you and kick your [expletive] teeth, you [expletive] .... And you can tell [Employee #2] when he makes fun of people to look in the [expletive] [expletive] mirror. [Expletive] you." ...

In one Nov. 4 call, he allegedly said, "When you talk about somebody's look, look in the [expletive] mirror, you donut-eating [expletive] [expletive]. You and your [expletive] [expletive] daughter. Die, you son of a [expletive]."

In a second Nov. 4 call made to a different employee minutes later, he allegedly said, "Every morning when I listen to the show, I just say, jeez, maybe tomorrow I wake up and I hear that [Employee #3] and [Employee #4] died. That would be my wish, for you to [expletive] die."

"If someone finds a radio show that upsetting, the appropriate response is to change the channel," DA Dan Conley said. "Instead, we have here a pattern of extremely vulgar and, frankly, bizarre phone calls that rise to the level of criminal behavior."

The DA's office says all of the calls were taped; does not specify whether any were used on the Whiner Line.

Innocent, etc.