Welcome to the my Web site, v. XII. The blog is typically published Monday - Saturday. My primary topics tend to be the Nats, Penn State (esp. football), BeltwayLand, transportation, media, photos and more. The rest of the site gets updated as warranted and is noted on the blog.
Voices of negative ads on ATC - William World News - William F. Yurasko's blog
Monday, October 27, 2008
Voices of negative ads on ATC
Voices Of Political Ads Share Insight - NPR One of the highlights of every election season is when All Things Considered brings on people who do political campaign voiceovers. Scott Sanders and Dennis Steele were featured this time.
I'd be remiss if I did not include this Sanders classic:
WTOP sports puts Baltimore first again - William World News - William F. Yurasko's blog
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
WTOP sports puts Baltimore first again
Quick question with the Nationals and Orioles both playing at home which ballpark do you think Washington radio station WTOP had its reporter at? Was it Nationals Park? Nope, Craig Heist was reporting from Oriole Park in Baltimore. The Orioles vs. Rays game was giving top billing on tonight's sportscast above the Nationals. The reason seems pretty simple if you read Heist's bio:
I love covering my hometown team, the Orioles.
Boy, that's sweet Craig nothing like putting the city your station broadcasts from second. I might have to stop listening to anything on WTOP that does not start on the eights.
WTOP's Dave Johnson: Putting Baltimore first - William World News - William F. Yurasko's blog
Monday, September 08, 2008
WTOP's Dave Johnson: Putting Baltimore first
This morning, WTOP sports led with the Ravens win over Cincinatti and devoted the largest part of the sportscast to Baltimore's football team. I'm pretty indifferent to the Ravens other than I am glad Baltimore got a NFL team again, even if they have to wear purple. I am not going to suggest that the NFL is not important, if the Redskins had played yesterday instead of Thursday, it would have made sense for them to lead off in sports. I will suggest though that local teams like the Nationals are more important than non-local teams like the Ravens. The Nationals came from behind and won in 14 innings yesterday (The Post) and are broadcasted by WTOP's sister station WWWT.
Even if you accept that non-local NFL games trump local MLB games, I would argue that the Ravens are not even the second most popular team in BeltwayLand. That position is probably held by the Giants with the Eagles, Jets, Steelers, possibly the Patriots and even Cowboys more popular than the Ravens, so why not focus on them if D.C. teams don't matter too much? Perhaps sports director Dave Johnson's bio offers a hint:
Before breaking into sports Johnson was a disc jockey at several stations in Baltimore. His first job was at a station that played Sinatra music and then he went on to "spin records" at rock and country stations.
A graduate of Towson University...
It is not a stretch to suggest that Johnson's colors run purple & black and orange & black instead of red, white & blue and burgundy & gold. He is even wearing Ravens colors in his photo. It is an ongoing pro-Baltimore trend that also rewards the bad behavior by anti-Washington baseball owner Peter Angelo$. Johnson should shape up and focus on the real home teams.
Dave Johnson here nice blog!!!actually we thought the rookie story (Flacco)was a neat one so we led with that...nationals got bumped because it was an nfl monday..although is still used highlights in every cast.BUT i grew up a colts fans but never made the switch to ravens..as I kid i remeber the ted williams senators..thanks again for listening
# posted by Anonymous :
Monday, September 08, 2008 4:38:00 PM
Thanks for responding, though I'll note there was no mention of the Nationals in either the 6:45 or 7:15 sportscasts. They had the night off, but they are back tonight.
# posted by WFY :
Tuesday, September 09, 2008 8:08:00 AM
Post a CommentThoughts on the Mike O'Meara Show - William World News - William F. Yurasko's blog
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Thoughts on the Mike O'Meara Show
Recently, a few co-workers and I had a conversation about the new Mike O'Meara Show, heard locally on WJFK 106.7. We all had the same conclusion -- it is pretty good. While the new show is not as good as the old Don & Mike Show at its peak, it still keeps me entertained and is better than what the Don & Mike Show had become. Don Geronimo was clearly unhappy being on the old show, so his retirement has been an addition via subtraction. O'Meara's show isn't dark like D&M could be and has more whimsy and tomfoolery. Sure, some of the bits are not super, but overall the lighter tone is a welcome change. Keep it up Mike!
I wish I had the dish or XM - William World News - William F. Yurasko's blog
Saturday, July 26, 2008
I wish I had the dish or XM
If I were watching or listening to either of the next two Nats games from L.A., I'd put on the Dodgers broadcast for the first few innings . Vin Scully, probably the last Dodgers employee left from Brooklyn, still does home games for the first few innings on a radio/TV simulcast.
Scully is on the Mount Rushmore of baseball broadcasters which would also include Mel Allen, Red Barber and probably Jon Miller. Ernie Harwell, Harry Kalas and several others also have legitimate claims to to being up there too.
Dan Snyder buys WTEM - William World News - William F. Yurasko's blog
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Dan Snyder buys WTEM
Dan Snyder Expands Radio Empire - The Post In an effort to control the message and provide "unfiltered" coverage of the Redskins, owner Dan Snyder has purchased WTEM, the market's original sports radio station.
Since taking over the Redskins in 1999, Snyder has made a number of deals to control both the media and the message. In addition to purchasing the Triple X radio stations in late 2005, the Redskins buy time on local TV stations to air upbeat, magazine-style shows such as "Redskins Game Day" that are produced by the team.
That is a pretty tame way of putting it. Snyder comes off as incredibly petty and insecure about himself and his team. Once again, he has bought his way out of criticism, if there is even much of it on WTEM; I don't know, because I don't listen to sports radio.
One wonders how Snyder would hold up in a media market that did not provide so much favorable coverage of the team. Clearly, he doesn't see it, but I think reasonable people realize that the Redskins have traditionally been subject to coverage that is far from harsh. Can you imagine Snyder owning a team in a place like New York or Philly? He couldn't have handle it.
Snyder has faced some backlash over the years, but not enough that he hasn't been able to fill FedEx Field every Sunday. He has the luxury of a devoted fanbase and a season-ticket waiting list that has spanned generations. Moves like this though and the mediocre gameday experience is probably going to cut it into that soon. Ten years from now, he could find himself in a really tough spot, maybe five if the Redskins can't win regularly.
Lastly, I wonder if Bonneville is going to switch 3WT to sports radio. They have very little original programming now and already carry the Nats and Caps. They must be thinking about it a little bit.
I haven't listened to 980 in years so I have no idea about their Skins coverage. But it seem to me that football teams lend themselves to criticism rather easily. If your team wins, they rule! If they lose, they stink! I listen to Redskins Radio from time to time and I have heard them criticize the Skins when its deserved. But I have no idea how that compares to other media outlets.
Now if you want to talk about their lack of hockey coverage.....
# posted by The Maryland Bureau Chief :
Thursday, June 05, 2008 11:49:00 AM
Earworms on Radio Lab - William World News - William F. Yurasko's blog
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Earworms on Radio Lab
The latest edition of Radio Lab, a public radio program from WNYC featured locally on WAMU at 6 p.m. on Saturday, focused on pop music. Of particular interest is the segment about earworms -- songs that get stuck in your head. I have not listened to it yet, but look forward to when I get a little downtime.
My current earworm is "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)" by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. I love the rhythm guitar.
Final Don & Mike Show today - William World News - William F. Yurasko's blog
Friday, April 11, 2008
Final Don & Mike Show today
Don Geronimo makes his return to the Don & Mike Show for one final show today at 3 p.m. on WJFK and dozens of radio stations nationwide. He is retiring (early) after over 20 years on the show with Mike O'Meara. I expect him to name names and overall be very, very bitter and selfish, but occasionally grateful.
If Mike ever wants to kill off the Charly character, now would be a great time. I hope he doesn't though.
UPDATE: Don skipped the bitterness. He explained that he couldn't do the show anymore because it was keeping him from moving on from the death of his wife Freida. He talked about his new life and shared war stories with each member of the cast, ending with Mike. Now he's taking some time to say a few other things before he goes out.
Only one more Don & Mike Show - William World News - William F. Yurasko's blog
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Only one more Don & Mike Show
UPDATED 04.03.2008: Also, Mike pub, O'Meara's in Manassas, has closed is only open on weekends. I never did get around to visiting it because, well, it was in Manassas. I guess I still could visit. DCRTV had incorrectly said it was closed. The economic slowdown was sighted as the reason.
DCRTV.com is reporting that Don Geronimo has "accelerated his retirement" and will only appear on the Don & Mike Show one more time, on April 11. Following that, The Mike O'Meara Show will debut on April 14 with the rest of the cast, plus former producer Beth Ann McBride.
I've listened to them on and off for the duration of the show. I'm curious what the next incarnation will be with only "one idiot." Had I not been listening them since I was a wee lad, I don't know if I would have found them at all entertaining, but with all the "history" I still tune them in.
BTW, I hope Don calls his autobiography "Honk for Cash."
Succumbing to the commerical: Chipotle - William World News - William F. Yurasko's blog
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Succumbing to the commerical: Chipotle
After many years of saying, "no, thanks" when the Chipotle fax sheet came to my cube, I finally decided to give it a try. I will admit that this is largely because of the Pork, Pork, Pork song (chipotlog) in the Chipotle radio ads.
I went ahead and ordered carnita crispy tacos. I enjoyed them -- they are good, but ultimately, the song is better.
Carpenter returning to MASN for 2008 - The Wash. Times More details on Bob Carpenter's return to the pressbox for one more season of TV play-by-play. On the subject of analyst Don Sutton, Carpenter thinks that "everything's going to be cool with him and me." Sutton apparently expressed concerns about Carpenter's style to Nats president Stan Kasten that prompted the team looking to look for someone else.
At the end of the nationals.comarticle on the Nats interest in Andruw Jones, comes the news that Dave Jageler has reached a deal to remain in the radio booth. Charlie Slowes still hasn't come to terms though. I would be very disappointed if he does not return, especially with all the curly W's around the ballpark.
Nats stay on 1500/107.7 and Trogdor smote the Kerrick and all was laid to burnination - William World News - William F. Yurasko's blog
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Nats stay on 1500/107.7 and Trogdor smote the Kerrick and all was laid to burnination
Nats stay on 3WT for three seasons - The Wash. Times Once again, the Nationals will be carried by Bonneville's 1500 AM, 107.7 FM and 820 AM frequencies. The former Washington Post Radio is now a talk station called 3WT and is also home of the Capitals. There is potential for some problems of overlap if/when either team makes the playoffs, something that hasn't been publicly addressed.
Charlie Slowes and Dave Jagler have not yet signed contracts, likely because of the Nationals dragging their feet. Just get it done Stan.
In other news, the Nats hired an amateur scout for North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Kerrick Johnson had recently completed the team's diversity internship program.
"The team also hired Marteese Robinson, a former director of professional scouting for the St. Louis Cardinals, as East Coast crosschecker. Robinson takes over for Jeff Zona, who was promoted to special assignment scout."
Torii Hunter tells nationals.com that he is interested in playing D.C. because his friend Dmitri Young is on the team and there is a large African-American community. The Nats would have to open their pocketbook though.
Scott Sanders, Dennis Steele, negative ads, election
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