The two of the five of us who listened to The Worst Show Ever, this morning, were shocked - not once, but twice. First, when talking about Manti Te, they questioned why the NFL should need to know Te's sexual orientation because it is illegal to ask a prospective employee any personal question, including their sexual orientation. Crank, Sarah, and the guy we don't care about (ok, Phoebus - we're starting to care) all agreed the NFL had to be breaking laws wanting to know Te's sexual orientation and supported Te's right to play football regardless of his sexual orientation.
In a later segment, they asked listeners what they thought of Million Mom's call for a boycott of Geico for promoting beastiality. In prefacing the story, they mentioned Million Mom's other boycotts, including Ellen DeGenres for being lesbian. Again, all three stepped up to the plate and dismissed the past boycotts and Phoebus went so far as to mildly scold the "homophobes". Yes, he used the "H" word.
Considering WZBH's, and particularly the Morning Show's, past record of discussing gay topics, we never expected to see a 360-degree turn around in attitudes towards gays and lesbians. As long as the trend at WZBH is to portray gays and lesbians in a positive, and respectful, manner and continues on a regular basis, the occasional gay joke could be entertaining, or simply in bad taste and not funny.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
A step backwards in dog poop
Let's see.... In the last two and a half years, WZBH has gone from Matt & Crank; to Crank; to JJ & Crank; to JJ, Crank, & Sarah; to JJ & Sarah; back to JJ, Crank, & Sarah; and now to Crank, Sarah, and some guy. We don't know who the guy is nor do we care. (Ok, we do know who he is, but we didn't care about him before The Morning Show, so we won't pretend to care now.)
Out of all their tries, the second try of JJ, Crank, and Sarah was the best. It even attained a mildly entertaining value despite some blatant hiccups. At least JJ and Crank acted like a team even if Sarah remained as the token female on the show. The new lineup is a giant step back landing squarely in dog poop.
Sadly, Sarah retains her token female position. She's like the classy collie unnoticed by anyone in the room. Even her own segment, "Tinsel Town Low Down" isn't really hers. Sarah reads a headline, and a yappy chihuahua, Crank, takes over the story as if he is just full of information. The bulldog (the other guy we don't care about) tries to push in, but true to a chihuahua's personality, Crank yaps away and dominates as the alpha male.
The exchanges made each of us say, "Shut the Hell up already." Can you blame us? Who likes a yappy dog, especially one who has to throw in at least three umms or uhhs in every yapping sequence? Something about the squeaky, tenor, almost alto, voice of the chihuahua contrasting with the bulldog's slow, bass voice is, in itself, a comedy act, but it gets old and annoying real fast.
"Yap, yap, umm, yappity yap yap, yap, uhh, yap, yap-yap, yap, umm, yap" followed by "Roof, roof, roof". Yeah, that's the gist of the show. Someone throw the collie a milkbone for being a good little girl and keeping quiet.
The bright side of the new Morning Show? Given its past record, we should get a new cast of characters in about another four or five months. Hopefully sooner, not later.
Out of all their tries, the second try of JJ, Crank, and Sarah was the best. It even attained a mildly entertaining value despite some blatant hiccups. At least JJ and Crank acted like a team even if Sarah remained as the token female on the show. The new lineup is a giant step back landing squarely in dog poop.
Sadly, Sarah retains her token female position. She's like the classy collie unnoticed by anyone in the room. Even her own segment, "Tinsel Town Low Down" isn't really hers. Sarah reads a headline, and a yappy chihuahua, Crank, takes over the story as if he is just full of information. The bulldog (the other guy we don't care about) tries to push in, but true to a chihuahua's personality, Crank yaps away and dominates as the alpha male.
The exchanges made each of us say, "Shut the Hell up already." Can you blame us? Who likes a yappy dog, especially one who has to throw in at least three umms or uhhs in every yapping sequence? Something about the squeaky, tenor, almost alto, voice of the chihuahua contrasting with the bulldog's slow, bass voice is, in itself, a comedy act, but it gets old and annoying real fast.
"Yap, yap, umm, yappity yap yap, yap, uhh, yap, yap-yap, yap, umm, yap" followed by "Roof, roof, roof". Yeah, that's the gist of the show. Someone throw the collie a milkbone for being a good little girl and keeping quiet.
The bright side of the new Morning Show? Given its past record, we should get a new cast of characters in about another four or five months. Hopefully sooner, not later.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Some radio personalities refuse to grow
It's been what...four or five months since we last listened to WZBH? Today broke that streak when I happened to tune in. After two years, one would expect some maturity developing in the morning show team, but, alas, both Crank and JJ are stuck in their adolocent mentality and Sarah lurks somewhere in the background.
Oh, and they still fudge the truth of a story to get their digs in on a group of people, in this case...yes, you guessed it...gays.
The story concerned San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Cullivers' homophobic remarks on a radio station. In Crank and JJ's version of the story, all Culliver said was that he would feel uncomfortable in the locker room with a gay player and then they railed against the "mind control" efforts of the NFL forcing him into sensitivity training. From Crank and JJ's standpoint, Culliver simply voiced a concern and he shouldn't have to apologize nor attend sensitivity training. Crank and JJ still operate under the mistaken belief that free speech means one can say whatever they want, whenever they want, and where ever they want.
The facts of the story paint a different picture than what Crank and JJ wanted us to believe. The most obvious observation of the interview is it is a testament to the failure of our education system. Culliver can't speak a coherent sentence. The man would be best to keep his mouth shut, play football, and just let fans think he's a smart guy.
What Culliver didn't say was he would be uncomfortable in a locker room with a gay guy. What he did say, no bones about it, is gays don't need to be playing football, at least not on his team.
He went on to say that if a gay guy were playing for the team, he'd be best not to tell anyone until ten years after he retired.
This may come as a surprise to Crank and JJ, but if one is speaking in public on behalf of the company he works for or the audience will associate his comments with the company he works for (in this case, a football team and the NFL), the employee (in this case, the football player) is expected to keep his personal opinion to himself and represent his company in the best possible light. San Francisco 49ers have a nondiscrimination policy and support the gay community, at least that is 49ers' official, public stance.
By no stretch of the imagination can Cullivers' words be interpretted as him saying he would be "uncomfortable" in a locker room with a gay player. He made it very clear there is no room for gay people on his team nor in his locker room.
What cracked me up most about Crank and JJ's glossed over commentary was when JJ stated he'd be uncomfortable with a gay guy in a locker room checking him out, too. What sort of arrogance can one person hold to believe he's all that to be worth staring at in the shower? I'll give you a hint, JJ. You ain't got it, as our unoffical poll of gay men in Baltimore shows.
Yes, their commentary was problematic, if not downright offensive. It perpetuates the myth that gay men are oversexed perverts that they'll check anyone out, even JJ. I can almost guarantee that if Crank, JJ, or anyone else ever showered in a locker room with other guys, odds are good there was a gay guy in there, and no one was staring at anyone.
The military is testament to that. Look how many gay guys have served or were serving before the ban on openly gay members serving was lifted. They all showered with the straight guys, and guess what? They didn't ogle the other guys. Of course, both Crank and JJ shirked their civic duty of serving in the military, but if they were as active in sports as they claim, it's safe to say they most likely showered with at least one gay guy who they didn't know was gay.
Once again, if Crank and JJ had done their homework, they wouldn't have touched this story. WZBH and Great Scott Broadcasting does, after all, have a nondiscriminatory policy. Perpetuating myths in a effort to justify homophobic remarks and keep the gay people separated, you would think, is a violation of that policy.
But, hey, I do give credit to Crank and JJ for at least trying to tone down their anti-gay rhetoric. They still need to join Culliver in a sensitivity class, though.
Oh, and they still fudge the truth of a story to get their digs in on a group of people, in this case...yes, you guessed it...gays.
The story concerned San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Cullivers' homophobic remarks on a radio station. In Crank and JJ's version of the story, all Culliver said was that he would feel uncomfortable in the locker room with a gay player and then they railed against the "mind control" efforts of the NFL forcing him into sensitivity training. From Crank and JJ's standpoint, Culliver simply voiced a concern and he shouldn't have to apologize nor attend sensitivity training. Crank and JJ still operate under the mistaken belief that free speech means one can say whatever they want, whenever they want, and where ever they want.
The facts of the story paint a different picture than what Crank and JJ wanted us to believe. The most obvious observation of the interview is it is a testament to the failure of our education system. Culliver can't speak a coherent sentence. The man would be best to keep his mouth shut, play football, and just let fans think he's a smart guy.
What Culliver didn't say was he would be uncomfortable in a locker room with a gay guy. What he did say, no bones about it, is gays don't need to be playing football, at least not on his team.
Lange asked Culliver if any members of the 49ers were homosexual or if he had ever been approached by "gay guys".
"I don't do the gay guys man, I don't do that," Culliver said. "Nah, we ain't got no gay people on the team."
"They gotta get up outta here if they do. Can't be with that sweet stuff. Nah, can't be in the locker room." (source: Global Post)
He went on to say that if a gay guy were playing for the team, he'd be best not to tell anyone until ten years after he retired.
This may come as a surprise to Crank and JJ, but if one is speaking in public on behalf of the company he works for or the audience will associate his comments with the company he works for (in this case, a football team and the NFL), the employee (in this case, the football player) is expected to keep his personal opinion to himself and represent his company in the best possible light. San Francisco 49ers have a nondiscrimination policy and support the gay community, at least that is 49ers' official, public stance.
By no stretch of the imagination can Cullivers' words be interpretted as him saying he would be "uncomfortable" in a locker room with a gay player. He made it very clear there is no room for gay people on his team nor in his locker room.
What cracked me up most about Crank and JJ's glossed over commentary was when JJ stated he'd be uncomfortable with a gay guy in a locker room checking him out, too. What sort of arrogance can one person hold to believe he's all that to be worth staring at in the shower? I'll give you a hint, JJ. You ain't got it, as our unoffical poll of gay men in Baltimore shows.
Yes, their commentary was problematic, if not downright offensive. It perpetuates the myth that gay men are oversexed perverts that they'll check anyone out, even JJ. I can almost guarantee that if Crank, JJ, or anyone else ever showered in a locker room with other guys, odds are good there was a gay guy in there, and no one was staring at anyone.
The military is testament to that. Look how many gay guys have served or were serving before the ban on openly gay members serving was lifted. They all showered with the straight guys, and guess what? They didn't ogle the other guys. Of course, both Crank and JJ shirked their civic duty of serving in the military, but if they were as active in sports as they claim, it's safe to say they most likely showered with at least one gay guy who they didn't know was gay.
Once again, if Crank and JJ had done their homework, they wouldn't have touched this story. WZBH and Great Scott Broadcasting does, after all, have a nondiscriminatory policy. Perpetuating myths in a effort to justify homophobic remarks and keep the gay people separated, you would think, is a violation of that policy.
But, hey, I do give credit to Crank and JJ for at least trying to tone down their anti-gay rhetoric. They still need to join Culliver in a sensitivity class, though.
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