WEEI In The Wind

For those of you who don't know, once upon a time, the sports radio station WEEI 850AM, was the #1 radio station in America.  It wasn't just for sports, it was number one for all stations.  I first listened to WEEI back in 2003 when I started getting into the Red Sox.  I didn't have cable back then (and still don't), so I listened to the games on the radio.  I expected that to be all WEEI gave me, but they gave me so much back then.  Their shows were great with Dennis & Callahan, Dale & Holley, The Big Show, and Ted Nation, who actually talked sports intelligently, including college basketball.  Yes, it was safe to say WEEI was riding high, and had me hooked.

As the years went by though, something changed.  WEEI was losing ratings, and losing them fast, causing them to make steep changes to the shows and personalities I love.  Dale & Holley was no more, as was Ted Nation, causing two of my favorite personalities to be off the air.  Dale Arnold came back, and is still on the station, but in a limited role, while Ted Sarandis is God knows where.  Added onto WEEI's problems was that new rival sports station 98.5 The Sports Hub arrived, and hasn't looked back since, repeatedly beating WEEI in ratings.

So why write about WEEI?  Because their station isn't what it used to be anymore.  I loved their station because of the shows, personalities, and the fact they had games, but that isn't enough now.  Since modern day interest in sports radio is different now compared to back then, all the people I used to listen to, don't have their jobs anymore, including Glenn Ordway, Pete Sheppard, and now recently Jon Rish.  It's sickening and sad to see what WEEI has become, and how disloyal sports radio has become, since it didn't always used to be like this, but maybe it always was, and I just didn't notice.

Now, I won't abandon ship since I'm a loyal person, and WEEI still has some entertaining things, like Dennis & Callahan (when they don't talk about politics), Red Sox/Celtics games, and the Jimmy Fund Radio Telethon, but the golden days of WEEI and sports radio are over, which to me, is a sad revelation.