The Five

THE FIVE

Houston Sports talk is hurting.   Shows are struggling for content, over-exaggerating and regurgitating stories from the national media.  The Rockets are in the playoffs and the Astros are looking good in April.

The problem, most of Houston do not believe the Rockets can beat San Antonio Spurs or the Golden State Warriors and the Astros are not on the radar right and some in the local media simply do not follow the Astros.

We are in the Dog Days of Spring, but we do the have the NFL Draft so that’s good?

Currently, there are five local Sports Shows I am listening to. 

THE BLITZ

Fred Faour and AJ Hoffman are the only show in town I listen reel to reel. I tweet them often so they have learned my personality and they snap back at my comments, I like that.   The Blitz is cool because they make no apologies about leaving the sports world and talking about politics, media, other stations, you name it.  They are grumpy and agitated. I love the way they troll the local fan base.  Fred and AJ interact with their fans for the good or bad.

PAUL GALLANT

Paul Gallant’s show is a hidden jewel.  Nighttime sports talk radio is hard; you must be a P1 (listens no matter what) or a truck driver to religiously tune in to night time.  I like Paul’s show because he and Josh Beard will go against local opinion and they go out of their way to brand themselves as the most interactive show.  Unlike some, Paul do not run from confrontation, he welcomes it.  Both, Paul and Josh are nerds and talk about television like the Blitz.  It’s must listen radio when Game Of Thrones airs because they go deep in analysis.

JOSH INNES

Josh Innes is a flame thrower.  I listen to Josh because I know he approaches sports as a fan. He gets in the feels and make you mad but at the end of the day, you find yourself saying “my friend and I, had this debate”.  Josh’s show has a lot of energy with Jim Mudd and Jilly pouring gasoline on the fire. If you haven’t figured it out, Josh’s whole deal, he does not want to be the same ole same ole.  Josh wants to distinguish himself from other local shows therefore he will push the limits as far as he can.

RAHEEL, JOHN and DEL

John, Raheel and Del are probably the last of local shows who still incorporates fun in their show.  They do not go out of their way to act better than the audience.  They crack jokes.  They interact with their audience.  One of the best elements of their show, they crack jokes on themselves.  The traditional time for Morning Talk Radio is 6 am but the trio is making me rethink that.  It’s just a fun silly show and the three seems to get along well in addition to having sick chemistry.

MAD RADIO

If you want some intellectual sports, look no further than Seth and Mike.  Seth and Mike approaches Sports Talk from a cerebral point of view.  I am not saying their show is a Mensa level college course but the guys go beyond the routine recycled takes.  Seth and Mike challenge each other to explore some of the routine takes we hear.   The benefit of listening to MAD radio, you are guaranteed to learn a new SAT word per show.  The dudes, has a way of incorporating big words in their show.

I try to listen to most shows in Houston  but these are the Five, I try to catch segments on a weekly.  I listen to a lot of Barry Laminack and Joel Blank and I wanted to add them but THE SIX simply do not sound cool.

LM