Unbiased Analysis of Houston's Sports Radio Talk Shows


I am a big sports talk show guy. This story started in the late 80s, in San Diego, when I was in grad school. I used to debug and run computer programs all night with the radio on. That's how I got introduced to sports radio (and to Jim Rome). I didn't have to pay a lot of attention --the topics are never that important, thus, you don't need to listen carefully-- and they kept a voice in the computer lab during those long hours. As time went by, I listened to good shows, bad shows, and a lot of mediocre shows. Two of my all-time favorites in sports radio: 1) the late Chet Forte, an excellent sport talk show host: funny, opinionated, with a lot of sports stories; and 2) the legendary Bob Kemp, who left Sporting News Radio (then, One-on-One Sports) to go to live with his family in Arizona -a loss for the sports fan across the USA, a gain for the Phoenix sports fan.

Anyway, in the internet you can find "best 10"/"best 100" lists and rankings of almost everything; but very little discussion of sports radio talk shows hosts. After years of listening experience, I feel confident I can give my two cents on the subject. There are two stations in Houston dedicated to Sports Radio: 610 AM and 790 AM. Below, you can read my opinion of the shows I have listened in the local stations.

KILT-AM, Sports Radio 610
The Shows:
  • John Granato, Lance Zierlein and the Morning Crew: Two homers, that seldom criticize the local teams, unless completely necessary. Sometimes, they talk about non-sports topics, and the quality of the shows deteriorates tremendously. Every now and then, they try to be irreverent, but some of their non-sports comments -for some reason, a couple of times, they made negative, tongue-in-cheek, comments about overweight people, specially women- can be annoying. For this reason, I stopped listening to the show for a while, until Collin Cowherd (see below) made me switch back to 610 in the morning. John McClain, a good local journalist that also seldom criticizes the local team unless he has to, makes the show better when he shows up. Overall, a not very serious, but friendly, OK show.

  • The Jim Rome Show: Great, fun show. Jim is a little bit full of himself. He thinks he has a better sense of humor and interview skills than he actually has, but overall, the guy is unique. The show has been a great company during many days and nights. When Jim Rome started back in XTRA 690, when I was a grad student in San Diego, I used to hate his night show. A couple of months later --XTRA was the only game in town--, I loved the show. I missed his show when I left USCD for Virginia. Fortunately, KILT-AM 610, in Houston, picked the show up years ago, and I have kept up listening to him again since then.

  • Rich Lord, Marc Vandermeer & The Afternoon Drive Time Players: Rich Lord is a very decent host, with informed opinions and always treats callers with a friendly attitude. With Charlie Pallilo, Rich used to be very entertaining. Now, with Marc Vandermeer, Rich Lord can't have a good conversation with the co-host. Unfortunately for Rich, Marc Vandermeer is no help. Marc Vandermeer --a decent play-by-play guy-- is friendly, seems like a good guy to have a beer, but terrible sports talk show host. A guy with no opinions about sports (amazingly, he has opinions about music and movies!). In the same range of the old 610 member Kenny Hand. I don't listen to this show anymore.

  • The Night Shift with Matt & Adam: The show sounds like one high school kid (Matt) and one college kid talking (Adam). During the show, you hear a lot of inflammatory statements, mainly from Matt Jackson. In general, they are opinionated, but with few good points. I have to admit, however, that sometimes they are funny. One of the very few shows in Houston that makes irreverent comments towards --i.e., they don't consistently suck up to-- the athletic programs of the University of Texas and Texas A&M. Also, only show in 610 that, regularly, offers negative views on the Houston Texans. (610 is the official station of the Texans.) This show is another easy to listen show.

  • The David Stein Show: I listened to this show twice, after the now gone (and unfortunately so) Rick Ballou's show. Terrible sports show. Terrible. The guy, definitely, has nothing interesting to say about sports. David Stein, replaced Kevin Wheeler, who did not have a great show, but at least there was sports conversation. If, by mistake, I listen to the David Stein Show, I automatically change it to 790.


    ESPN 790, The Sports Animal
    The Shows:
  • The Herd with Colin Cowherd: Not an engaging host. The guy has lots of opinions, which should be good, but, unfortunately, few new or interesting ones. Stole style and some takes from Jim Rome (Softball/Baseball guy, for example). If by mistake I listen to him, I immediately change the station to 610.

  • Dan Patrick Show: Unchecked, Dan Patrick talks too much about himself, life, arts and other non-sports subjects. Unfortunately, he does not excel on these topics. His views on non-sports subjects are commonplace. Moreover, when Dan Patrick engages in social commentary, it's time to change stations. The good stuff of the show comes through the guests, which, in general, are very good. The hour with Keith Olberman is fun and interesting.

  • Charlie Pallilo: A great, great Houston sports talk show host. Charlie is opinionated and friendly. He never places himself above the caller. Should go national, Houston is small for this guy. I wonder how Colin Cowherd has a national show and Charlie Pallilo is stuck in Houston. Those pictures, Colin, worked!

  • JT The Brick: Like Dan Patrick, JT talks too much about himself, but he makes it up with his amazing energy. He is a fan, talks like a fan, acts like a fan. Some days, the show is lost in irrelevant/weak topics; in general, topics more related to "life" than to sports. But, overall, it's an entertaining show. I'd drop his continuous talk about the army/military, but it seems, it runs in his family.

  • The Third Shift on FOX with Jorge Sedano : "George" is another entertaining host. George Sedano is an opinionated, interesting, fun guy on the radio. A little bit of a homer for the Miami teams, but that’s OK. It doesn’t detract from the show. The banter with his two other co-hosts is fun.


    Boring Shows: The "UT/TAMU/fill the blank with your College of choice," Hour with Coach "fill the blank"

    Both stations have hour shows/half hour shows with college coaches from UT,TAMU,UH, etc. Houston is not Richmond, or Bloomington, or Gainesville. Houston is a big, diversified town, with people from everywhere. We have professional sports! Amazingly, once a week we have to listen to these shows (time to change radio stations for me). College coaches repeat the same lines and clichés, over and over. (Maybe, this is a problem with all sports coaches.) The interviewer never asks a difficult question. Actually, the interviewer never asks an interesting question. All scripted and completely un-spontaneous. These stations can play one of these shows from ten years ago and nobody would notice.

    Nothing is more boring than these shows. I assume that the stations make a bundle from the sponsors of the shows, milking the alumni's love/support of those schools. I always wonder what the ratings are for these shows.


    Last Updated: August 2006.