This one ended up being a bit longer than expected — a stream of consciousness essay about being the local sports columnist after a bad loss.

When I was a kid in Cleveland, I used to love listening to Pete Franklin, who was one of the original angry sports talk show hosts in America. I’ve heard people say that he was THE original angry sports talk show host, but I suspect there was someone out there at some 2 watt radio station somewhere screaming about bad officiating at the local high school game long before Pete came along.

RADIO SIDEBAR: This reminds me that I was once in a small town following the Royals caravan, and we went to the little local radio station. Ryan Lefebvre, the Royals radio broadcaster, asked the guy there, ‘Where’s Jim?” (or whatever Jim’s name was). And the guy there said, “Oh, we had to let Jim go.”

“Why?”

“Well, it’s a long story, but the guy challenged someone to a fight while on the air.”

Now, see, that’s not really that long a story. This is something people always say — “Oh, it’s a long story,” — but there aren’t too many truly “long stories.” You ask, “So why did you get divorced,” and she will say, “Well, it’s a really long story, but it turns out he was having affairs with two circus performers.” That’s not a long story at all.

We had to get more details on the radio guy who nearly got into a fight, Best I remember, this is what happened: It seems he was on the air for a high school football game, and he was ripping the officials, as high school announcers sometimes do. Maybe he went overboard, or maybe the official’s brother was in the crowd or maybe he was just being so loud and obnoxious that finally someone had enough — I don’t remember. But suddenly someone turned around and told the announcer to shut up.

The announcer said (on the air): “Excuse me, I will not shut up, someone needs to tell it like it is, and these officials …”

And the next thing the audience heard was this: “You want me to come down there? I’ll kick your ass right now. … OK, fans, you will have to excuse me for a minute, but I need to go over here and shut somebody up.”

That’s good radio. That guy is no doubt a talk show host in Philly right now.

Anyway, I loved Pete Franklin because he was SO angry at my sports teams. He made it perfectly clear any time the team lost that they were all idiots, all the people running my teams, all the people who owned my teams, they were morons, buffoons, clowns, nitwits, halfwits, numbskulls, dunderheads, schmucks, bozos, dopes, nincompoops and the players were just in it for the money, they were lazy, indolent losers who did not have any idea what it was like in the real world, and so on.

I remember this part clearly: Every insult, every burst of over-the-top Pete Franklin rage had this strangely satisfying effect. I could not express it then — but I clearly wanted to feel that anger when the Browns lost, when the Indians wasted another season, when the Cavaliers traded away another good player. I wanted to believe that some incompetent and uncaring evildoer was, in fact, cackling behind the losses, I needed to believe that. I didn’t know or care much about gray shades or complicating factors, and I never considered the possibility that most people are probably not brilliant or stupid, hard-working or lazy, loyal or treacherous but, in fact, somewhere in between. The Browns lost. It had to be someone’s fault. Someone very bad.

Well, a lot of things have changed in the 30 or so years since Pete Franklin played funeral music for the Cleveland Indians and tried to run Gabe Paul out of town. But one thing hasn’t changed: We still need that anger, don’t we? Wow. A few years ago, I stopped listening to talk radio — not as some sort of protest but because, honestly, I was hearing these angry voices in my head when I was writing my columns. I hear enough voices in my head — it’s like a kegger in there right now — I didn’t need any mad hosts and angry callers screaming at me while I’m writing.

But Sunday, after the Kansas City Chiefs lost a stinker to Oakland, I could not help myself. I was in the car, stuck in traffic, and I turned off my iPod and flipped away from my usual XM radio channels (by the way: Is there ANYTHING good on XM Radio anymore? I used to listen to the “Hear Music” channel, XM 75, and I really liked it, and then they took it off the air — why did they do that? Now I’ve got the President of the United States channel, seven channels playing Calypso music and some channel playing 24 hours of Led Zeppelin? I need to complain to somebody). I found a local sports talk radio show. I knew people would be angry, and I wanted to hear it.

I had no idea.

People weren’t angry. That isn’t quite the right word. Remember when Bill Bixby would get so angry that he transformed into the green Lou Ferrigno? Right, that’s not quite it either. Remember when Joe Pesci got so angry after Billy Batts told him to go shine some shoes that he and DeNiro beating the living hell out of him, kicked him again and again in the ribs and face, stuffed him in the trunk and, then later stabbed him over and over and with a kitchen knife. Yeah, no, that doesn’t quite capture the anger either. Remember when God got so angry that He drowned everyone in the entire world except for Noah, his family and enough animals to keep the world going? Well, now, that’s getting close, but that’s not quite it either.

People are pissed. I mean really mad. I listened for 20 minutes or so (honestly, I couldn’t listen anymore after that — I had to put on a Bobby Darin album just to calm down). The talk show host was saying the Chiefs were pure evil, then some caller would scream that evil wasn’t nearly descriptive enough — evil was a COMPLIMENT for these guys — and that the Chiefs were actually corrupt, morally bankrupt monsters, and then the host would counter that no, the Chiefs were really vile and sinister and hell-bound and so on.

This is true: After a few minutes of arguing just how nauseating and blundering the Chiefs really are, one caller said to the host: “I want to say this in the nicest way possible. Your career is over. You really should just go away.”

Anger does tend to spread.

I thought about this anger last night after I wrote my own column about the game. I tried to write a column about how the Chiefs, despite their own denials and delusions, are actually a lousy team and in full rebuilding mode, and it’s time to just admit that and act accordingly. I wrote that while coach Herm Edwards has his many flaws as a game coach, he is in my opinion a strong judge of talent and a pretty good man to lead to a rebuilding (most people seem to despise Edwards in this town; I see good qualities). I raised the question whether Carl Peterson was the right man to lead a rebuilding and said that a full column on that subject would be coming shortly. I mean, I didn’t suggest drowning anyone, but I don’t think it was a soft column.

When it was done, though, I started thinking again about the anger, and I knew what I’d get this morning. I’ve gotten it. I have received scores of emails and phone calls from people who, I sense, did not want that column (A typical email — “You are a gutless twerp who is afraid to take on the Chiefs”). They wanted anger. They wanted rage. They wanted a machine gun going off and hitting whoever happened to be standing near Arrowhead Stadium at the time.

And it reminds me, one more time, that sports don’t necessarily play to detached logic or balance or those shades of gray. The reason so many of us love sports is because it is black and white, night and day, no complications. There are enough complications, I suppose, in the real world. The appeal of wrestling, I imagine, is that the wrestlers are good or they’re bad (plus the freeing feeling of smashing someone’s face into a turnbuckle). Same goes with race car drivers (minus the turnbuckles). I know that as a fan, my gut feeling is still to believe that a coach who makes the wrong decision is dumb, a general manager who blows a trade is an idiot, an owner who hasn’t won in a long time doesn’t care enough. It may not be true. But it makes me feel better to believe it.

I will get my share of letters and emails and phone calls from people who think I’m not angry enough about sports. I’ve always pled guilty to the charge. I mean, I’ve called for numerous people to be fired, and I’ve written plenty of hard columns, and I’ve had athletes threaten me and all that. That’s the job. But I’ve never been a particularly angry person, and I generally like people, and my core belief is that sports are, above everything else, fun.

But I do know where they’re coming from. There’s something inside most of us that wants to unleash some rage after the home team loses. There’s something inside of us that wants someone to express our outrage and deliver our wrath. Then again, I look around, and I don’t see any shortage of Pete Franklins out there. I would say in the sports world today, wrath is being delivered.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 26th, 2007 at 2:48 pm.
Categories: Baseball.

18 Comments, Comment or Ping

  1. Jay S in CoMo

    Screamin’ A. Smith is still on ESPN, right?

    Tapping into that smoldering ember of rage feels right after a loss. For years now, I have had to tune into 1580 KTGR here in Columbia and listen to this same venting after every Quin Snyder fiasco, and every time Brad Smith was forced to, you know, throw the ball (gasp).

    Now I know some of the local on-air talent personally, and when I tune in for those obvious Monday radio shows where something awful has befallen the Tiger Nation over the weekend, I can hear the desperation in their voice. They are in the same spot you were sitting down to write your column. The crowd demands rage, the Dark Side of the Force eats at everyone’s emotions, and their appetite for blood must be met.

    But now I can hear the underlying plea from them. “Doesn’t anyone out there want to rationally talk this over?” “Couldn’t we find positives and grow from this experience?” Usually, however, the vitriol of the masses carries the day.

    Lashing out feels better in that cathartic sort of way, but deep down inside, I think the nose-to-the-grindstone sports fan know its just a passing fad. And sooner (grrrr… Sooners) rather than later the drift of the conversation will swing back into more rational waters.

    Luckily for Columbia this year, we haven’t had many bad weekends to cope with. It’s been a nice change. Thanks.

    Jay (President and founding member of the Leo Lyons Fan Club)

    Nov 26th, 2007

  2. Oddibe

    Did Buck O’Neill get his name from Bucky O’Neill? I just came across this page.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucky_O%27Neill

    Nov 26th, 2007

  3. Tim Lacy

    I’m SO happy with the Mizzou Tigers right now that I can’t even get mad at the Chiefs. Let them blunder along—for this season at least. - TL

    Nov 26th, 2007

  4. Drew

    I listened for about two weeks this summer while doing some home repairs. The best way to describe these hosts is a complete lack of self-awareness. i think this comes from having to say something original (read: controversial) about sports for three hours a day which turns it into entertainment.

    The ultimate was when the former owner of 810 died (Jerry Green). Now, I don’t know this man from Adam, but Soren was going on about how people use the word great too much and he doesn’t use it because not many things are really great. Then he says Jerry was truly a great person. Very nice, it stuck with me as a sincere tribute. Except not more than five minutes later Soren described one of his broadcast buddies as a great texas hold ‘em player. He used great three times in two sentences.

    Like I said, no self-awareness whatsoever.

    Nov 26th, 2007

  5. Andrew

    Joe, I think your paper already has a sports columnist to represent the pure, unadulterated hatred and scorn that sports…needs. I really don’t think we need any more of that, thank you.

    Nov 26th, 2007

  6. Ryan

    That’s one of the reasons why I’m glad in Chicago, I can ignore the Chiefs when they’re awful. If I sit down to watch a full game, I’m miserable. We road tripped to Indy last year to see truly the worst performance by a playoff team ever, and I vowed never to go see a playoff game in a visiting stadium ever. Of course every playoff game I’ve seen at Arrowhead has been miserable too, but at least you don’t have 50,000 fans, the worst tailgaters ever btw, screaming while you’re sitting down with your head in your hands, because the Chiefs can’t get a freaking first down for 2.5 quarters.

    But my depths never got to how bad it was for Royals fans that actually live in KC. I was at a Chiefs tailgate a couple of years ago, and a friend of a friend said, “I wish the Royals would just re-locate out of Kansas City.”

    Wishing a major league team to just move out of the city, I think, is about as low as it gets.

    Then I moved to Boston.

    Nov 26th, 2007

  7. ajnrules

    I think it’s better to not become consumed by anger if you’re a columnist for a major newspaper like the Kansas City Star. You may be getting a lot of angry comments now, but just think of how many angry letters you’d be getting if you wrote a column like the talk show host. The thing about anger is that it’s very easy for it to be out of control.

    Anyways, an unrelated question. The Hall of Fame ballot was introduced today, and I noticed that they waived the 5-year waiting period for Rod Beck, who died in June. I know they did that back in 2003 for Darryl Kile, but they didn’t for Ken Caminiti last year. Caminiti’s family had to wait until 2007 before they found out that he wouldn’t get the 5% needed to stay on the ballot, a full two years after he died. I thought it was because he died after he retired, but Beck is getting the waiver even though he died almost three years after his last pitch. Is there a rule that I don’t know about that lets Beck get the waiver but not Caminiti? Thanks.

    Nov 26th, 2007

  8. Paul White

    Joe -

    You’re actually much better off just truthfully and rationally describing the game, or team, or whatever. These radio guys, desperate for ratings, will say anything they think will elicit the most response and make listeners tune back in the next day. Often this means they say things they don’t feel or think, and it leads to them wildly contradicting themselves at some later date, when the occasion calls for them to offer an honest opinion that doesn’t in any way jibe with the phony stance they took earlier. For the most part, that doesn’t matter, because the listeners only care about the moment. But it matters to people like me. As soon as I can tell that the host is just another radio phony, who’ll say anything at all to get ratings, I change the dial and don’t go back. When newspaper columnists do the same, like a certain KC Star columnist we all know, I stop reading them.

    Sadly, I’m running out of local stations and columnists.

    Nov 27th, 2007

  9. Steve

    I was at that Raiders game on Sunday, and I agree…”anger” doesn’t really describe it. It’s a combination of disgust, betrayal, and to disturbing degree, the feeling of inevitability. The signs were there before the season started (QB issues, aging o-line with no help in sight, losing Shields, LJ’s holdout), so I can’t say I’m surprised. But the fanatical fan couldn’t quite accept, especially seeing how weak the division was shaping up. There sat the Chiefs, leading the division, having won at San Diego, and I thought “well, we’ll at least win our home games, so that should be enough to hold onto the division lead”. Three home losses later, and I feel like the team let me down. I don’t know anyone directly involved with the Chiefs organization, yet I feel like my best friend just committed some unforgivable sin like running away with my girlfriend, but I have too much invested in the friendship to cut him off.

    At least Mizzou won, so I can’t stay too upset for too long. I was at the game as well, and it was the thrill of a lifetime.

    P.S. Joe, what gives? Complaining about an XM channel centered around Led Zepellin? The greatest rock band in the history of rock and roll? I was so mad when I heard about that channel coming out because I have Sirius (so I can get the Chiefs…see how frustrating this? Not only do they lose, but I’m along for every agonizing and betraying loss!).

    Nov 27th, 2007

  10. Kyle

    I used to tap into the kind of anger that permeates sports talk radio (and internet blogs too), and it wasn’t until my wife (then girlfriend) refused to watch a game with me, saying “you get too mad” did I take a step back and realize how angry I was getting. It’s just simply unhealthy to channel that kind of rage over something that should be fun like sports. I hope to teach my son (who’s 1 now) someday to enjoy sports to its fullest, but to never become so invested that he loses sight of what a positive experience sport should be.

    All the more a reason that I love your writing, it simply isn’t full of the vitriol that is so prominent in most sports blogs. Stream of consciousness without getting snarky and mean isn’t very common nowdays, and I truly do appreciate it.

    Nov 27th, 2007

  11. John

    Joe, we have Howard Eskin here in Philadelphia (maybe he’s the guy who issued the challenge). This past year when the Phils were going bad early in the season he laid into Charlie Manuel during a postgame press conference (many fans dislike Manuel seemingly for his “bad” strategy but you wonder if it’s more likely due to his Southern accent; it’s funny how fans just don’t like certain players and/or coaches no matter what they do). Of course Howard is still mad his friend Larry Bowa was canned so he rips Charlie every chance he gets. Oh and Howard ripped into Charlie right after the Virginia Tech shootings, which really effected Manuel deeply since he is from that part of the country. Charlie took him into the office and ripped him a new one. This is how talk show hosts (and some columnists) create anger — and enjoy doing so.

    My funny story about talk show hosts is how one night around 1:30 my phone rang. Since I used to do on-call nursing I am used to being wide awake when I answer the phone at odd hours (it’s a gift). Anyway this guy had been banned from the local sports talk station and was trying to reach one of the hosts. It seems the talk show host and I shared the same unusual last name (one of those family splits from years gone by — it’s a long story) and had looked his number up in the phone book and got mine instead (supposedly the host had told callers to reach him at home). So this guy starts going on about the Flyers and/or Eagles. I’m not the most knowledgeable guy on sports (I generally just read the sports page casually except for baseball) but I was able to come up with some rational answers to his complaints (it also helps that I had taken care of one of the Flyers after a head injury and had some “insight”). Quite frankly it’s not a whole lot different than what I do when dealing with angry and upset patients and families. The caller was quite pleased with my answers (as nebulous as they were) and said I should be a talk show host.

    Of course the moral of this is quite clear: any fool can stir up anger but only the prudent are able to defuse it. Plus nurses would make excellent talk show hosts.

    Nov 27th, 2007

  12. Ryan

    At least the Chiefs still have Eddie Drummond.

    Inactive.

    Nov 27th, 2007

  13. Justyo

    I think the acute rage is directly related to the polarized state of this country. As well as fear and war fatigue, economic fatigue. Nobody seems to trust anyone. Honest opportunity is waning as unions are strained and jobs are shipped overseas. The rich get richer as the middle class struggles to keep a roof over their head and send their kids to school. Decency, etiquette, manners have been tossed aside as quaint and soft. “strength” is valued, “power”, “opinion”. This culture has become increasingly celebrity crazed (Britney, Paris etc, stealing major headlines while we are at war) Sports figures are now every bit celebrities and thus, millions of people live their lives vicariously through their teams and athletes like never before. The proportion is skewed. Sports used to be a respite, now it seems an addiction or preoccupation. I love the Red Sox and was 10 years old in 1976, I’ve been throught the long hard years and was as happy as anyone else when we finally won. But I must say, going to Fenway to see them play the Yankees this year? I was truly afraid for my nephew who was surrounded by enraged, drunken fans screaming obscenities at Johnny Damon for being a traitor, the likes of such profanity I have never heard. And it was honest, unadulterated rage as if they personally had been “betrayed”. It wasn’t fun, Joe. And I agree with you, sports should be fun. Sorry to bring such politics into this, but I think it can’t be avoided when discussing rage in this country. Love the blog, love the writing, don’t change a thing… But do throw on that Zep station every now and again. Peace. (I hope this didn’t post twice)

    Nov 27th, 2007

  14. Boston Guy

    …Bobby Darin?

    Nov 27th, 2007

  15. Old Man Duggan

    I know I tend to fall prey to falling into blind rage mode. It usually stops fairly soon. I think any Chiefs fan must understand that they’re always going to let us down, so we can’t get our hopes up too much. That being said, I still hate (well, maybe hate is a strong word, but certainly deeply resent certainly fits) Dave Szott for that holding penalty that took the Chiefs out of field goal range against the Dolphins in the playoffs in either 1993 or 1991 (I think 1991), so I’m not the most rational person in the world. I do, however, think Herm has done a great job of bringing in new young folk. Give him Carl’s job, and then hire a new HC.

    Nov 28th, 2007

  16. Captain Obvious

    Chiefs fans have been through a lot, but have mostly been fairly positive over the years, considering everything. Arrowhead has been sold out for a long time and has been filled with passionate fans loyally supporting the team through thin and thinner. But after 35 years without a Super Bowl appearance, zero playoff wins since Joe Montana, three first-round losses with home field advantage and a bye week, Lin Elliott, the heartbreaking loss to Denver (that was the overall best Chiefs team since 1970 IMO, when Gannon was the QB) zero first downs in the first half against the Colts, after zero stops against the Colts in the previous playoff game, etc. etc– a little rage finally coming out is justified. Sounds like all the pent-up feelings are spilling out now.

    It might have been better to let it out slowly over the years instead of bottling it up until now and letting it explode all at once. But this team has given so little winning back in return for so much loyalty for so long, so it’s got to come out sometime.

    Nov 28th, 2007

  17. Kevin from Ohio in Virginia

    PETE FRANKLIN: Blast from the past!

    Here a great PF story for you: Pete was doing the stadium announcing at a Youngstown College (the current YSU) v. University of Delaware football game. It may have even been a Div II playoff game or something. Youngstown was winning big, by three or more touchdowns I believe, and Pete Franklin came over the stadium loudspeaker as the teams ran in at halftime and said, “Your score at the half is Youngstown **, Delaware **. You’re lookin’ pretty sick, Chickens!” Of course, the “Chickens” reference was made because the UD teams are known as the “Blue Hens.”

    Needless to say, UD came out on fire in the third quarter and ended up beating Youngstown handily, and Pete Franklin was run out of town on a rail.

    Nov 28th, 2007

  18. Mauichuck

    Ah yes, Pete Franklin. Yep, he sure was angry, and ol’ Pete had a right to be angry, and a right to sing the blues too. Cuz Pete was covering Cleveland sports in the ’70s, ’80s and early ’90s the nadir of Cleveland sports.

    Here’s a challenge for you: has any other sports owner besides the Cav’s Ted Sepienhad a league rule put in place specifically because they’ve made a series horrendous, club crippling trades? Didn’t think so. GM’s and owners throughout the NBA would sooner give up their private jet rather than miss a phone call from that cafone Sepien. And then there was Phil Segui the only GM in the history of the Cleveland Indians who made you long for the golden years of Frank Lane. Yep Pete had a right to be angry.

    But you know the best thing about Pete? Every year starting about a week before they’d come to town Pete would howl about the Yankees and specifically Yankee fans. Pete would foam at the mouth cataloguin the many crimes committed by Yankee fans. He would be beside himself in self-rightous indignation at the fact that the Yankees merely existed and had the temerity to come to Cleveland at all. Since, you know, they stole Chris Chambliss, Oscar Gamble, Roger Maris and a host of other players from the Indians for a list of broken down pitchers and myoptic, arthitic outfielders. Charley Spikes for Graig Nettles? Sure, just as long as you throw in Jerry Moses and a bag of magic beans.

    But then something mysterious happened to Pete. He got a high paying job at WFAN in - good god tell me it ain’t so - NEW YORK CITY! And then all of a sudden those Yankees and their fans were no longer the scum of the Earth! Exactly what happened? Had there been a shift in the cosmos? Was up now down? Was Evil now Good? Nope, none of the above. Pete paycheck was now written in NYC not the Mistake on the Lake. So all of a sudden Pete’s anger subsided. Go figure.

    Nov 28th, 2007

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