Howard Griffith on KFAN

That said, I'm also disturbed that many people seem to tout ESPN1500 as the new messiah. Let's not forget they happen to employ Reusse. There is no single person who comes off as more vindictive and petty in his Gopher coverage than Reusse. I can honestly say I will never listen to his show, and very rarely read any of his articles.

I can't stand Reusse's constant ripping of Brewster and Gopher football. I think he enjoys it a little too much. But there is a huge difference between he and Barreiro. For the most part Reusse has informed opinions about Gopher sports. You usually get a smattering of factual information during his tirades. Barreiro has only opinions when he goes on a rant about the Gophers. Nothing more.
 

Well here is my 2 cents

I have a son who graduated from the University of Minnesota and currently plays for the team. My mother is also a University of Minnesota graduate. I say that to show that I have an emotional stake in the program. With that, I still listen too and call KFAN. Is KFAN personalities annoying how they treat the gopher football program? Yep. It's like a pack mentality. By saying it's a joke program they all get to be collectively lazy and not do any home work. It also show their whore mentality to only cover sports where they have personal financial interest.

With that being said, if listeners don't call (be it negative or positive criticism) it won't change. We should call and promote any station that has gopher coverage. If we do this we can make them have more coverage and compete for gopher listeners. If we don't call or listen there will be no reason for them to cover the gophers.

If it helps, both ESPN and KFAN have been trying to do stories on gopher athletes, Doogie has been trying to put something together on Kim. Anything gopher related I will promote, we all should.
 

I've been lurking here for quite a while.

I'm glad for any positive coverage, and I was taught to forgive people, so thanks, Justin. If your station is really committed to better Gopher coverage that would be great.
 

It seems like there is a new thread on how KFAN sucks everyday. Its kinda rediculous. lol
 

It helps having a college football fan do the actual interview. I cringe with some of the other guys on KFAN talking college sports, but I really did enjoy this interview. I don't mind some shots at the program, but I get turned off by pot shots on a lot of the shows. A lot of the negativity is not necessary and thrown in for a laugh, that's what gets me to turn the dial.

I'm a Clone anyway, so my 11-2 window is booked.
 


The media in this town likes to justify their negative bias by claiming it's unprofessional to be a 'homer.' It's just as unprofessional to write things to antagonize a team or a fanbase....they are subjective fools
 

Ok,
I bit. I listened to the podcast. Ok discussion, not up to MV or Doogie's level of knowledge, but then again why would it?
Fact is, Gaard is a squakeye, who somehow thinks he is also a gopher follower. Can't be both without bias, sorry, just can't. Would they have Dave Sinakin do a Vikings preseason game analysis?

Griffith was a fine interview, nothing groundbreaking, but it was a good listen.
The main concern I have is that what little college football knowledge is available at KFAN is relegated to Sunday mornings, and only when the main host is gone, AND, this is a big one, when the discussion comes up on normal weekday programming, Gopher football is slammed and constantly ripped without any knowledge or any incite whatsoever.
Ex:
I thought it was hilarious listening to Barrerio and Gaard analyze around NSD the Gopher's recruiting, they obviously cherrypicked the recruiting services that ranked them the lowest, then went on a tangent about coaching them up! using Iowa 2009 as an example of low ranked recruits being coached to a high level, not mentioning(and I'm sure Gaard knew but didn't say anything) that Iowa's 05' class was rated top 10 nationally, no coincidence they ended up with a nice season last year.

I was an everyday listener of KFAN for years, all through college, up to the 1500 sportstalk programing switch, all day in the car, every morning I would listen online, every ride home I'd listen to Barrerio. No more. I just got sick of the egos and bits, and I couldn't stand the insane ripping and demeaning of the sports program I love any more.

Say what you want about Reusse, he's been a villain to this program too, but it's obvious the olive branch has been extended and at least a truce has been called, and 1500 has some good gopher tidbits here and there. The simple fact that MV and Doogie got together for a segment was gold, i expect more as the football season moves forward.
 

Hilarious. Those trying to defend KFAN. Their coverage of Gopher sports is so bad that they have to go to web sites to give us the groundbreaking news that they are going to do a segment on college football. KFAn spends more time on NASCAR than they do on Gopher football. They spend more time on golf than they do on Gopher football.

Remember the old adage, any coverage is better than no coverage? Well it isn't true with KFAN. All you get there is smartasses and hyperbole. Iti s fine to be critical of the program in a professional way. If you listen to KFAN, the last thing they are is professional. It is saracm, bit, sarcasm, bit. This is the kind of coverage the Gophers need? No thanks.
 

There is 0 reason for a Gopher fan to listen to KFAN for Gopher talk because the people on that station don't know a thing about the team, yet hate the team regardless. Its pretty crazy. I live outside of Chicago and while they don't talk a lot of college football, when they do they're never as synical about any team even though they cover Ill, NW and ND. I simply don't understand why sports guys have so much hate for a CFB program. What people love about CFB isn't the winning and losing, its the tradition, the pride of having a team where your state name and players giving 100% for their team and school, students and former students cheering their team on, etc. I don't get why the media treats the U like an underachieving pro franchise. You'd think they'd actually benefit from a succesful program with a large fanbase as talking about them would bring higher ratings, give them more to write about, and maybe even open the door for them to do more guest spots and what not for the team. They seem intent on hurting a program that could benefit them and it seems stupid. Gaard is an Iowa 'fan' that has participated in the Gopher bashing on KFAN and while this is a step in the right direction, more will need to be done to show real change. KFAN needs a culture change and I'll have to see it over time. We'll see what type of coverage is happening this time next season


This is the best "business case" yet for throwing out the old way of Gopher bashing and setting the bar high, and not let popular bandwagon bashing get in the way of smart business objectives.... Oleboy, you are right on when you said the media treats the U like an underachieving pro franchise and have completely lost the "connection" with the home team, the pride and the tradition and the fun of supporting your team win or lose...
 



I was also a listener of KFAN awhile ago and I just stopped listening because I didn't really find it that enjoyable. I do still listen to Common every now and then, but Common doesn't even pretend to be a sports guy.

Now, I do agree with Sportsfans take, and I will have no problem going back to KFAN if they have things that i'm interested in. If I would have known about the sermon on sunday, I would have called in. However, I am a consumer (who is a sports nut and used to listen to sports talk radio religiously) and if they want me to keep or start tuning in, that's on them. I am glad Gaard posted this over here and I encourage him to do so. If it is a consistant thing, I'll probably become a listener again.

As far as Dougie, I don't really agree with him on much, but at least he's writing about Gopher football, so keep it up too.
 

Gaard, you make me so confused. If I remember right, from long ago, you are an Edina grad. A Minnesota boy who did that tennis program proud. You took your game to Iowa and obviously became a proud Hawkeye, (except for any sport they suck at). Upon graduation you take your (talents) back home, get a gig on local radio and then proceed to rip the livin' snot out of OUR state university's football team. I don't care you're not a Gopher fan but leave the pi$$ing match inside your front door instead of squakin' to the masses in an effort to convince the true fans they root for losers. Now, you in some sort of professional awakening you realize since there is competition on 1500, you should talk Gophers. Are we supposed to eat it up and love it? I choose to listen to ANYBODY talk college football other than your station. Wake up, man! You've burned some bridges. While college football becomes the 2nd most popular sport in the country behind the NFL, we'll all be tuning into "The Herd."
 

I don't listen to KFAN.

I've had no problem in the past pointing out my belief that no one at KFAN knows a damn thing about football in general (PA has access to the Vikings, but understands the sport as well as I understand organic chemistry: not at all) and especially the college game. But this is what we want, isn't it? Actual coverage of the team without the usual inept attempts at snark? They may not have the understanding of MV, but how many people do? I'll listen to the podcasts when Justin points them out, and if they keep it up I may start listening to shows from time to time if I can expect decent coverage of Gopher football.
 

There is 0 reason for a Gopher fan to listen to KFAN for Gopher talk because the people on that station don't know a thing about the team, yet hate the team regardless. Its pretty crazy. I live outside of Chicago and while they don't talk a lot of college football, when they do they're never as synical about any team even though they cover Ill, NW and ND. I simply don't understand why sports guys have so much hate for a CFB program. What people love about CFB isn't the winning and losing, its the tradition, the pride of having a team where your state name and players giving 100% for their team and school, students and former students cheering their team on, etc. I don't get why the media treats the U like an underachieving pro franchise. You'd think they'd actually benefit from a succesful program with a large fanbase as talking about them would bring higher ratings, give them more to write about, and maybe even open the door for them to do more guest spots and what not for the team. They seem intent on hurting a program that could benefit them and it seems stupid. Gaard is an Iowa 'fan' that has participated in the Gopher bashing on KFAN and while this is a step in the right direction, more will need to be done to show real change. KFAN needs a culture change and I'll have to see it over time. We'll see what type of coverage is happening this time next season

I listened to the segment online. I could not agree with you more. Even though they were talking about the Gophers, they seemed somewhat disconnected to the topic. It seemed like it was mailed in. I would rather listen to 'cco which has always supported the Gophs.
 






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