Mike Steely

[theparkman81]

My question is now that steele is coming over to tyler, which station is going to flip.

[SoonerDave]

My question is now that steele is coming over to tyler, which station is going to flip.

Now there's scuttlebutt that its going to be 107.7, and another place concurred that Rogers and Traber were making the jump along with Steely.


Be fun to see how many of these rumors end up being true once it all shakes out.

[OklahomaNick]

Gosh, this is all CRAZY news if it happens! Will be interesting to see what all happens. If Mike Steely, Traber, & Mark Rogers left the Animal, I would probably never listen to them again.. and I listen to a LOT of sports talk radio.

Anyone have any details on this new Tyler Media venture?
They must have a ton of $$$ to spend on salaries!

[SoonerDave]

Gosh, this is all CRAZY news if it happens! Will be interesting to see what all happens. If Mike Steely, Traber, & Mark Rogers left the Animal, I would probably never listen to them again.. and I listen to a LOT of sports talk radio.

Anyone have any details on this new Tyler Media venture?
They must have a ton of $$$ to spend on salaries!

When does the Animal's contract as the anchor station for the Thunder expire? What will they have left as a draw? Thunder bkb and Al? Hmmm...

I agree, this is a very bold move for Tyler and it reminds me of when Traber and Al were on competing stations for a while.

This is huge stuff! Fun to watch it all unfold.

[Bellaboo]

I can't believe how many of you still listen to this station. I've been listening to KREF for about the past 5 years and it's much better. Although Toby was better before he became the voice of the Sooners. Now he has too many interviews with OU people. But still better than anything the SA has to offer.

I turned it off several years ago, when Al was smacking B-B-Q and talking at the same time..that did it for me..only time I listen now is on the drive home after a game to hear the Thunder recap.

[Bob Loblaw]

I can't believe how many of you still listen to this station. I've been listening to KREF for about the past 5 years and it's much better. Although Toby was better before he became the voice of the Sooners. Now he has too many interviews with OU people. But still better than anything the SA has to offer.

I got tired of listening to the Animal years ago when it became obvious to me that the hosts (Steely, Eschbach, Traber, Rodgers, BBJ) were bu!!sh!tting their way through questions, regurgitating what I had already read in the Sports section or seen on SportsCenter. Al and Traber would talk about goings-on at OU practices like they were there when reality was the team was practicing in Norman while they were in the studio on the NW Expressway. The lack of substance, Craig Humphreys' bludgeoning of us with golf factoids, the constant arguing for no reason, the lack of respect for listeners and the overblown sense of importance for themselves just became too much for my liking.

So I made the switch to KREF and haven't looked back. Toby and TJ are awesome in the morning (I agree with traxx that Toby has become more "corporate" since his OU hire but he's still entertaining), Dusty and Teddy are good for the drive home, James Hale is bearable if you accept that he'll spin everything about OU in as positive a light as possible ("y'know, that interception Landry threw at the end of the game was really the best thing that could have happened for the Sooners so they can work on that this week at practice......"). I miss Myron Patton in the late AM (hello DPShow on 1340) and I wish that Berry Tramel would come back to the Ref but all in all, I appreciate the way they put on their shows, making it more about the listeners and having good discussion, more tolerance for differing points of view and less about self-promotion.

Whatever happens with the Sports Animal and this new Tyler Media venture, I hope it doesn't affect the good guys at KREF.

Bob

[Pete]

Press release is forthcoming, probably tomorrow.

[SoonerDave]

I am hearing rumors that Mike Steely is no longer working for WWLS The Sports Animal Can anyone confirmed that to me.

TyDude...is the fact you started this thread and that Steely et al are heading to...."Ty"ler media just an incredible coincidence??

[traxx]

Guess its just a matter of preference. Tried KREF a few times and just didn't care for it. Potayto, potahto..

What's not to care for? I love it. Especially when Dusty and Teddy have guest on like Brian Urlacher and other dudes they played with. I also love their breakdown on football conversations. They can tell you if a guy is more suited to play a 2 technique or 3 technique etc.

As for Traber, it'd be more cool if he'd talk about his role on East Bound and Down more.

[SoonerDave]

What's not to care for? I love it. Especially when Dusty and Teddy have guest on like Brian Urlacher and other dudes they played with. I also love their breakdown on football conversations. They can tell you if a guy is more suited to play a 2 technique or 3 technique etc.

That's great, glad you like it. As I said, different strokes. You like it, I didn't, its all just opinion anyway. Enjoy.

[Tydude]

EyeAmTruth: KRXO 107.7 in Oklahoma is changing from Classic Rock to Sports Talk. Most of the on air talent at The Sports Animal will be going to KRXO.

[Tydude]

EyeAmTruth: @OKCThunderdude being told Traber and Steely (sp) for sure. But cant confirm. They are having a meeting at 430 to make announcement

[Tydude]

Pete-Do you know when the new station is going to start

[5alive]

Wow...this is quite surprising. 107.7 (if that's the station that going to flip) has a better signal

[Tydude]

I am praying and hoping that with the middle of the day show open up that Matt Pinto gets his own show

[5alive]

If someone gets any details from the press conference, please post...

[Edgar]

Tramel?

[Tydude]

Prediction on the new Sports Animal Lineup: BBJ from 9-12 PM Matt Pinto from 12-2 Sam Mayes or Myron Patton 2-4 Al and host at 2:00 from 4-6 and Al from 6-8

[Midtowner]

It's been awhile since I looked into radio ads, but IIRC, KRXO was one of the most successful formats out there. Surprising that sports talk would be where they'd go. Of course if they keep the format mostly the same as the Animal, they ran a ridiculous amount of commercials, so that might be where things pay off?

[OKCisOK4me]

Yep, I'm surprised KRXO will be a new format but look at KOMA. Everything you hear on 92.5 used to be on 107.7. Will be interesting to see how it all turns out and hopefully they won't be talking about their granddaughter's ballerina practice or the horrible linguini they ate on their summer vacation...lol.

[ThomPaine]

Yep, I'm surprised KRXO will be a new format but look at KOMA. Everything you hear on 92.5 used to be on 107.7. Will be interesting to see how it all turns out and hopefully they won't be talking about their granddaughter's ballerina practice or the horrible linguini they ate on their summer vacation...lol.

Yup. That's when I started feeling old. All of my music is on 1520/92.5!!! And I remember when "sports radio" was Al Eshbach. That's it. Just Al.

[krisb]

Perhaps this will become a white collar vs. blue collar sports talk rivalry.

[bradh]

It's been so refreshing to hear George Schroeder, a true pro on the Animal today.

I hate that Rodgers is leaving, but good riddance to the other guys. How Al ever became any type of "authority" on anything sports is ridiculous. Traeber is the ultimate, as ultimate blowhard. I've never heard a guy who was apparently a badass (in his own mind) let unknown callers get him worked into such a panty wad.

If this opens Pinto to his own show that's great. I also don't mind JD Runnels when he's on air.

That all being said, with 105.3 now playing Rome, 1340 with the DP show, and 640 with SVP, why would anyone listen to the local guys?

[Tydude]

Tyler Media to launch a sports station at FM 107.7 in August | News OK

[SoonerDave]

It's been so refreshing to hear George Schroeder, a true pro on the Animal today.

I hate that Rodgers is leaving, but good riddance to the other guys. How Al ever became any type of "authority" on anything sports is ridiculous. Traeber is the ultimate, as ultimate blowhard. I've never heard a guy who was apparently a badass (in his own mind) let unknown callers get him worked into such a panty wad.

If this opens Pinto to his own show that's great. I also don't mind JD Runnels when he's on air.

That all being said, with 105.3 now playing Rome, 1340 with the DP show, and 640 with SVP, why would anyone listen to the local guys?

You might want to check up on your Oklahoma journalistic sports history. Al was the sports editor of the long defunct Oklahoma Journal newspaper back in the 70's, and during that time essentially started the whole notion of sports radio when he did an hour-long sports radio show on the old KTOK AM 1000 just as the Journal was going away. He did a one-hour call in show every night with (originally) a co-host named Lou Staples, who passed away and was replaced with Ed Sossen. They were a fixture in Oklahoma media back when KTOK was the anchor for the OU Sports Network, and Eschbach was the radio color commentator alongside John Brooks for OU basketball games. He also did post-game locker room shows following OU games on KTOK, and did them until OU awarded the rights contract away (in a move that I have always thought was calculated to get rid of John Brooks, who was running afoul of OU athletic leadership during that time, but that's a different thread).

The point in this little discourse is that while Al may be grating, and may not quite have the insiders insight he once had, to say that is "authority" is "ridiculous" is to reflect an ignorance of the facts. He is legitimately one of the true originators of the entire notion of sports radio in the monster it has become. He's been doing some form of sports radio for longer than some folks on this board have even been alive.

Jim and Al were on separate stations a few years ago, and I do hate that they'll be split up again if these rumors about Traber going to Tyler prove true. That said, I've often wondered if Al might actually consider retirement at some point...he's hardly a spring chicken anymore. Lots of people dislike Traber, which is their prerogative, but his interviews with other baseball types are often very insightful and well done. Yeah, he gets wound up easily, but if that weren't part of who he was, he wouldn't be the lightning rod he has become.

As far as having a "reason to listen to the local guys," I'd rather listen to an hour of the local guys than two minutes of most national shows. I find most of the national radio hosts to be an unyielding yawn, and much prefer locally relevant talk, although as a Sooner fan I'm not at all interested in "OU is great, OU is wonderful" all the time, either.

Only time willl tell how it will all shake out, I suppose.