If I had a dime for every person who has come up to me over the last 9 months telling me how much they miss the Score, I'd be rich! Every day I run into people who say that they miss the Score and that they used to listen every day which confirms my belief that the "buzz" for the Score far exceeded the quarterly ratings. I truly believe that many more people listened to the Score than the arbitron rating reflected. However, we did a poor job of branding the Score the way EEI has branded their station.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that we had the same amout of listeners as EEI. But I believe that most sports fans in southern New England listened to both. In fact, many that have approached me in recent months tell me how they can't listen to EEI for a variety of reasons.
The common theme that I hear from people in RI and southeastern Mass is that the absence of the Score has left a huge void. Local college hoops talk is non-existent during the week. Caller-friendly sportstalk is also non-existent on weekdays. Many sports fans can't stand the constant political discussion in the morning or the shouting over one another in the afternoon. It's too bad because the Score was a nice alternative.
I know that I wrote this in my blog many months ago but it's worth repeating. There were things that EEI did that we could not compete with. Having Schilling, Francona, Bellichick, Cassel, etc. was impossible to compete with. I'm a New England sports fan and I want to hear what those guys have to say many times.
Where I thought we did well was tackling the important local and national sports issues with common sense and in a caller-friendly, easy to listen to manner.
Oh well!
I still believe that a local sports radio station in RI can work. Will it be #1 in the ratings? Probably not. But many people would listen to it and you could operate it at a profit.
Hopefully, there will be one sooner rather than later.
Scott
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Hoops/Football/Misc.
A few thoughts on what's happening locally in sports:
-College hoops is underway and PC and Rhody fans can't be thrilled about their season-openers. The Friars shouldn't lose to Northeastern no matter who the coach is! Maybe Tim Welsh's coaching wasn't the problem after all. It underscores the point that players need to make plays and the Friars didn't make enough of them Saturday night while the Huskies did. Maybe we are all guilty of overrating the talent on this Friars team. There are certainly flashes of brilliance from all of them at times, but not consistently. They can put it together and drill a good team like UConn on the road and lose to a team like Northeastern. that's maddening!
-As for URI, you all know how much I LOVE the Brown Bears, but Rhody (and any A-10 team) should be able to handle Brown (and any Ivy League team) no matter where the game is played. This was certainly not the case Friday night at the Ryan Center. Brown out-played URI for most of the game and deserved to win. Don't believe me? Read Jimmy Baron's comments after the game. Brown's inability to hit more freethrows and once official who made numerous terrible calls against the Bears prevented them from pulling off the upset. What was disturbing to me about Rhody was their undisciplined offense at times. Kaheem Seawright should NOT be spotting up for 19-foot jumpers.......period! It is also clear that the Rams have alot of work to do on improving their defense which helped lead to their collapse last year. Repeat after me, "it's a process!"
-In regard to Brown, I had no expectations entering the season given the fact that the Bears lost two first team All-Ivy guards to graduation in Mark McAndrew and Damon Huffman which accounted for about 50% of their offense last year. Add to that a new coach and a new system and I honestly did not know what to expect. If the Rhody game is any indication, I would conclude the following: 1.) Jesse Agel can flat out coach! He did a tremendous job preparing his team for URI and with his in-game coaching. 2.) The Bears should have a solid season overall and, particularly, in the Ivy League. Their starting 5 is experienced and there are a couple of guys who can contribute off the bench. Most of all, these kids know how to win and are not intimidated when they take the court against anyone. I am very excited about the upcoming season!
-As for college football, I hope we see a BIG crown at Brown Stadium this Saturday when the Bears play for the Ivy League title. Phil Estes is on the cusp of leading his team to a 3rd championship in his 11-years at the helm. Considering that Brown had won only 1 Ivy League title prior to Estes taking over, I think I can safely say that he is clearly the best coach in the history of the program! Brown hosts Columbia and 12:30 Saturday. It is fun, affordable entertainment and a great family atmosphere at Brown Stadium. plus, how many times do we get to witness a college or pro team winning a championship? Here's your chance!
-Now to the Patriots. I admit that Matt Cassel has been much better than I expected since taking over for the injured Tom Brady. Kudos to him. And kudos to the Patriots for playing well in the reigning MVP's absence. However, the loss at Indianapolis and to the Jets at home both hurt! Winning the division will be tough because the Jets have a better division record and, thus, hold the tie-breaker. If the Pats are to win the AFC East, a win in Miami next Sunday is a must! As for winning a wild card spot, that won't be easy either. Indy, for one, holds a tie-breaker over the Pats courtesy of their head-to-head win. So does San Diego. This may also be one of those years where 10-6 doesn't get you into the playoffs. We'll see!
-The Celtics look like they are more than capable of defending their NBA title. And are there any Paul Pierce haters still out there or have you finally come around to my way of thinking? I have said for years that he is one of the greatest Celtics of all-time and would make my all-time Celts starting five. The Truth can flat out play!
-College hoops is underway and PC and Rhody fans can't be thrilled about their season-openers. The Friars shouldn't lose to Northeastern no matter who the coach is! Maybe Tim Welsh's coaching wasn't the problem after all. It underscores the point that players need to make plays and the Friars didn't make enough of them Saturday night while the Huskies did. Maybe we are all guilty of overrating the talent on this Friars team. There are certainly flashes of brilliance from all of them at times, but not consistently. They can put it together and drill a good team like UConn on the road and lose to a team like Northeastern. that's maddening!
-As for URI, you all know how much I LOVE the Brown Bears, but Rhody (and any A-10 team) should be able to handle Brown (and any Ivy League team) no matter where the game is played. This was certainly not the case Friday night at the Ryan Center. Brown out-played URI for most of the game and deserved to win. Don't believe me? Read Jimmy Baron's comments after the game. Brown's inability to hit more freethrows and once official who made numerous terrible calls against the Bears prevented them from pulling off the upset. What was disturbing to me about Rhody was their undisciplined offense at times. Kaheem Seawright should NOT be spotting up for 19-foot jumpers.......period! It is also clear that the Rams have alot of work to do on improving their defense which helped lead to their collapse last year. Repeat after me, "it's a process!"
-In regard to Brown, I had no expectations entering the season given the fact that the Bears lost two first team All-Ivy guards to graduation in Mark McAndrew and Damon Huffman which accounted for about 50% of their offense last year. Add to that a new coach and a new system and I honestly did not know what to expect. If the Rhody game is any indication, I would conclude the following: 1.) Jesse Agel can flat out coach! He did a tremendous job preparing his team for URI and with his in-game coaching. 2.) The Bears should have a solid season overall and, particularly, in the Ivy League. Their starting 5 is experienced and there are a couple of guys who can contribute off the bench. Most of all, these kids know how to win and are not intimidated when they take the court against anyone. I am very excited about the upcoming season!
-As for college football, I hope we see a BIG crown at Brown Stadium this Saturday when the Bears play for the Ivy League title. Phil Estes is on the cusp of leading his team to a 3rd championship in his 11-years at the helm. Considering that Brown had won only 1 Ivy League title prior to Estes taking over, I think I can safely say that he is clearly the best coach in the history of the program! Brown hosts Columbia and 12:30 Saturday. It is fun, affordable entertainment and a great family atmosphere at Brown Stadium. plus, how many times do we get to witness a college or pro team winning a championship? Here's your chance!
-Now to the Patriots. I admit that Matt Cassel has been much better than I expected since taking over for the injured Tom Brady. Kudos to him. And kudos to the Patriots for playing well in the reigning MVP's absence. However, the loss at Indianapolis and to the Jets at home both hurt! Winning the division will be tough because the Jets have a better division record and, thus, hold the tie-breaker. If the Pats are to win the AFC East, a win in Miami next Sunday is a must! As for winning a wild card spot, that won't be easy either. Indy, for one, holds a tie-breaker over the Pats courtesy of their head-to-head win. So does San Diego. This may also be one of those years where 10-6 doesn't get you into the playoffs. We'll see!
-The Celtics look like they are more than capable of defending their NBA title. And are there any Paul Pierce haters still out there or have you finally come around to my way of thinking? I have said for years that he is one of the greatest Celtics of all-time and would make my all-time Celts starting five. The Truth can flat out play!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Many apologies for not keeping up!
It has been a long time sice I updated the blog and I sincerely apologize! While it has been a busy time in my life for a variety of reasons, I still could have taken a few minutes to update my blog. Sorry!
Since I last blogged, nothing much has changed. I'm still doing the Saturday morning show on WPRO from 9-11:45am. I am also hosting a 1-hour Patriots show on AM 790 from 6-7pm on Monday nights as well and doing the Brown football and men's basketball games on AM 790.
As you all know, the economy is terrible right now and unemployment is higher here in RI than in any state across the country. Because of that, it is not an easy time to be looking to change professions.
As I have said before in previous blogs, I love talking sports for a living and would still consider doing it full-time if the opportunity presented itself locally. However, my family has put it's roots down here in RI and we would prefer to stay here which is one of the reasons I am looking for something outside of the radio biz. In addition, the lack of job security in the radio/TV/print business is another reason I am looking elsewhere.
Ideally, I could find a full-time job doing something that I like and still keep my hand in the broadcasting business on a part time basis. I have given alot of thought about getting into athletic administration and would LOVE to work for a university like Brown because of my relationship with the school, these jobs are somewhat scarce and I do lack the "experience" for them. I placed the word experience in quotations because I believe that alot of people can do alot of different things provided that they are smart, posess common sense and are willing to learn. I would like to think that I am all three. (I'm sure there's room for some wisecracks here)
Anyway, I have to run! I will try to remember to update this more frequently.
Thanks to all!
Scott
Since I last blogged, nothing much has changed. I'm still doing the Saturday morning show on WPRO from 9-11:45am. I am also hosting a 1-hour Patriots show on AM 790 from 6-7pm on Monday nights as well and doing the Brown football and men's basketball games on AM 790.
As you all know, the economy is terrible right now and unemployment is higher here in RI than in any state across the country. Because of that, it is not an easy time to be looking to change professions.
As I have said before in previous blogs, I love talking sports for a living and would still consider doing it full-time if the opportunity presented itself locally. However, my family has put it's roots down here in RI and we would prefer to stay here which is one of the reasons I am looking for something outside of the radio biz. In addition, the lack of job security in the radio/TV/print business is another reason I am looking elsewhere.
Ideally, I could find a full-time job doing something that I like and still keep my hand in the broadcasting business on a part time basis. I have given alot of thought about getting into athletic administration and would LOVE to work for a university like Brown because of my relationship with the school, these jobs are somewhat scarce and I do lack the "experience" for them. I placed the word experience in quotations because I believe that alot of people can do alot of different things provided that they are smart, posess common sense and are willing to learn. I would like to think that I am all three. (I'm sure there's room for some wisecracks here)
Anyway, I have to run! I will try to remember to update this more frequently.
Thanks to all!
Scott
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Back On The Air
Many of you may have already heard by now that I will be returning to the airwaves (99.7FM - no less) very soon. Starting this Saturday - July 19th, I will be hosting a sports show on WPRO (AM 630 & 99.7 FM) from 9-11:45am each week. It's being called "Scott Cordischi On Sports," and will essentially be the same as the "Sportsbeat." Just me and you talking sports except for the fact that this will be a weekly show instead of a daily program.
As many of you know, I have missed talking sports on the airwaves for the past few months and, for that reason, I am really looking forward to my return. What's good about the once per week show is that we should have no shortage of material to discuss each Saturday morning. As always, I look forward to taking your phone calls and e-mails (tune in for the phone #'s and e-mail address). I hope that, in some small way, many of you are looking forward to my return as well. Not necessarily from the standpoint that I am returning but, rather, a local sports show for Rhode Islanders in particular.
Naturally we'll talk about the Red Sox, Yankees, Patriots, Celtics, etc. But, when something important happens with our in-state teams, we'll talk about them as well. In fact, I won't know where to begin on Saturday as I have alot of info on the PC coaching search to discuss. I'd love to give my quick 2 cents on the Celtics 17th world championship before we get into the Red Sox, Brett Favre or anything else. But I'll let you guys steer the show where it needs to go. If there's something in sports that you want to talk about, I welcome your call Saturday mornings.
It's kind of strange how things come full circle so-to-speak. In February of 1994 I was hired by WPRO where I did the "Sportsbeat" until October of 1997 when The Score was created. And now I'm back on WPRO again.
I'll be real curious to find out how many of the old "regulars" of the Score catch on to the fact that I'll be on the air Saturday mornings on WPRO. For instance, will Steve from Fall River call to irritate all of Southern New England with his outlandish points of view? What about Craig from Warwick and his 3rd place Yankees? Surely DP will have something to say about his Dolphins come September. Danny in Quincy will call to talk about the Sox. Joe the Milk Man, Mike from Connecticut our #1 Celts fan........I could go on and on and on. I miss hearing from those guys. Hopefully, they'll be back on the Providence airwaves with me.
Because this is only a part time gig, I am still am searching for a full time job which isn't easy in this economy. Along those lines, many thanks to everyone of you who has reached out to me with your kind words of support. I have tried to respond to every call and e-mail that I have received. Your support has meant ALOT to me during these past few months.
Thankyou!
Scott
As many of you know, I have missed talking sports on the airwaves for the past few months and, for that reason, I am really looking forward to my return. What's good about the once per week show is that we should have no shortage of material to discuss each Saturday morning. As always, I look forward to taking your phone calls and e-mails (tune in for the phone #'s and e-mail address). I hope that, in some small way, many of you are looking forward to my return as well. Not necessarily from the standpoint that I am returning but, rather, a local sports show for Rhode Islanders in particular.
Naturally we'll talk about the Red Sox, Yankees, Patriots, Celtics, etc. But, when something important happens with our in-state teams, we'll talk about them as well. In fact, I won't know where to begin on Saturday as I have alot of info on the PC coaching search to discuss. I'd love to give my quick 2 cents on the Celtics 17th world championship before we get into the Red Sox, Brett Favre or anything else. But I'll let you guys steer the show where it needs to go. If there's something in sports that you want to talk about, I welcome your call Saturday mornings.
It's kind of strange how things come full circle so-to-speak. In February of 1994 I was hired by WPRO where I did the "Sportsbeat" until October of 1997 when The Score was created. And now I'm back on WPRO again.
I'll be real curious to find out how many of the old "regulars" of the Score catch on to the fact that I'll be on the air Saturday mornings on WPRO. For instance, will Steve from Fall River call to irritate all of Southern New England with his outlandish points of view? What about Craig from Warwick and his 3rd place Yankees? Surely DP will have something to say about his Dolphins come September. Danny in Quincy will call to talk about the Sox. Joe the Milk Man, Mike from Connecticut our #1 Celts fan........I could go on and on and on. I miss hearing from those guys. Hopefully, they'll be back on the Providence airwaves with me.
Because this is only a part time gig, I am still am searching for a full time job which isn't easy in this economy. Along those lines, many thanks to everyone of you who has reached out to me with your kind words of support. I have tried to respond to every call and e-mail that I have received. Your support has meant ALOT to me during these past few months.
Thankyou!
Scott
Friday, June 13, 2008
It's Been A While
Sorry to take so long to update the blog. Let's just say that I have even more of an appreciation for what my wife and all stay at home parents do for a living. Now that's work!
I have received a ton of e-mails from faithful Score listeners and have responded to every one of them. I can't thank you all enough for your kind words and support. While it hasn't resulted in a new job, it has meant an awful lot to me. It really makes me feel good about what I did for a living and all of the great people like yourselves who listened to the Score.
Unfortunately, nothing to report on the job front. I applied for but did not get a job for the Brown University Sports Foundation. It was an event coordinator's position which I lacked experience for. Not that I think that it would have been difficult to learn, but I respect their decision to hire someone with experience in that area.
I was targeting another possible opening with the BUSF which I believe that I would have been the perfect candidate for. However, I was told that the salary was much lower than they had hoped to appropriate for the position and I need to earn a certain minimum figure to pay the monthly mortgage and the bills if my wife is to continue to stay at home with our two young children Jack and Ellie as we both hope that she can do.
So the job search continues. And while I said jokingly, "anyone know where I can get a job?" in one of my previous blogs, I will seriously say that if anyone knows of any job openings that might be of interest to me, please don't hesitate to contact me.
A bunch of our Miami trip regulars are working on our own trip to see the Pats down in Miami this year. However, I may have to pass on this year's trip unless I find a job sometime soon. I will say that I have developed real good friendships with alot of people who went on that trip and we may have a group of 25-30 peopl go down together this year or in future seasons.
Boy do I wish I were on the air right now to talk about the Celtics. Last night's comeback in game 4 was unbelievable! When I turned it on in the 1st quarter and they were down by 20 I was so disappointed that I contemplated going to bed at halftime. I did go upstairs into my bedroom at halftime where my wife was watching something else on TV. When her show ended at 11pm, I turned back to the game in the 3rd and they were down by 12. I figured I'd stay with it for a while. I'm glad I did! That effort was as good as it gets!
Paul Pierce's defense on Koby Bryant was fantastic! His offense has been great! Ray Allen played 48 minutes of superb basketball and how about Eddie House and James Posey? I haven't even mentioned Mr. Double-Double himself KG. Wow! What an effort!
Pierce, in particular, deserves a ton of praise. He has had his many detractors amongst Celtics fans. Even his worst critics have to give him his due now. He has TOTALLY outplayed Kobe Bryant on both ends of the floor.
From a coaching standpoint, Tom Thibideau's defensive coaching has been outstanding! These guys have all bought into it 100%. I think that KG's effort on the defensive end is contageous and it has rubbed off on everyone else.
But how about giving Doc Rivers his due? We all had questions about how good of a coach he is. He has proved alot to me this postseason and, particularly, last night. The day before game 4 he bounced the idea of playing a smaller line-up with 5 good offensive players and shooters meaning guys like Perkins and Rondo would ride the pine. His thought behind it was that Kobe, in particular, would be able to sag off of a good shooter like he does off of Rondo to help defend. Doc thinks that Bryant is the best help defender in the league. Rivers said the reaction he received from his fellow coaches was split but that he decided to do it in game 4 anyway. Man, did it ever work out great! All the way down to the end when they spread the floor for Ray Allen to take it to the rim for the essential game-clincher.
They still have to win one more to raise banner #17 to the Garden rafters, but even without it, what a turnaround season this has been for this franchise. I only wish I could go on the air with Gresh when the Finals are over to see if maybe now he can give Danny Ainge even an ounce of credit.
What Ainge did when he took over was the right thing to do. He needed to break it down to build it up again. Did the turnaround happen as quickly as we wanted it to? No. Did he get a bit lucky by not winning the lottery and the right to draft Oden? Yes. But the fact remains that he did a great job in the draft stockpiling great young players and he used them as chips to make the neccessary trades to put this team together. And let's not forget about guys like Posey and House who have helped off the bench. Hell, even though he gave up a ton of young players to get Ray Allen and KG, he still held on to Rondo and more of his draft picks (Powe and Big Baby) have also made huge contributions to this season. Danny Ainge has done a fantastic job despite what Gresh might think.
As for the Sox and Yankees. To me it's simple. They've both had to deal with their share of injuries to key players. But Boston's young arms (Lester, Bucholz, Masterson) have totally outperformed the Yankees young arms (Hughes, Kennedy, Chamberlin). The Yankees aren't dead by any means, but they are going to need an infusion of good, young talent soon.
I'm pumped that my Syracuse Orange won their 10th National Championship in lacrosse.
I'm saddened by the passing of NBC's Tim Russert. A great political reporter who seemed like one hell of a nice person. That's the way he came across the air to me anyway. I wish more TV and radio broadcasters could be like him. Too many broadcasters have huge egos and think that their you know what doesn't stink! Russert was just a genuine, nice guy.
That's all for now. Again, if you would like to contact me, feel free to send me an e-mail to: scordischi@cox.net I would love to hear from you!
Later,
Scott Cordischi
I have received a ton of e-mails from faithful Score listeners and have responded to every one of them. I can't thank you all enough for your kind words and support. While it hasn't resulted in a new job, it has meant an awful lot to me. It really makes me feel good about what I did for a living and all of the great people like yourselves who listened to the Score.
Unfortunately, nothing to report on the job front. I applied for but did not get a job for the Brown University Sports Foundation. It was an event coordinator's position which I lacked experience for. Not that I think that it would have been difficult to learn, but I respect their decision to hire someone with experience in that area.
I was targeting another possible opening with the BUSF which I believe that I would have been the perfect candidate for. However, I was told that the salary was much lower than they had hoped to appropriate for the position and I need to earn a certain minimum figure to pay the monthly mortgage and the bills if my wife is to continue to stay at home with our two young children Jack and Ellie as we both hope that she can do.
So the job search continues. And while I said jokingly, "anyone know where I can get a job?" in one of my previous blogs, I will seriously say that if anyone knows of any job openings that might be of interest to me, please don't hesitate to contact me.
A bunch of our Miami trip regulars are working on our own trip to see the Pats down in Miami this year. However, I may have to pass on this year's trip unless I find a job sometime soon. I will say that I have developed real good friendships with alot of people who went on that trip and we may have a group of 25-30 peopl go down together this year or in future seasons.
Boy do I wish I were on the air right now to talk about the Celtics. Last night's comeback in game 4 was unbelievable! When I turned it on in the 1st quarter and they were down by 20 I was so disappointed that I contemplated going to bed at halftime. I did go upstairs into my bedroom at halftime where my wife was watching something else on TV. When her show ended at 11pm, I turned back to the game in the 3rd and they were down by 12. I figured I'd stay with it for a while. I'm glad I did! That effort was as good as it gets!
Paul Pierce's defense on Koby Bryant was fantastic! His offense has been great! Ray Allen played 48 minutes of superb basketball and how about Eddie House and James Posey? I haven't even mentioned Mr. Double-Double himself KG. Wow! What an effort!
Pierce, in particular, deserves a ton of praise. He has had his many detractors amongst Celtics fans. Even his worst critics have to give him his due now. He has TOTALLY outplayed Kobe Bryant on both ends of the floor.
From a coaching standpoint, Tom Thibideau's defensive coaching has been outstanding! These guys have all bought into it 100%. I think that KG's effort on the defensive end is contageous and it has rubbed off on everyone else.
But how about giving Doc Rivers his due? We all had questions about how good of a coach he is. He has proved alot to me this postseason and, particularly, last night. The day before game 4 he bounced the idea of playing a smaller line-up with 5 good offensive players and shooters meaning guys like Perkins and Rondo would ride the pine. His thought behind it was that Kobe, in particular, would be able to sag off of a good shooter like he does off of Rondo to help defend. Doc thinks that Bryant is the best help defender in the league. Rivers said the reaction he received from his fellow coaches was split but that he decided to do it in game 4 anyway. Man, did it ever work out great! All the way down to the end when they spread the floor for Ray Allen to take it to the rim for the essential game-clincher.
They still have to win one more to raise banner #17 to the Garden rafters, but even without it, what a turnaround season this has been for this franchise. I only wish I could go on the air with Gresh when the Finals are over to see if maybe now he can give Danny Ainge even an ounce of credit.
What Ainge did when he took over was the right thing to do. He needed to break it down to build it up again. Did the turnaround happen as quickly as we wanted it to? No. Did he get a bit lucky by not winning the lottery and the right to draft Oden? Yes. But the fact remains that he did a great job in the draft stockpiling great young players and he used them as chips to make the neccessary trades to put this team together. And let's not forget about guys like Posey and House who have helped off the bench. Hell, even though he gave up a ton of young players to get Ray Allen and KG, he still held on to Rondo and more of his draft picks (Powe and Big Baby) have also made huge contributions to this season. Danny Ainge has done a fantastic job despite what Gresh might think.
As for the Sox and Yankees. To me it's simple. They've both had to deal with their share of injuries to key players. But Boston's young arms (Lester, Bucholz, Masterson) have totally outperformed the Yankees young arms (Hughes, Kennedy, Chamberlin). The Yankees aren't dead by any means, but they are going to need an infusion of good, young talent soon.
I'm pumped that my Syracuse Orange won their 10th National Championship in lacrosse.
I'm saddened by the passing of NBC's Tim Russert. A great political reporter who seemed like one hell of a nice person. That's the way he came across the air to me anyway. I wish more TV and radio broadcasters could be like him. Too many broadcasters have huge egos and think that their you know what doesn't stink! Russert was just a genuine, nice guy.
That's all for now. Again, if you would like to contact me, feel free to send me an e-mail to: scordischi@cox.net I would love to hear from you!
Later,
Scott Cordischi
Friday, April 11, 2008
Update / New e-mail address
Thankyou again to all of you for your kind words and concern for me and my family during this difficult time. I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate it.
A quick update on where things stand for me professionally: Having set out roots down here in RI, my wife and I decided that we would rather not relocate if neccessary. In addition to that, with the recent trend of consolidation in journalism industry (radio, TV, newspaper) we have decided that it might be time for a career change on a full-time basis to something else.
I recently interviewed for a job that I hope to land. (don't want to say what it is so as not to jinx it) I also hope to continue to operate in the sports media in some capacity on a part time basis depending upon what my schedule will allow.
My top priority would to be to continue to broadcast Brown football and basketball which I love so much and, thankfully, Brown would like me to do so as well.
The people at Cox Sports have been great offering more work in the future which is a relationship I would also like to continue.
I have had some other offers as well which I am not at liberty to discuss at the moment but am hopeful that some of them may pan out as well.
I first need to find out what my next full time job will be before slotting in any of that other stuff.
Also, for those of you still trying to contact me, I have a new e-mail address. It is: scordischi@cox.net
Thanks again for your support!
Scott
A quick update on where things stand for me professionally: Having set out roots down here in RI, my wife and I decided that we would rather not relocate if neccessary. In addition to that, with the recent trend of consolidation in journalism industry (radio, TV, newspaper) we have decided that it might be time for a career change on a full-time basis to something else.
I recently interviewed for a job that I hope to land. (don't want to say what it is so as not to jinx it) I also hope to continue to operate in the sports media in some capacity on a part time basis depending upon what my schedule will allow.
My top priority would to be to continue to broadcast Brown football and basketball which I love so much and, thankfully, Brown would like me to do so as well.
The people at Cox Sports have been great offering more work in the future which is a relationship I would also like to continue.
I have had some other offers as well which I am not at liberty to discuss at the moment but am hopeful that some of them may pan out as well.
I first need to find out what my next full time job will be before slotting in any of that other stuff.
Also, for those of you still trying to contact me, I have a new e-mail address. It is: scordischi@cox.net
Thanks again for your support!
Scott
Friday, March 21, 2008
Why, in my opinion, the Score died!
I've been waiting for things to settle down a bit before chiming in on why the Score is no longer. So many people have asked me if I saw this coming and want to know why it happenned. I can't say for certain, but here is MY OPINION on what led to the station's demise.
Let's start by saying that if the Score's ratings and revenue were substantially higher than they were in recent months, this never would have happenned. The fact is that the ratings were fair to poor at times and inconsistent at best. Likewise, sportstalk is an expensive format to run and the revenues generated by the station did not amount to a profit that the company was happy with.
Also understand that radio stations are no longer run by radio people. It's the corporate bean counters on Wall St. that call the shots. They expect a certain profit margin ( I was told an 8:1 ratio or we couldn't do it).
Finally, it was not just one thing but a number of things that all led up to the Score folding up shop.
When the Score signed on the air in October of 1997 there was a buzz in an around Providence and alot of people (mostly men) thought that it was a cool thing. It was 790 The Score back then and it was neat being a part of it from the very beginning.
We had Coach & Gresh 6-10am followed by the Fabulous Sports Babe (which I wasn't crazy about) from 10am-noon. Jim Rome from noon-3pm and the Sportsbeat with me from 3-7pm. In my opinion, mistake #1 was splitting up Coach & Gresh. Yes, the two did not get along toward the end but it was more on Gresh's part. He just didn't want to work with Coach any longer which was his right to feel that way. However, their show worked for me. First, you had two guys who fit well together. Coach was the voice of reason while Andy was the outspoken loud mouth. I thought that the combination worked well together. Secondly, after a few years, Coach & Gresh had built a name for themselves and the show and to just pull it apart was, to me, a mistake.
I remember our former GM Andrea Scott asking me if I could work with Andy and I told here that I could work with anyone. She said that the two were not getting along and had to be split up. Shortly after that, she made the switch. Mistake #1 in my book.
There was the addition of the FM signal which was nice and then lots of changes at the top. Our original program director Ron St. Pierre was no longer in charge and it started a carrousel of PD's to follow. There was David Bernstein (great guy!). He wanted to experiment with a female voice in the AM so he hired Amy Lawrence on a 1-year trial basis. After 1 year she approached him for a contract and he informed her that it wasn't working out so he let her go. Her replacements were Kevin Winter and eventually Zo.
Bernstein was also the PD of WPRO so he could not devote his full attention to the Score. In fact, he had to be more concerned with WPRO because that station was a hell of alot more important to the company than WSKO was.
After he was let go, they decided to give John Crowe a crack at PD. Crowe was the executive producer of the Score under Bernstein and essentially ran the station. He also had a great handle on the New England sports scence. John, however, didn't seemed to have the complete support and respect of upper management which made his job more difficult. He also ruffled alot of feathers of his higher-up's because he can be very blount and to the point. He is very much a straight shooter. I think some may not have liked his frankness. Crowe did hire Bryan Morry which I will always be thankful for.
Our various line-up variations ranged from Gresh & Zo in the morning, middays with Coach, middays with Rooke & Hyder, even middays with Crowe, Chips and others.
Then Jim Brinson was brought in to be the PD. Not a bad guy, but the wrong fit for this market. In his defense, Brinson was told that Opie & Anthony was going to be his new morning show and Gresh & Zo would move to middays with me & Bryan in the afternoons. To me, eliminating local sports in morning drive was a disaster! Even worse was replacing it with a show that seemingly everyone hated! I can honestly say that with all of the line-up changes in my 10+ years at the Score, I never heard more complaints than the thousands of complaints about Opie & Anothony.
What made it even worse was that many listeners would tell me that they're dying for sportstalk in the morning on the way to work and WEEI didn't give it to them at all times because they did news headlines and various political stuff. There was a need for nothing but local sports in the morning and we failed miserably as filling that void.
Brinson was canned after a year and then, after a long search for a new PD, they decided to give Ron St. Pierre another crack at it. We were told that he would be leaving his show with Cianci on WPRO and dedicating his full time to the Score but it never happened. Not his fault!
Also, WEEI invading Providence was a huge blow to the Score! Their brand and product is very good! Their hosts are all solid (although I must admit that I miss Neumie) and their sportstalk was almost always on point and their guests are outstanding. We could not compete with that 10,000 lb. gorilla! They have great ratings and a huge budget to get the guests New England sports fans (like myself) want to hear from. I'm told that they pay the Patriots almost 2 million per for the rights to Patriots Monday to talk to Brady in the AM, Bellichick in the PM and other players in the midday. They just re-upped with the Red Sox for 10 years and 200 million. They have Francona on every week. They have Schilling on every week. We couldn't touch that at the Score. Schilling wanted $80,000 for ALS to do a weekly call-in with us in Providence. We were lucky for Citadel to come up with $12,000 to do Co Co Crisp! They were competing in the majors and we were in the minors from a budgetary standpoint. How do you compete with that?
As Billy Reynolds wrote last week, Providence has become a sports subburb of Boston. The Pats and Sox are #1 and everyone else lags far behind. WEEI had the means to provide Pats and Sox fans with much better coverage than the Score did and there was little we could do about it. Also, because the Pats and the Sox are so popular, local teams like PC, URI, Brown, Pawsox, P-Bruins, etc. just weren't enough to make a difference for the Score. We definitely provided those teams much more coverage than WEEI did. They couldn't afford to and didn't want to cover them, but people still listened to WEEI or at least that's what the Arbitron diaries say.
I also believe that turning our backs on the Pawsox and the money they spent to broadcast their games on the Score and not getting PC and their money to stay hurt the stations bottom line.
Another killer blow to the Score was cultivating a talent like Sean McAdam on the radio only to lose him to WEEI. His Red Sox reports in the morning and afternoon each day were great on the Score. His loss to EEI hurt us.
There were times in the early years of the Score when the company paid to have billboard ads on 95 and 195. We had commercial ads running on cable TV stations like ESPN and TNT. I can only speak for my show but the ratings were excellent! On many occassions my ratings in men 25-54 which was our target demographic, I was second behind only HJY. However, once Citadel went public, those marketing dollars dried up and so too did the outside promotion of the Score. That hurt us also.
For what it's worth, if I called the shots at the Score, here's what I would have done years ago:
Keep Coach & Gresh from 6-10am. Like I said, it worked for me.
I would have made 10am-noon the Providence Journal Sports Report and have that be their 2 hour show to use whatever writers they wanted to to co-host the show each day. It would have been great cross-promotion with the Journal.
Rome noon-3pm
Sportsbeat with Scott & Bryan 3-7pm.
I would have tried to cultivate a relationship with Cox Sports to put cameras inside the Score studio to televise our shows when they could like they did with DePietro years ago at HJJ. I think that it would have helped.
I also would have liked to have been given the station's budget on January 1st (however big or small) so that I could decide how to distibute the money. For instance, which contributors should we go after? Tim Kirkjian, Peter Gammons, John Clayton, Sean Salisbury, a Sox player weekly, a Pats player weekly, etc. That stuff is important to me but you have to get the right people that the New England sports fan will make an appointment each week to tune in and listen to.
Finally, I will say that I accept my share of blame in the station's demise. While I worked hard at doing the best show I could possibly do each day, my efforts weren't good enough to make a difference to keep the station viable. I will say that I resent some of the bulletin board cowards who criticize me or Gresh or Zo for not working hard or for not caring or doing a good job. I respect your opinion but we worked our asses off to try to do the best show we could each day. It's not as easy as it looks. I can go to sleep at night knowing that gave that radio station, Citadel Broadcasting and you the listeners everything I had for 10+ years. I admit that I'm not perfect and have made my share of mistakes and I apologize for those. But I loved that station and it's loyal listeners and I'm still in alot of pain over the fact that it is no longer. I am also sorry that I was not given a chance to say thankyou and goodbye to you on the air but that was the companies decision. It would have been a very difficult 4 hours for me to get through.
Once again, thanks for reading this and for all of the kind words from many of you. I want you to know that I really do appreciate it!
Scott Cordischi
Let's start by saying that if the Score's ratings and revenue were substantially higher than they were in recent months, this never would have happenned. The fact is that the ratings were fair to poor at times and inconsistent at best. Likewise, sportstalk is an expensive format to run and the revenues generated by the station did not amount to a profit that the company was happy with.
Also understand that radio stations are no longer run by radio people. It's the corporate bean counters on Wall St. that call the shots. They expect a certain profit margin ( I was told an 8:1 ratio or we couldn't do it).
Finally, it was not just one thing but a number of things that all led up to the Score folding up shop.
When the Score signed on the air in October of 1997 there was a buzz in an around Providence and alot of people (mostly men) thought that it was a cool thing. It was 790 The Score back then and it was neat being a part of it from the very beginning.
We had Coach & Gresh 6-10am followed by the Fabulous Sports Babe (which I wasn't crazy about) from 10am-noon. Jim Rome from noon-3pm and the Sportsbeat with me from 3-7pm. In my opinion, mistake #1 was splitting up Coach & Gresh. Yes, the two did not get along toward the end but it was more on Gresh's part. He just didn't want to work with Coach any longer which was his right to feel that way. However, their show worked for me. First, you had two guys who fit well together. Coach was the voice of reason while Andy was the outspoken loud mouth. I thought that the combination worked well together. Secondly, after a few years, Coach & Gresh had built a name for themselves and the show and to just pull it apart was, to me, a mistake.
I remember our former GM Andrea Scott asking me if I could work with Andy and I told here that I could work with anyone. She said that the two were not getting along and had to be split up. Shortly after that, she made the switch. Mistake #1 in my book.
There was the addition of the FM signal which was nice and then lots of changes at the top. Our original program director Ron St. Pierre was no longer in charge and it started a carrousel of PD's to follow. There was David Bernstein (great guy!). He wanted to experiment with a female voice in the AM so he hired Amy Lawrence on a 1-year trial basis. After 1 year she approached him for a contract and he informed her that it wasn't working out so he let her go. Her replacements were Kevin Winter and eventually Zo.
Bernstein was also the PD of WPRO so he could not devote his full attention to the Score. In fact, he had to be more concerned with WPRO because that station was a hell of alot more important to the company than WSKO was.
After he was let go, they decided to give John Crowe a crack at PD. Crowe was the executive producer of the Score under Bernstein and essentially ran the station. He also had a great handle on the New England sports scence. John, however, didn't seemed to have the complete support and respect of upper management which made his job more difficult. He also ruffled alot of feathers of his higher-up's because he can be very blount and to the point. He is very much a straight shooter. I think some may not have liked his frankness. Crowe did hire Bryan Morry which I will always be thankful for.
Our various line-up variations ranged from Gresh & Zo in the morning, middays with Coach, middays with Rooke & Hyder, even middays with Crowe, Chips and others.
Then Jim Brinson was brought in to be the PD. Not a bad guy, but the wrong fit for this market. In his defense, Brinson was told that Opie & Anthony was going to be his new morning show and Gresh & Zo would move to middays with me & Bryan in the afternoons. To me, eliminating local sports in morning drive was a disaster! Even worse was replacing it with a show that seemingly everyone hated! I can honestly say that with all of the line-up changes in my 10+ years at the Score, I never heard more complaints than the thousands of complaints about Opie & Anothony.
What made it even worse was that many listeners would tell me that they're dying for sportstalk in the morning on the way to work and WEEI didn't give it to them at all times because they did news headlines and various political stuff. There was a need for nothing but local sports in the morning and we failed miserably as filling that void.
Brinson was canned after a year and then, after a long search for a new PD, they decided to give Ron St. Pierre another crack at it. We were told that he would be leaving his show with Cianci on WPRO and dedicating his full time to the Score but it never happened. Not his fault!
Also, WEEI invading Providence was a huge blow to the Score! Their brand and product is very good! Their hosts are all solid (although I must admit that I miss Neumie) and their sportstalk was almost always on point and their guests are outstanding. We could not compete with that 10,000 lb. gorilla! They have great ratings and a huge budget to get the guests New England sports fans (like myself) want to hear from. I'm told that they pay the Patriots almost 2 million per for the rights to Patriots Monday to talk to Brady in the AM, Bellichick in the PM and other players in the midday. They just re-upped with the Red Sox for 10 years and 200 million. They have Francona on every week. They have Schilling on every week. We couldn't touch that at the Score. Schilling wanted $80,000 for ALS to do a weekly call-in with us in Providence. We were lucky for Citadel to come up with $12,000 to do Co Co Crisp! They were competing in the majors and we were in the minors from a budgetary standpoint. How do you compete with that?
As Billy Reynolds wrote last week, Providence has become a sports subburb of Boston. The Pats and Sox are #1 and everyone else lags far behind. WEEI had the means to provide Pats and Sox fans with much better coverage than the Score did and there was little we could do about it. Also, because the Pats and the Sox are so popular, local teams like PC, URI, Brown, Pawsox, P-Bruins, etc. just weren't enough to make a difference for the Score. We definitely provided those teams much more coverage than WEEI did. They couldn't afford to and didn't want to cover them, but people still listened to WEEI or at least that's what the Arbitron diaries say.
I also believe that turning our backs on the Pawsox and the money they spent to broadcast their games on the Score and not getting PC and their money to stay hurt the stations bottom line.
Another killer blow to the Score was cultivating a talent like Sean McAdam on the radio only to lose him to WEEI. His Red Sox reports in the morning and afternoon each day were great on the Score. His loss to EEI hurt us.
There were times in the early years of the Score when the company paid to have billboard ads on 95 and 195. We had commercial ads running on cable TV stations like ESPN and TNT. I can only speak for my show but the ratings were excellent! On many occassions my ratings in men 25-54 which was our target demographic, I was second behind only HJY. However, once Citadel went public, those marketing dollars dried up and so too did the outside promotion of the Score. That hurt us also.
For what it's worth, if I called the shots at the Score, here's what I would have done years ago:
Keep Coach & Gresh from 6-10am. Like I said, it worked for me.
I would have made 10am-noon the Providence Journal Sports Report and have that be their 2 hour show to use whatever writers they wanted to to co-host the show each day. It would have been great cross-promotion with the Journal.
Rome noon-3pm
Sportsbeat with Scott & Bryan 3-7pm.
I would have tried to cultivate a relationship with Cox Sports to put cameras inside the Score studio to televise our shows when they could like they did with DePietro years ago at HJJ. I think that it would have helped.
I also would have liked to have been given the station's budget on January 1st (however big or small) so that I could decide how to distibute the money. For instance, which contributors should we go after? Tim Kirkjian, Peter Gammons, John Clayton, Sean Salisbury, a Sox player weekly, a Pats player weekly, etc. That stuff is important to me but you have to get the right people that the New England sports fan will make an appointment each week to tune in and listen to.
Finally, I will say that I accept my share of blame in the station's demise. While I worked hard at doing the best show I could possibly do each day, my efforts weren't good enough to make a difference to keep the station viable. I will say that I resent some of the bulletin board cowards who criticize me or Gresh or Zo for not working hard or for not caring or doing a good job. I respect your opinion but we worked our asses off to try to do the best show we could each day. It's not as easy as it looks. I can go to sleep at night knowing that gave that radio station, Citadel Broadcasting and you the listeners everything I had for 10+ years. I admit that I'm not perfect and have made my share of mistakes and I apologize for those. But I loved that station and it's loyal listeners and I'm still in alot of pain over the fact that it is no longer. I am also sorry that I was not given a chance to say thankyou and goodbye to you on the air but that was the companies decision. It would have been a very difficult 4 hours for me to get through.
Once again, thanks for reading this and for all of the kind words from many of you. I want you to know that I really do appreciate it!
Scott Cordischi
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