Al Eschbach

[Serge Ibaka]

I kind of like Al, and here is why: it's plainly apparent that the dude knows very little about anything aside from OU sports (and OU football, more specifically). A person might call in to discuss a recent MLB trade, and he will have no idea that the said trade even occurred. Yet, he somehow pulled the wool over everybody's eyes, and he got his dream job. And he probably gets paid well for it too.

I respect that.

And he even co-teaches a journalism course at OU every Spring which is more precisely an excuse to get onto campus in order to check out cute 18-24 year-old girls.

I respect that too.

I sort of like his personality and voice anyway. He reminds me of the crazy dudes that frequented diners during breakfast in my hometown back East.

And with all of that said: Mark Rodgers is the best host on the Sports Animal (even if he is fairly condescending).

Discuss.

[OhU1]

For entertainment value I like Traber best with Al close behind. Al can become annoying (or more annoying) when Dean is on and Al is constantly making juvenile innuendoes.

Perhaps Al's knowledge lags Dean and Jim's so he has to interject these comments to be involved. It's amusing sometimes because Dean either gets a little tickled or tries to ignore Al. However too many times there is an interesting topic I'd like to hear about and Al's banter has wasted several minutes. Before you know it it's commercial time again and another 8 minutes of more ads.

[GrapevineSooner]

Insert obligatory [The Ticket is 1,000x better than the Urinal] comment.

[Serge Ibaka]

Insert obligatory [The Ticket is 1,000x better than the Urinal] comment.

But do you have the sweet sentimentality that is introduced by Al's ignorance or Traber's homophobia/misogyny? I don't think so.

Those big Dallas-dollars can't buy you soul, Grapevine.

[Howzit]

Actually, those big Dallas dollars can by lots of soul if you know the right street corners.

Or at least rent it.

[diegosooner]

He's a dork deluxe, but him talking OU football is OK.

[picasso]

I kind of like Al, and here is why: it's plainly apparent that the dude knows very little about anything aside from OU sports (and OU football, more specifically). A person might call in to discuss a recent MLB trade, and he will have no idea that the said trade even occurred. Yet, he somehow pulled the wool over everybody's eyes, and he got his dream job. And he probably gets paid well for it too.

I respect that.

And he even co-teaches a journalism course at OU every Spring which is more precisely an excuse to get onto campus in order to check out cute 18-24 year-old girls.

I respect that too.

I sort of like his personality and voice anyway. He reminds me of the crazy dudes that frequented diners during breakfast in my hometown back East.

And with all of that said: Mark Rodgers is the best host on the Sports Animal (even if he is fairly condescending).

Discuss.

OU sports only? You're way off base. Sure he's kind of annoying and you can't always tell what language he's speaking but that dude knows a ton of trivia.

[Serge Ibaka]

OU sports only? You're way off base. Sure he's kind of annoying and you can't always tell what language he's speaking but that dude knows a ton of trivia.

Fair enough. I generally enjoy his ideas about music and movies even while I usually disagree.

One time they used that Strawberry Alarm Clock song as a lead-in from a commercial, and he went on a short-rant about people doing acid in the 60s. It was classic Al Eschbach.

Speaking of which: do you guys ever call the lead-in song before it actually plays? The two they use the most are the beat from the 50 Cent song (In the Club) and the catchy guitar-riffs-from-unnamed-rock-song. They really need to find some new lead-ins.

[oudavid1]

I like him and he entertains me, more so than Mark Rogers, way more so. I can listen to Traber alllllll day and Eschbach most of the time.

[GrapevineSooner]

But do you have the sweet sentimentality that is introduced by Al's ignorance or Traber's homophobia/misogyny? I don't think so.

No.

But I do have Dan McDowell's dark humor and Norm Hitzges' propensity to go apes**t over any minor disagreement a caller has with him.

[Serge Ibaka]

Traber is the most "shock-jock" of the group; he is the most willing to say things to get notoriety.

Or at least I think that's the case because he says a lot of senseless things. And I disagree with him a lot of the time. I'm unsure if he's a very good person because he seems to only appreciate people who agree with him.

I only truly appreciate him when he's telling stories about being in the Bigs. Still, he is generally well informed about sports--he's the opposite of Al, basically.

[GrapevineSooner]

Traber sounds like the OKC version of Greggo.

Without the coke and pain killer addiction.

[Serge Ibaka]

Traber sounds like the OKC version of Greggo.

Without the coke and pain killer addiction.

Greggo sounds like the Dallas-sports version of Rush Limbaugh.

[OU Adonis]

I like Matt Pinto. I haven't heard that much from him yet, but so far so good.

[GrapevineSooner]

I like Matt Pinto. I haven't heard that much from him yet, but so far so good.


Wait!!!!

The former Mavericks and Clippers play-by-play guy is doing OKC sports radio?

Bestill my beating heart.

[Serge Ibaka]

Wait!!!!

The former Mavericks and Clippers play-by-play guy is doing OKC sports radio?

Bestill my beating heart.

He does play-by-play for the Thunder. He's awesome.

But yeah, I guess he's taking over Sports Animal shifts in his spare time. I feel kind of sad for him, honestly.

[OU Adonis]

Yeah I listend to him during the Thunder broadcasts and when I heard him on the daytime animal I was like WTF?

He seems too classy and too much of a Pro to fit in with the rest.

[Collier11]

Al makes over 200k from what I hear and over the last 3-5 years he has been absolutely dreadful.

Dont dare disagree with him or he will just scream in his troll speak until the caller gets sick of it and mostly he just makes derogatory jokes left n right, not that im against that but talk some damn sports man

[Collier11]

Pinto is solid and I absolutely love Spenozi

[Crucifax Autumn]

Sounds like varieties of beans to me.

[Leroy Lizard]

Al makes over 200k from what I hear and over the last 3-5 years he has been absolutely dreadful.

$200k? Not a chance, unless he has business on the side. $30k? More likely.

[MrJimBeam]

$200k? Not a chance, unless he has business on the side. $30k? More likely.

He's on the radio from Woodward to Broken Bow, I bet he makes more than $30k.

[OU Adonis]

He had enough money to open a restaurant and he travels all the time. While I don't think he is worth 200k I wouldn't be surprised to learn he actually makes that much.

[Collier11]

$200k? Not a chance, unless he has business on the side. $30k? More likely.

Its quite true sir, him and Jim have the #1 sports show in the nation per capita and the only sports show per capita ranked in the top 50 of all radio shows, or atleast they were two or three years ago

[Lott's Bandana]

He had enough money to open a restaurant and he travels all the time. While I don't think he is worth 200k I wouldn't be surprised to learn he actually makes that much.

He lent his name to that Hal Smith FAIL, so I don't think much of his own capital went into that restaurant.

However, I do think he has invested well, fairly recently divorced and spends his money traveling to places where a troll can purchase desirability...we've had some recent discussions about trips to Asia.

[ouleaf]

Greggo sounds like the Dallas-sports version of Rush Limbaugh.

Kind of...he's pretty right wing too actually.

Greggo is actually back on the air again doing mid-day's on 105.3 the Fan, the 3rd sports station in Dallas. They shuffle their shows and lineups so frequently on that station, who knows how long he will last.

[ouleaf]

Insert obligatory [The Ticket is 1,000x better than the Urinal] comment.

^This^

Can't wait for whole crew to head out to Cowboys camp here soon!

[Sooner04]

$200k? Not a chance, unless he has business on the side. $30k? More likely.
You have absolutely NO idea what you're talking about on this issue.

[pilobolus]

He lent his name to that Hal Smith FAIL, so I don't think much of his own capital went into that restaurant.

However, I do think he has invested well, fairly recently divorced and spends his money traveling to places where a troll can purchase desirability...we've had some recent discussions about trips to Asia.


It's hilarious how Al travels to all the well-known sex tourism destinations, including Dubai and Thailand.

Pinto and Spinozzi are the only reasons I listen anymore.

[picasso]

It's hilarious how Al travels to all the well-known sex tourism destinations, including Dubai and Thailand.

Pinto and Spinozzi are the only reasons I listen anymore.

Dude, you can travel anywhere for sex tourism.

[pilobolus]

Dude, you can travel anywhere for sex tourism.

That depends on how you define it. Also, those happen to be two of the more notorious destinations for such activities.

[picasso]

My point is that if Eschenbacher needs to pay for frilly sex and such he can do it right here in Oklahomaer.

[Lott's Bandana]

It's hilarious how Al travels to all the well-known sex tourism destinations, including Dubai and Thailand.

Pinto and Spinozzi are the only reasons I listen anymore.

I've been to Thailand and the Philippines the last two years.

Great scuba diving. :)

[pilobolus]

My point is that if Eschenbacher needs to pay for frilly sex and such he can do it right here in Oklahomaer.

Can you hook me up in a PM? TIA!

[picasso]

Can you hook me up in a PM? TIA!

11th street, Tulsa. Dangle some money out the window.

Of course there's always Asian Tan.

[pilobolus]

11th street, Tulsa. Dangle some money out the window.

Of course there's always Asian Tan.

But is he into something really exotic like the lady boys? He may be a full-blown freak for all we know, and probably can't get that at Asia Tan in Tulsa!

[SoonerInKCMO]

But is he into something really exotic like the lady boys? He may be a full-blown freak for all we know, and probably can't get that at Asia Tan in Tulsa!

Silver Star FTFW (for the freak win).



Also, Eschbach makes Traber look intelligent. Is there a more damning statement that can be made?

[olevetonahill]

You have absolutely NO idea what you're talking about on this or any other issue.

Fixed

[oudavid1]

be nice everyone.

[starclassic tama]

$200k? Not a chance, unless he has business on the side. $30k? More likely.

you can't be serious... do you have any idea how the world works at all?

[olevetonahill]

be nice everyone.

**** YOU :P

[Czar Soonerov]

11th street, Tulsa. Dangle some money out the window.

Of course there's always Asian Tan.

Be careful, you might end up with Bikerfox on your lap.

[picasso]

Be careful, you might end up with Bikerfox on your lap.

Naw he's a south sider not a midtown type.:D

As in he likes it in the south side. Right Howzit?

[the_ouskull]

Traber is ridiculous. He knows very little outside of area sports and baseball, and when I say very little, I mean life-wise, too; not just sports. But, even basic sports questions (NBA, NFL) will often stump him, or he'll fumble around the wrong answer for a while. And God forbid he say something wrong before he realizes it's wrong, 'cause that's an hour of him yelling at every person within earshot, like a f*cking little kid throwing a tantrum, until someone finally gets in his sweaty ear during a break. Then it's like nothing ever happened... good Christian man.

Al used to be really, really good. He got lazy, plain and simple. He allowed himself to become a caricature of himself. (Yeah, that's f*cked-up, grammatically, but I don't know how else to make it make sense...) He stopped doing his homework about anything other than area sports and the major national stories, and even with those, it's more information gleened from late-nights with people who know people in the know than it is anything he's actually "uncovered" himself. He's also very different off of the air, which, in his case, is kinda whatever.

I WISH Traber were different off of the air. 'cause right now, he's like if Rush Limbaugh started doing a Glen Beck impersonation while "taking his talents to South Beath" to his own picture from one of his O's baseball cards.

The Hump Man: Talk golf, and nothing but golf unless you can get your brother on to talk politics.

BBJ: I don't have a problem with BBJ. Many, many years ago, I cleared the air with him, and he earned a H*LL of a lot of my respect in the process. Aside from being pretty good anyway, he gets a lifetime pass from me for what he did back in the day.

The Morning Animals: Greatness, all around. They deserve what they get, and it's probably not nearly enough.

Overall: The Sports Urinal, indeed. Mark Rodgers is the only really informative show, with BBJ second, and the Animal third. (Those two flip-flop pretty often, though... but I'm talking sports-informative, not in general...) Sadly, Rodgers is the least personable personality they have on-air in any major slot, and they can't afford to hire/find anybody that's worth a sh*t 'cause Traber and Eschbach eat up all of their money. Also, their egos run off or swallow up any good, young talent that comes along, either molding them into the party line (take Doug Gottlieb now vs. when he first got the the Animal, and was, you know... good... At least he's deece on ESPN still...) or turning them into ungrateful errand boys/girls.

That place is a microcosm of what's wrong with our government right now, come to think of it...

...right down to Traber and Eschbach spending an hour a day talking about food while their listeners starve for sports radio.

the_ouskull

[picasso]

Skull I like you man but the Morning Animals and Mark Monotone Rodgers can be just as ignorant as the Traber and Eschendorfer.

[the_ouskull]

Oh, please don't get me wrong... It's the lesser of two evils... but the Morning Animals are listen-able on most days. The other guys...? It's better to go month-by-month.

the_ouskull

[stoopified]

I can take Al in small doses,actually that is true of most of the radio guys.I detest Toby Rowland,he gets so pissy when you disagree with him and he knows he's wrong.

[Collier11]

I always laugh at the people who call into a show to tell the host that he sucks, why even listen? There are some on The SA that are good, some are tolerable, and some are bad, thats the way it is with any radio station.

If you dont like them just dont listen, its pretty easy

[gaylordfan1]

I used to hate to listen to AL, but the guy grew on me. He's actually pretty funny. Just go into any bar on campus after his show and your bound to run into him having a glass of wine. Just go up and talk to him, he's actually a pretty nice guy.

Traber hurts my ears.

Mark Rogers cracks me up... Although he seems to be losing patience as the years go by. He's def a gambler, the man knows the lines of everything.