"Take that Calgary Puck!" — SN960 and Calgary sports media discussion

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Knightslayer

He doesn't seem to know much about the 7 canadian teams aside from the Leafs and one player on Edmonton.

He tries too hard with words and poetry when talking about hockey.

Tries to be philosophical for no reason.

Those are my biggest 3 reasons.

These strike me as completely impressionistic, and not something that aligns with what I hear when I listen to Marek.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Knightslayer

He doesn't seem to know much about the 7 canadian teams aside from the Leafs and one player on Edmonton.

He tries too hard with words and poetry when talking about hockey.

Tries to be philosophical for no reason.

Those are my biggest 3 reasons.

Yep. Not nearly as clever as he thinks he is and a little Woke for my sports host liking. I think Rintoul was way better and it's not like I loved him.

[mikeecho]

Originally Posted by Knightslayer

He doesn't seem to know much about the 7 canadian teams aside from the Leafs and one player on Edmonton.

He tries too hard with words and poetry when talking about hockey.

Tries to be philosophical for no reason.

Those are my biggest 3 reasons.

Marek is like Loubardias in that he's a cheerleader who will never really be (even respectfully) critical of much, so I don't look to him for insight, analysis or any opinion.


He's an okay bus driver but there's way too much ... "Elliotte, I believe it was Chaucer who once said..." kind of verbal gymnastics on the 32/32 thoughts pod.



I also think it's funny that HNIC has used him to fill in the Chris Johnston role as secondary insider. I guarantee Friedman just throws him some bones so he doesn't have to speak during for the whole segment.

[Knightslayer]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

These strike me as completely impressionistic, and not something that aligns with what I hear when I listen to Marek.

Yes but that still makes him irritating to me.

[Knightslayer]

Also listened to him the next day after Flames dominated the Preds and lost and when he brought up the game, he talked like he had no clue what happened in the game and made no mention of how Saros stole that game. If you're a Flames fan listening, you want to hear him somewhat break down the game a little like he breaks down Leafs games. But just a passing thought like the Flames took a step back after playing so well previously.

[OldSam]

Fortunately, I arrived at my destination and turned off the car before the McBaby segment. However, since there is no way any other team (yes, including the Leafs) will get anything but minor coverage and it appears daily there is only one player in the NHL, I have decided to let them blither and blather on. By Christmas, his head will be so swollen and his ego so excessive, he will explode and all this crap will be over. Well, except for the inevitable 97 hour special.

[bubbsy]

There's no point listening to the Marek Show if you care to hear any insight whatsoever as a flame fan.

Pretty disappointing.

[Northendzone]

i thought that rintoul had a little more flames related insights. but meh, toronto based host is going to toronto

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

There's no point listening to the Marek Show if you care to hear any insight whatsoever as a flame fan.

Pretty disappointing.

I'm actually okay with that as we get enough Flames talk from the morning and afternoon guys. I just find that outside of his Friedman segments it's pretty dry in regards to good hockey talk.

[CliffFletcher]

I’m a big Dan Carlin fan, but the episodes of his podcast where he indulged in a bromance with Marek were cringey.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by Knightslayer

He doesn't seem to know much about the 7 canadian teams aside from the Leafs and one player on Edmonton.

He tries too hard with words and poetry when talking about hockey.

Tries to be philosophical for no reason.

Those are my biggest 3 reasons.

Marek's hero must be Ron MacLean. He loves those random 'smart guy' asides.

[Knightslayer]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

Marek's hero must be Ron MacLean. He loves those random 'smart guy' asides.

I actually love Ron Maclean but probably cause he isn't on the radio or podcasts for 16 hours a week.

Maybe Marek would be better in less doses.

[GreenLantern2814]

Put an American show on for three hours in the morning.

I don’t even want to hear Canadians talking about football and basketball - they suck at it. They suck at it the way Americans suck at talking hockey.

They’ve been trying to fill this programming void for six years. There’s no way Rome’s ratings don’t tower over this forgettable milquetoast.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Rome is a lot more expensive though.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Rome is a lot more expensive though.

And you get what you pay for.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

And you get what you pay for.

ugh Rome is appalling.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

And you get what you pay for.

Sure but if the ratings don't justify the expense then it doesn't make sense. That's not a critical block of time, so they probably have a hard time generating a positive ROI to pay for Rome.
It's a business.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

ugh Rome is appalling.

No, he isn’t.

More than not being appalling, he’s not boring.

Which is more than can be said for Rintoul, Marek, Baseball Central, Hockey Central, or whatever else they’ve tried to replace him with.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

No, he isn’t.

More than not being appalling, he’s not boring.

Which is more than can be said for Rintoul, Marek, Baseball Central, Hockey Central, or whatever else they’ve tried to replace him with.

My condemnation of Rome isn't an endorsement of the other appalling options that have been presented.

Rome is trite at best.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Sure but if the ratings don't justify the expense then it doesn't make sense. That's not a critical block of time, so they probably have a hard time generating a positive ROI to pay for Rome.
It's a business.

It’s a bit of Chicken and egg, no?

Rome is expensive - he brings in ratings, which allow you to charge more to car dealerships.

Rome talks about different subjects than your typical Canadian broadcast - breaks up the monotony of constant hockey talk.

Rome’s strong listener base likely has a strong carryover to the afternoon show, providing stronger ratings and offering a better value proposition to sell
To car dealerships.

Rome replacement is cheap - no ratings = fewer car dealerships spending money on your station.

No Rome listeners = no strong lead in to your afternoon show, which needs all the help it can get = fewer ratings to sell to car dealerships.