The Big Show (sports radio show)

"The Big Show" is a sports talk radio program on Boston's WEEI 850 AM. Started in August 1995, the show is hosted by former Boston Celtics play-by-play announcer Glenn Ordway. The show is known for its round table format with Ordway sharing air time with several co-hosts, guests and callers. "The Big Show" airs weekday afternoons from 2:00 to 6:00 EST/EDT.

Personalities and Frequent Guests

Hosts

Glenn Ordway, the host of the show, performed radio announcing duties with Boston Celtics announcer Johnny Most for 13 years. After Most's retirement, Glenn was paired with former Celtic Jerry Sichting. In June 1995, Glenn was named Program Director of Sports Radio 850 WEEI and created the current format in the afternoon drive slot.

Pete Sheppard is the flashboy for the show. Sheppard fills in as the host of show when Ordway is absent.

Co-Hosts

* Steve Buckley, columnist for The Boston Herald. Buckley fills in as host when both Ordway and Sheppard are absent.
* Fred Smerlas, former NFL All-Pro player. Smerlas appears on "The Big Show" Monday & Friday during the NFL season, as well as regularly during NFL Draft and Training Camp periods.
* Sean McAdam, baseball writer for "The Providence Journal" and ESPN.com.
* Butch Stearns, main sports anchor for WFXT Fox 25 News (Boston). Stearns fills in as host in the absence of both Ordway and Sheppard.
* Steve DeOssie, former NFL linebacker and analyst for minor league hockey. DeOssie appears on "The Big Show" Mondays and Fridays during the NFL season. A regular daily fill-in for absent/vacationing co-hosts.
* Steve Burton, WBZ-TV sports anchor and former quarterback at Northwestern University.
* Larry Johnson, editorial sports cartoonist and practicing preacher formerly employed by "The National" and "The Boston Globe". Formerly the host of "Mustard and Johnson," which ran on Saturdays up until 2008.
* Bill Burt, sports editor of "The Lawrence Eagle Tribune"
* Rob Bradford, baseball writer and site editor for WEEI.com. Former baseball reporter for "The Boston Herald."
* Tom Curran, current football writer for NBC Sports. Curran appears regularly on Comcast Sports Net New England as a football analyst.
* Cedric Maxwell, former NBA Power Forward and MVP of the 1981 NBA Finals. A radio color analyst for the Boston Celtics since the mid-90's, Maxwell was one of the original guests when WEEI introduced "The Big Show". Once the Celtics returned to Entercom, Maxwell was welcomed back to "The Big Show".
* Lou Merloni, former infielder with the Boston Red Sox. Merloni joined "The Big Show" in March 2008. Merloni also regularly appears on the Red Sox pre, and post-game shows on NESN.
* Scott Zolak, former NFL quarterback.

Producers

* Brett Erickson
* Andy Massaua

Guests

During the course of sports seasons, the Big Show often has weekly conversations with players, coaches, and executives. Weekly guests include Bill Belichick, Danny Ainge, Boomer Esiason, and Vic Carucci.

Boston Globe feud

WEEI has had a long running feud with "The Boston Globe" that started in 1999 when sportswriter Ron Borges called New York Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu a "fat jap." Two days later, the "Boston Globe"' executive sports editor Don Skwar banned "Globe" sportswriters from appearing on "The Big Show". The ban was later extended to WEEI's Dennis and Callahan morning show. WEEI retaliated by banning "Globe" staffers from appearing on any of its shows. [cite web
url=http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/dont_quote_me/multi-page/documents/01230893.htm |title=Hush-hush In its war of words with WEEI, the Globe learns that silence isn't necessarily golden
author= Dan Kennedy |publisher=Boston Phoenix |accessdate=2007-06-03]

Bill Simmons

Bill Simmons, a popular columinst for "ESPN The Magazine", has been a longtime critic of "The Big Show", claiming that it is obnoxious and lacks sophistication. Ordway has stated that while he disagrees with most of Simmons' opinions, he [Ordway] believes that Simmons is a "great columnist". [cite web
url=http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?id=1252695 |title=Strange Days Indeed |date=2001-09-19
author= Bill Simmons |publisher=ESPN |accessdate=2007-06-03]

The Whiner Line

"The Whiner Line" is a regular feature which consists of listeners calling in and leaving complaints on a voicemail system, which is played at the end of the show. Complaints cover a wide range of subjects, including sports teams and stars, the hosts, other listeners, celebrities, current events and local politicians. The messages often include impersonations of celebrities and local figures.

There are numerous running jokes on the Whiner Line, many of which are by local comedian Graig Murphy, who performs impersonations of which include Tom Menino, Robert Kraft, Terry Francona, Grady Little, Shannon Sharpe, Harry Kalas, Deval Patrick and Dave Lewis. Other impersonators include Glenn Ordway, Mikey Adams, Johnny Damon, Carson Kressly, Bob Neumeier, Borat, Roger Clemens, Eddie Andelman, Bill Clinton, Fred Smerlas, Don Imus, Bill Walton, Edna Jacobson, Dale Arnold, and Dick Radatz as well as a caller who compiles Red Sox and Patriots-themed top-ten lists, a Beavis and Butthead parody, a caller whose comments were parody songs based on Simon & Garfunkel's "The Boxer", a caller known as the "Man on the Way Up" who calls regularly and insults the hosts, a caller with an Irish accent who recites poetry, and a caller known as "Mole #9" who frequently threatens co-host Steve DeOssie with revenge for supposedly stealing $5 from him [Mole #9] in the late 1970s. Also recently, former WAMG talk show host and Boston Herald sports columnist Michael Felger has been a target of jokes on the Whiner Line. [ [http://weei.com/pages/1349264.php? Whiner Line] ]

The Big Show hosts an annual event known as "The Whiny Awards," a tribute to the best "Whiner Line" callers of the year.

References

External links

* [http://weei.com/ WEEI 850 AM Boston]
* [http://weei.com/pages/235695.php? The Big Show]
* [http://audio.weei.com/ WEEI Audio Vault]