Movin' 101, Sir Mix-a-Lot: Thanks for the Memories

As the computer flipped your calendar to 2009, you may have noticed one thing change around the STL airwaves - the dawn of the new 101 ESPN. It's the first all-sports FM station here, which was way overdue.

It seems like a long time ago that this station was The River. Back in those days, you could hear Big Sandwich spinnin' the new Kelly Clarkson tunes until bedtime. Then all of a sudden, they gayed the station up even more by switching to Movin' 101.1 - get your move on now! (off button). I thought there was a reason every other station left the Madonna songs back in the 80s.

It was around spring/summertime when the Post-Dispatch's Dan Caesar wrote about rumblings of an all-sports station on 101.1, and I'll have to admit, my body got a little tingly. But once 101 started making some roster signings, those feelings went from "hey, that's awesome" to (insert Price is Right noise here).

Caesar wrote about the new station in his column last week (that's always a must-read for me, despite his creepy photo). I've checked out 101.1 a couple times on the way home from work, and uh, it sounds good. The guys talking, however...meh.

Here is the lineup:

5-10 a.m.: Mike Greenberg, Mike Golic. Wow, you guys should have just kicked me in the balls for five hours instead.

10 a.m.-2 p.m.: Bryan Burwell, Pat Parris. I don't get asked "Hey did you read that Bryan Burwell column?" or "Do you remember that Bryan Burwell column?" too often. There is a reason (no, not my intense racism). As for Mr. Parris, I don't think I can respect the guy who reads texts from John in DeSoto on the post-game show, let alone the guy who frequents the Tan Co. when he's not at the ballpark.

2 p.m-6 p.m.: Bob Ramsey, Randy Karraker, D'Marco Farr. When Bob Ramsey was let go from 590, no one was saying "Bob Ramsey! Fired?! He has to come back to radio! He must!" (okay, I'm all for people finding new jobs somewhere, but seeing how it's 2009, the Crammer really brings nothing to the table). Randy Karraker will always have a soft spot in my heart for hosting Chalk Talk, but his presence on this show really doesn't do anything for me. Besides Parris, D'Marco Farr is the other new face for St. Louis radio and he's the only part of the lineup that I actually like. I think he had a pretty good personality talking sports when I caught him on the Worst Damn Sports Show years ago. I'm afraid his baseball talk will be lacking come March thru October, so that means more Crammer and RandyK talk.

And that means more of me not listening.

It's pretty likely that 101 will eventually sign some bigger names in the local sports-talk biz, so I'm not ready to give up hope just yet.

But one tiny request to the station: play a little "Baby Got Back" or "This Is How We Do It" in the background once in a while to hold me over.