A few days ago, we posted a link to Richie Whitt's Unfair Park blog entry giving some details about his convo with The Ticket's MIA Greg "The Hammer" Williams. Richie has since written a longer piece regarding Williams.
Looks like Greggo wound up on the wrong side of a cocaine problem (is there a right side?), has been, or is still, in rehab, and plans to return to the afternoon-drive airwaves sometime next week.
The question raised by all this is: How welcome will he be, both by his co-workers and his audience. No one has been harder on drug-using athletes than Williams, and the resulting apparent hypocrisy could be overwhelming. Many accused The Ticket of turning hypocritical in the wake of Carter Albrecht's tragic death - there was no trifecta talk after that event. I'll definitely cut Rhyner and company slack on that one - Albrecht's death was a horrible, close-to-home tragedy which may or may not have been the result of outside chemical influences. Williams' "do as I say, not as I do" actions may be harder to swallow.
The upshot, for me at least, is The Hardline has not missed a beat without Williams. More Corby Davidson, more Wilonsky, guests dropping in, most notably the under-rated Kevin Scott and good old Richie Whitt himself, has more than made up for Williams, who was was in noticeable decline prior to his sudden Oct 12 mid-show departure. Always prone to the mis-speak and random goofball comment, Williams was, in the months leading up to his disappearing act, often guilty of tuning out the show around him, making inane and irrelevant comments, and being clearly out-of-sorts. If that's the Greggo who's coming back next week, um, buddy, don't bother...
Looks like Greggo wound up on the wrong side of a cocaine problem (is there a right side?), has been, or is still, in rehab, and plans to return to the afternoon-drive airwaves sometime next week.
The question raised by all this is: How welcome will he be, both by his co-workers and his audience. No one has been harder on drug-using athletes than Williams, and the resulting apparent hypocrisy could be overwhelming. Many accused The Ticket of turning hypocritical in the wake of Carter Albrecht's tragic death - there was no trifecta talk after that event. I'll definitely cut Rhyner and company slack on that one - Albrecht's death was a horrible, close-to-home tragedy which may or may not have been the result of outside chemical influences. Williams' "do as I say, not as I do" actions may be harder to swallow.
The upshot, for me at least, is The Hardline has not missed a beat without Williams. More Corby Davidson, more Wilonsky, guests dropping in, most notably the under-rated Kevin Scott and good old Richie Whitt himself, has more than made up for Williams, who was was in noticeable decline prior to his sudden Oct 12 mid-show departure. Always prone to the mis-speak and random goofball comment, Williams was, in the months leading up to his disappearing act, often guilty of tuning out the show around him, making inane and irrelevant comments, and being clearly out-of-sorts. If that's the Greggo who's coming back next week, um, buddy, don't bother...
4 comments:
FYI...
They did vote Carter into Trifecta; they just waited a week (until Danny came back to work) to do it. It was made very clear that Carter loved The Hardline and it's bits and would've wanted to be included in Trifecta talk. The people complaining about this either weren't listening very closely or they're just jerks. YMMV.
I stand corrected. Morbid as it sounds, I'm glad to hear this. Carter certainly seemed to be trifecta-worthy, at least locally...
I'll be shocked if Greggo returns to the Hardline on any long term basis. His coworkers couldn't sound more fed up with him.
And I don't think Chantix led to Carter's death as much as his ignoring the warning label telling him not to get drunker than Cooter Brown while taking the stuff.
It's Official!
TheTicket today released this statement...
Dallas, Texas – Sportsradio 1310 the Ticket (KTCK) announced today that Greg Williams, co-host of afternoon drive show The Hardline, has resigned. Mike Rhyner will continue to host the Hardline, heard weekdays from 3pm-7pm, along with sidekick Corby Davidson.
Williams has co-hosted The Hardline with Rhyner since the station first hit the airwaves in January 1994. Originally in the 11am-2pm timeslot, the Hardline moved to afternoon drive in 1996. The show has won multiple awards, including Sports Personalities of the Year by ESPN, Personalities of the Year by the Dallas Chapter of American Women in Radio and TV, Dallas Observer Sports Talk Show of the Year, and Best Radio Program by the Ft Worth Weekly...
Mike Rhyner went on to say that he will never down play the role that Greggo played and that much of their success was due, in large part, to The Hammer. Also, with the legal mess that is building over this the Hardline as we know it today will not have much more to say but you could hear it in their voices that Williams will be missed. There is (rightfully so) a concern that messing with the chemistry of the show could have some bumps along the way.
Personal note: Don't underestimate the loyality of TheTicket listener. While Greggo will be missed by listeners, it's the total package that keeps us tuned in.
Stay hard!
Post a Comment