Lots of opinions from our bloggers this week. As always they are just that, their opinions, and not necessarily shared by Jeff Solari and The Sports Chowdah, or our sponsors.
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Score Dad Some FREE Seafood!
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The Sports Chowdah and Dorr Lobster are teaming up to give Dad $100 worth of free seafood for Fathers Day!
Just send an e mail to:
jeff@sportschowdah.com
We'll put you in the random drawing this Wednesday!
Forget the ties and aftershave. Show any Dad how much you love them with fresh Maine seafood from Dorr Lobster!
Happy Fathers Day
from The Sports Chowdah!
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Talking Sports Talk Radio
By Jeff Solari
In the ever changing media landscape, Sports Talk Radio remains as popular as ever, especially in New England. In Boston the top two radio stations in the market feature sports formats.
Here in Maine there are a couple of very popular sports talk stations as well. The Ticket on 92.9 FM in Bangor and The Big Jab on 96.3 FM in Portland are two of the biggest.
Just like choosing items from a restaurant menu, everyone's tastes are different when it comes to choosing a sports talk radio show.
The most popular national shows often feature polarizing hosts that are loved by as many people as there are that dislike them.
Colin Cowherd, Dan Lebatard, Jim Rome and Dan Partrick. You won't find many folks who like all four.
In Boston the battle rages between the WEEI loyalists and the Sports Hub faithful.
Those shows are host and caller driven and don't rely heavily on guests unless they are big names like Tom Brady or Brad Stevens.
Some local shows focus on guest lists but ratings support the idea that listeners prefer engaging hosts, opinions and fun debates.
What do you prefer? Which Maine sports talk radio show is your favorite? Vote below and we'll share the results Thursday in The Chowdah.
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Danielle Trotta Joins NBC Sports Boston
NBC Sports Boston has announced that
Danielle Trotta
will join the network beginning this month. Trotta's primary role as a new co-host of the network’s nightly studio show
Boston Sports Tonight
. She replaces Kayce Smith who left for Barstool Sports a couple of months ago.
Prior to joining NBC Sports Boston, Trotta was most recently covering the auto-racing industry with roles at Sirus XM, co-host of NASCAR Race Hub and NASCAR Raceday Pre-race show on Fox Sports 1.
Former co-host Kaycee Smith and current co-host Tom Giles are frequent guests on
THE DRIVE
which airs 4-6pm on 92.9FM in Bangor. We expect that you'll be able to hear Ms. Trotta on the show as well.
-SOLARI
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VOTE IN THIS WEEK'S SPORTS CHOWDAH POLL!
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Your Favorite Local Sports Talk Radio Show in Maine is:
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THE MORNING PITCH With Dale Duff
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THE DRIVE with Churchill, Solari, Paulette, Jackson and more
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THE MORNING JAB With Shoe and Joe
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THE PM JAB with Javs and Chris
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DOWNTOWN With Rich Kimball
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LAST WEEK'S
POLL RESULTS
Last week we asked:
"Do you want Lebron James to join the Celtics?"
YES: 11%
NO: 89%
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SPORTS CHOWDAH
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Presented by Leadbetter's Super Stops & Premium Deli
It's time for the City of Bangor to move on from harness racing at Bass Park.
The sport is on life support and Bangor could make much better use of the property.
I explain more in this weeks "Jeff's Take" which originally airs on WABI TV 5.
(Photo courtesy of the Bangor Daily News)
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Two Triple Crown Winners in Just Four Years Is Good for Racing
Fourth And Goal With The Bam
The unthinkable has happened again. For the second time in four years, a horse has won the Triple Crown.!
Justify has been nothing short of dominant in the three races and now takes his spot in immortality. After sloshing through mud to wipe out the field in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, Justify had to be loving the super dry dirt at Belmont Park on Saturday as he simply breezed to victory with very little challenge.
Of course it had to be a horse named Gronkowski to make things a tad interesting for a few furlongs, but in the end Justify wasn't about to get Gronked.
I have fielded some questions amongst some of my friends wondering if yet another Triple Crown this soon is good for the sport. No brainer. Of course it is.
If three different horses win these three races, less than 1% of the general public can even name one of them. If a horse wins the first two and has a chance to win the Triple Crown, that percentage goes way up.
However if a horse fails at Belmont, we are back to probably 1% who even remember who wins Belmont, or who won the first two races.
Big time horse racing is the largest spectator sport in the country. People who can't even spell "horse" were beating down the doors to get into Belmont yesterday to witness greatness. If the Triple Crown wasn't on the line, the passive fan probably isn't going to bother trying to beat the crowds. Now those passive fans are marking their calendars for the Kentucky Derby , just a short eleven months away!
So now Justify, like American Pharaoh before him, will now enjoy a life somewhere in Kentucky. The kind of life that, for a human, is illegal in 49 states. Justify's little black book will be more like an encyclopedia. His owner will run out of cigars probably. It's good to be king.
Horse racing is better off for having horses like Justify and American Pharaoh. I hope that the casual fans understand just how special the last four years have been. If by some chance in the next 20 years of my life I end up rich, instead of just brutally handsome, I will absolutely invest in a race horse.
I guess I should start thinking of names for MY future Triple Crown winner. 4th and goal? Chowdah? Yankees Suck? Still No Hardware? ( I don't know if I want to give New Hampshire that much stroke though).
Go Blue? That has a nice ring to it.
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Secretariat vs. Justify
How insane was Secretariat’s Belmont 45 years ago? The horse would have beaten Justify (based on time) by 25 LENGTHS.
-From Darren Rovell
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GOOD LUCK TO ALL HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL TEAMS COMPETING FOR CHAMPIONSHIPS THIS WEEK!
From The Sea Dog Brew Pub on The Waterfront in Bangor
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The Sea Dog Has Some
Amazing
New Menu Items!
Be sure to tell Bert and his crew that
The Sports Chowdah
suggested you try the brand new
Crispy Chicken Cobb Salad!
Butter lettuce, heirloom tomato, bacon, blue cheese crumbles, egg, fried chicken and buttermilk lime dressing.
It's a must try!
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The Patriots Are NOT Going to Trade Gronk.
This will be one of the shortest blogs ever because the headline says it all.
Seriously. Friday was a crazy day with social media members going wild about a "report" that the Pats had traded, or attempted to trade, Rob Gronkowski.
It has since been reported that there was zero percent truth to the rumor. That's because Coach Hoodie and the Pats are not brain dead morons unlike the people who believe everything they read on Twitter.
Gronk will be a Patriot this season. I guarantee it. If they trade him I'll swim across the Penobsot River from Bangor to Brewer.
End of blog.
- SOLARI
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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR SEA DOGS TICKET WINNER!
The Sports Chowdah is wicked pleased to be partnering with the Sea Dogs to give away a four pack of game tickets every month this season!
David Ferguson of Bangor
is this month's winner! He wins four tickets to see the Sea Dogs battle the Trenton Thunder Saturday June 23.
Congrats and thanks for reading the Sports Chowdah!
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Tom Brady Is Not A Happy Man
By: Lee Goldberg
NEWSCENTER Maine
With apologies to REM, It’s the end of the world as we have known it, and I don’t feel fine...
There’s trouble in Patriot nation. I am not talking Lisa Olson in the locker room trouble, but certainly the most we have seen since Robert Kraft bought the team.
I don’t care what he says when the microphones are turned on, Tom Brady is not happy. He’s the man who had everybody convinced how important the OTA’s are. So to not show up, speaks volumes. Then rumors about Gronk being traded? And then the news of Julian Edelman using performance-enhancing drugs? What is going on here?
If any part of the Edelman situation gets traced back to Alex Guerrero, The widening divide between Brady, Gronkowski, and Belichick will open up like the Grand Canyon.
I don’t like it. Not for one minute. This is what other franchises have to deal with. Not the Patriots. Will it translate to on field issues? Time will tell, but the narrative has changed. The happy cohesive successful unit is no more.
I’ve got a really bad feeling. I hope I’m wrong
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KC Royals Draft Two Hall Of Fame Quarterbacks
This week in 1979, the Royals drafted both Dan Marino and John Elway.
Yep- It's true.
They took Marino at #99 and Elway at #462.
Seemingly The Royals were trying a misguided attempt to dominate the quarterback landscape in the American League West for the next two decades.
Some copy shred from Super70's Sports
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MAINE SPORTS
HERO
OF THE WEEK
Presented by Hero's Sports Grill
A native of Bangor,
Bill Green
began his career at WLBZ, moving to Portland in 1981 as the weekend sports anchor for WCSH and WLBZ. Here he anchored some 230 sportscasts per year while focusing on recreational sports.
In June, 1993, he concluded his stint as a sportscaster after 5200 shows to focus exclusively on feature reporting.
Green’s early years featured success in other athletic venues. At Bangor High School, he was co-captain of the Rams’ 1971 state Class A champion baseball team. A third baseman, he hit .400 while striking out only four times.
But Green, a Registered Maine Guide, was destined to succumb to the lure of Maine’s outdoors, influenced by the legacy of Bangor Daily News legend Bud Leavitt.
“The outdoor community owes Bill a considerable debt for bringing many of our most obscure pursuits to a television audience,” said Don Kleiner, Executive Director of the Maine Professional Guides Association. “Where else would you go to watch someone dip smelts on a cold spring evening but “The Green Outdoors?”
(Text Courtesy of the Maine Sports Hall Of Fame)
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Located in downtown Bangor, Hero’s Sports Grill offers fantastic meals, drinks, and appetizers in a fun, family-friendly atmosphere. We have 29 flat screen TVs for your sports viewing pleasure and an arcade (with prizes!) for the kids. Hero’s is the place to be.
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Do You Believe Ted Williams Hit One To The "Red Seat" at Fenway?
Red Sox Historian Gordon Edes says it happened. David Ortiz says no way. What do you think?
Heres the story:
On June 9, 1946, the Splendid Splinter connected off of Detroit's Fred Hutchinson for the longest home run ever hit in Fenway, landing in the upper part of what was later called the Lower Bleachers.
56-year-old Joe Boucher, a construction engineer from Albany, New York, was in the now-red seat when the ball, which traveled 502 feet, fell from the sky and deflected off his straw hat. But Boucher didn't end up with the ball, adding, "after it hit my head, I was no longer interested."
The seat, located in section 42, row 37, seat 21, was painted red in 1984 to commemorate Williams' titanic blast, although at the time of the home run there were real bleachers in the Bleachers and not individual seats.
Did this all really happen? Drop me an e mail and we'll share some of your thoughts on Thursday.
Jeff@sportschowdah.com
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TWEET OF THE WEEK
Hopefully, LeBron's hand cast does a better job than his supporting cast...
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High TV Ratings for the Stanley Cup Playoffs? You Can Bet On It!
Apparently America loves a good underdog story, or maybe two of them this season.
This year's
Stanley Cup Final
finished strong, and the playoffs as a whole were the second highest-rated since 1997.
The story of the Golden Knights certainly helped. Washington winning it's first cup is a great story as well. (Alex Ovechkin slept with the Cup this pas
Plus classic teams like the Bruins always draw some viewers too.
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20th Anniversary of
The Waterboy.
Hard to believe it's been 20 years since Bobby Boucher "Boo-shay" taught us about how to lay a big hit on someone playing "Foos-ball."
Go South Central Louisiana State University Mud Dogs!
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Fresh Prep, Bangor
You are what you eat...so why not be healthy and fresh! And have it delivered right to you!
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Order by MIDNIGHT WEDNESDAY
for Sunday Pick Up
Order by MIDNIGHT SUNDAY for Wednesday Pick Up
DELIVERY SERVICE NOW AVAILABLE!
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Rock at The Penobscot Pour House!
Don't miss
THE JIM BROWN BAND
Friday and Saturday at the Penobscot Pour House, Main Street Bangor!
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THE CHOWDAH COMMUNITY CORNER
Presented by Machias Savings Bank
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Calling ALL Mainers!
Your Maine photo could pocket you $100! Start looking through your best photos and be ready to enter our “The Way Life Should Be” photo contest Monday!
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Welcome Trevor!
Sports Chowdah's Newest Employee
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Hi! I'm
Trevor Fogarty
and I'm the newest member of the Sports Chowdah team. I'm from Dexter, and am a recent graduate from the University of Maine with a double major in Marketing and Management.
I've always loved sports and am excited to now work for a company that produces a very cool sports newsletter!
I'll be doing a little writing and will be happy to talk to you about how your business can join the great local sponsors of the Sports Chowdah too!
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IHOB
This doesn't have much, if anything, to do with sports, but I thought it was interesting, IHOP is about to become known as IHOB. The "P" for pancakes is about to give way to "B" for burgers.
It appears that you can still order piles of pancakes but they are adding lots of burgers to the menu as well.
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Who Is This Jeff Solari Guy Anyway?
Jeff Solari is the President and owner of Rock Lobster Media and The Sports Chowdah. Jeff is also the co-host of the regions most listened to afternoon sports talk show, The Drive on 92.9FM The Ticket in Bangor.
He has been in sports media since he was 17. He is not shy with his opinions or unique perspective on the world of sports.
Jeff is a graduate of Mount Desert Island High School and the University of Southern Maine.
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THE SPORTS CHOWDAH IS A PROPERTY OF ROCK LOBSTER MEDIA LLC
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Jeff Solari | Sports Chowdah | (207) 735-7323 | jeff@sportschowdah.com
| www.jeffsolari.com
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