At KSTP-AM, Reusse and Soucheray's Ride is Over

When KSTP-AM (1500) began running an ESPN-branded sports format in 2010, they built on the success of shows hosted by newspaper columnists Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Joe Soucheray of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, which was left over from the conservative talk format they had.  They were also the radio home of the Minnesota Twins, and the University of Minnesota's men's hockey and basketball programs.

Now it's 2018.  The Twins and Gophers broadcasts have gone elsewhere, but 1500 ESPN (as they're currently known) is still the proud home of Minnesota United FC soccer matches.  The station lags way behind KFAN (KFXN-FM 100.3) in terms of audience and prestige.  You could say that KSTP was doomed from the moment KFAN switched its signal from AM to FM a few years ago, because AM radio does not have the cachet it once did.  That's why nearly every AM station will spend whatever it takes to put their signal on any leftover FM frequency they could find, just so they could say they're on FM.

So the Hubbard Broadcasting-owned station is making a few changes.  They swept out nine hours' worth of local programming effective after September 7, including Soucheray's "Garage Logic", Reusse's drive-timer "The Ride", and their jointly hosted "Sports Talk".  These shows were also heard across Minnesota in syndication.

Reusse and Soucheray had been hosting shows on KSTP separately and together for about 35 years.  They have been heard on Monday nights and later Saturday mornings with the wackiest cast of callers ever heard on Twin Cities radio, rivaling anything Charlie Boone, Roger Erickson and Steve Cannon ever did.

"Garage Logic", which has been on the air since 1993 as the only non-sports program on the station, is expected to continue as a podcast.  Maybe Soucheray could ask Tony Kornheiser, who also left radio for podcasting, for some pointers?

Also out the door at the Big AM 1500:  Phil Mackey and Judd Zulgad's late morning show, and newscaster John Hite.

What will KSTP do with all the free time it just created?  Put on more ESPN or syndicated shows?  Go back to right-wing talk (the elections are only a few weeks away)?  Start over with new, younger hosts?  From what we're hearing, even station management doesn't seem to know.

But we do know this.  Joe Soucheray and Patrick Reusse will be ending their radio careers at KSTP shortly after a farewell run at the Minnesota State Fair, having said that they never expected to be on the air this long, and that they've enjoyed the run they had.  So did we.

Trump Fouls LeBron on Twitter

President Donald Trump has picked up where Don Rickles left off as the new master of the insult.  The difference between the two is that Rickles was a stand-up comedian who used to denigrate celebrities, minorities and others on TV and in his nightclub act, and everyone thought it was hilarious.  Trump does much of the same thing in his Twitter posts and during his campaign-style love-ins.  But in his position as Leader of the Free World, nobody seems to know whether he's kidding or not.

The latest of Trump's controversial missives concerns NBA star LeBron James, who did a TV interview with CNN's Don Lemon to promote the startup of a school for at-risk kids in his hometown of Akron, Ohio.  James told Lemon that, among other things, the President was using sports to divide the country along racial lines.

After the interview aired, Trump tweeted that Lemon was "the dumbest man on television" who made James look smarter by comparison.  The President concluded by saying he liked Mike, which presumably meant he preferred Michael Jordan to James in the debate over who was the greatest basketball player in the last 25 years.  Or is it because Jordan plays golf?

Up until now, Trump hasn't insulted James for his past criticisms the way he has with other African-American athletes--most of whom refuse to be seen with him even if they've won a championship.  The President's remarks about James' "low IQ" must have been due to his bypassing college for the NBA, but that really has nothing to do with his intelligence.

The other reason is more political:  James recently left the Cleveland Cavaliers (for the second time) to go play for the Los Angeles Lakers.  Ohio is one of the states Trump needs to win re-election for a second term in 2020.  With LeBron out of the way and is now considered fair game, Trump believes he has a better shot at doing that.

Dozens of NBA and other athletes, including Jordan, have come to James' defense with tweets of their own which criticize the President.  But LeBron is too busy to care about that right now, what with his charitable efforts, the TV projects he's lined up, and just getting ready for next season with his new team.

Rickles, who died in 2017, is now considered a comic legend for getting laughs with his insults.  President Donald Trump, who used his tweets and public appearances to hurt and belittle people with his insults, is on his way to becoming a legend in his own mind.