Sports Talk Radio Station Slanders a Former New England Patriot
By Bob Branco
After staying away from Sports Talk Radio Station WEEI for two weeks, I thought I would listen again in case they reformed their ways. I was wrong. They haven’t changed one bit. During an interview with Matt Light, former offensive lineman for the New England Patriots, one of the talk show hosts asked him who he would rather have on his football team, Bill Belichick or Tom Brady. Matt said he would take Bill Belichick. Immediately, the host on WEEI had a juvenile reaction to Matt’s answer. He accused Matt of being a Brady hater.
I find this behavior inexcusable and intolerable. Since when do we have to hate the choice that we don’t make? If I go to a fast food restaurant, and I decide to order a hamburger instead of a hot dog, does it mean I should hate hot dogs? Can’t we make choices without being held under such scrutiny?
Sometimes, I believe that the media, whether they are news reporters or talk show hosts, say these outlandish things because they know that drama sells. However, that doesn’t make it right. Matt Light has to face people every day, wondering if they really think he hates Tom Brady just because he told WEEI that he would prefer having Bill Belichick on his team. Program directors of these radio stations need to step it up, and somehow put a stop to this nonsense. People’s reputations can easily be damaged as a result of what is said in public.
I don’t think I would ever want to be a guest on WEEI. I would be afraid of saying something that the hosts would purposely twist around in order to sustain good ratings. On that note, if WEEI depends on slander in order to be the number one rated sports station in the Boston area, then I wonder what kind of listening audience they are really targeting. I am not implying that WEEI does not have sincere sports fans or good talk show hosts. I’m merely pointing out that drama sells, and that some people in the media take full advantage of it.
