By Jeff Moss
DetroitSportsRag@gmail.com
July 13, 2013

When news broke on Friday afternoon that Matt Dery and 97.1 “The Ticket” had parted ways, it was widely assumed that it was Dery who was exiting WXYT-FM for greener pastures and an already in place new gig.

Based on information the DSR has learned this afternoon that does not appear to be the case.  According to sources at “The Ticket”, Dery was basically forced out by management as they questioned what “The Diesel” brought to the table.

It appears that WXYT program director Jimmy Powers only offered Dery a one-year contract in the hope that the executive producer of  “Valenti and Foster” would turn it down.

According to one source, Powers felt that Dery was undermining him behind his back and was happy to see the Pistons pre and post game host walk.   The source commented that Powers felt that Dery was very negative and duplicitous.   (I wonder what Dery said behind Powers’ back? I hope it was something like, what kind of grown man goes by the name “Jimmy.”)

The source went onto say that people inside the CBS Radio building didn’t feel Dery was pulling his weight and often had other people doing his work for him.  Because of this alleged behavior, his derisive nickname around the compound was “Tom Sawyer.”

(I haven’t read “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” since about the third grade and have pretty much forgotten the entire story, but I am guessing that isn’t a flattering reset.)

So it appears that Dery’s agent Mort Meisner has some work to do.  With Ryan Field leaving Fox Sports Detroit for Fox Sports 1 in Los Angeles you would think there would be a fit for Dery to do some Pistons work for the team’s television broadcast partner.

And we are just weeks away from Greater Media launching an FM sports talk station and Dery has 16 years experience in the business.

(Although if Drew Lane knew how Dery felt about his good friend Tom Kowalski, I doubt that the cornerstone of that new endeavor would welcome Dery with open arms.)

At this time it would appear the only job Dery currently has is hosting the rebooted version of “Bowling for Dollars” on WADL (Channel 38.)

And that isn’t going to pay the bills.