By Jeff Moss
DetroitSportsRag@GMail.com
January 8, 2016
Yesterday I posted an article regarding Drew Sharp’s slithery return to the Detroit Free Press late Wednesday evening. The only thing missing from the paper’s late-night online post was that it wasn’t delivered by a Mayflower moving truck.
Today we will focus on Sharp’s duplicitous return to the moribund sports talk radio station that sits at 105.1 on your FM dial.
As you probably already know, the DSR and Bill Shea of Crain’s Detroit (more on that douche bag later) both reported earlier this week that Sharp would be offering an apology when he reappeared on his PM-drive program with Matt Dery.
The DSR learned that the on-air apology was requested by Matt Dery and was a prerequisite to Sharp’s return. Well, here is some video of Sharp’s mea culpa to begin Thursday’s program ….
You guessed it. There was no admission of guilt on Sharp’s part. In fact, during the AWFUL crosstalk segment featuring Sean Baligian, Marc Fellahauer, Tom Mazawey, Dery and Sharp, the group made JOKES about Sharp’s disappearance. Going as far to kid that they were going to produce “Drew’s Back” t-shirts.
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In a mere 48 hours, Dery went from demanding an on-air apology to ignoring the situation entirely and playing it up for comedy. I have been unsuccessful in my attempts to contact Dery’s agent Mort Meisner to find out what the fuck went down.
The DSR then led a Richard Christy and Sal Governale-esque bombing of the show for four hours — during which several pranks were made referencing Sharp’s plagiarism. You can listen to a couple of them here.
One of our favorites was when some reader called up and suggested that David Harns should get the Lions General Manager gig. The only thing missing was Michael Caine calling in to discuss how Sharp gave Harns the Human papillomavirus.
But the highlight of the day occurred off-air when a DSR reader — who happens to be in radio management — called 105.1 program director Dave Shore to explain to him that as a concerned MOTHER, she thought it unconscionable that the station would continue to employ a liar and a common thief.
During the ten-minute conversation, she noted that the plagiarism story was all over Twitter, and the station’s silence was sending a poor message to young listeners. She warned the PD of a potential deluge of calls — both to the station and to advertisers — from parents and teachers angry over the host getting off scot-free.
After embarrassingly admitting that he was barely on Twitter himself, Shore told the programmer not to believe everything she read — even dismissively retorting that he wouldn’t want her serving on a jury — and maintained that it wasn’t even the station’s responsibility to address the issue since Sharp had done nothing wrong on 105.1’s airwaves. When she brought up Sharp’s now-nonexistent credibility, the PD said that he had a lot experience in management, implying that he felt he had a handle on the situation.
This exchange is remarkable on so many levels that I am going to have to number them:
1) I was told by the concerned citizen that Shore was extremely condescending when stating that that the parent shouldn’t believe everything she reads.
Shouldn’t believe everything she reads?!?!!?!?! The Free Press fucking admitted what went down in the archived version of Sharp’s stolen article. There is no debate here. The “jury” isn’t still out. Everyone knows what went down — INCLUDING Sharp’s co-workers at 105.1!!!!!
Hey, Shore, ya dummy, would you want SEAN BALIGIAN on a jury?!!?!?!?
(By the way, I learned something interesting this week. I was initially extremely confused when I found out Baligian was leaving his gig at 96.1 in Grand Rapids to head to the sinking ship known as WMGC-FM. Why did he do it? Well, Baligian was being paid hourly and was not a full-time employee while working in the West Michigan market out of his house in Northville. One mystery solved.)
2) After our plant wasn’t buying the “don’t believe everything you read” defense, Shore had the unmitigated gall to claim that he had no obligation to fire Sharp or even discipline him because any transgression occurred at the Freep and not 105.1!!!!!
What the FUCK? Is this guy serious? So if Drew Sharp murders someone, unless it occurs on the Ferndale Greater Media campus, does he get to keep his job? Is this lunatic serious with this shit? Which leads us to number three ..
3) I have been doing reconnaissance on Dave Shore for weeks, and this phone conversation basically confirmed everything that I have heard about him from INSIDE that Ferndale building …..
That Dave Shore is an empty suit who has absolutely no vision for WMGC — and his superiors are having some serious buyer’s remorse. I am told his greatest asset to the company is him dropping the names of famous people he met while working in Los Angeles to his current on-air talent.
It would appear that management hasn’t been dazzled by either his innovative “Crosstalk” segments or the addition of local pariahs like Sharp and Rob Parker.
Furthermore, none of his subordinates have any respect for the man and constantly mock him behind his back — even ridiculing his decision to live in Shelby Township (where he supposedly bought a house).
Yes, the man with worse ratings than the PD who was fired before him actually decided to buy instead of rent.
Well, that seems like a wonderful decision given I have been informed by a source inside the Greater Media complex that, based on the channel’s horrid ratings performance, staffers do not believe he will make it to the spring.
You have to admit the dude has faith.
Of course, take everything I just wrote with a grain of salt because you can’t believe everything you read.
So that’s about it for today’s Drew Sharp diary. Which leads me back to Bill Shea for a moment. This was a Tweet from the Human Remora yesterday ….
“How Barstool Sports Uses Social Media As A Weapon” by @StelliniTweets (Detroit has its own version of this) https://t.co/wunqCFRWgJ
— Bill Shea (@Bill_Shea19) January 7, 2016
Yep, this homeless man’s Darren Rovell (I can’t think of a bigger insult) compared the DSR (in a cowardly fashion) to a site that is being criticized for comparing Al-Jazeera to Al-Qaeda, allegedly promotes misogyny and has an overall fratboy mentality.
If anyone knows ANYTHING about this website, it’s this …..
As nasty as I can be, I am an equal-opportunity offender. Race, religion or gender isn’t a factor. I BOMB EVERYONE.
Secondly, for nearly thirteen years we have been supporting issues like gay rights and many other social causes. It’s why I almost convinced Tony Paul to announce his sexual preference on the DSR. Well, I am not sure how close I was ….. but the discussion was had.
Finally, if there is one thing almost every member of the DSR Elite can agree upon, it is the abject awfulness of fraternities and frat boy behavior. We abhor it. We blast that mentality at every fucking turn.
So don’t lump me in with that garbage, you dumb motherfucker.
Of course, maybe Shea just doesn’t know much about the DSR. There is always that possibility. It’s not like this fool ever wrote a favorable article about THIS god-damn website.
Oh, that’s right.