Sweater and the Schmoozer............

What happened to Russ Salzberg? I know he is on ch9 but why did they break those two up back in day for the 10-1 slot? I mean, as bad as they were together sometimes, still much better than Joe Bozo.....................


"no doubt about it"

Trust me, if you had a daily midday of Somers (even with Salz) you'd
be crying for Joe B.

Joe B. needs a partner. Simple as that.

Trust me, if you had a daily midday of Somers (even with Salz) you'd
be crying for Joe B.

Joe B. needs a partner. Simple as that.

I'll take it a step further. Russ Salzberg was unquestionably the worst on air talent WFAN has ever hired. I don't know how he last for what was it, 3 years? After about the first 3 months, I never listened again.

Im not saying the sweater was good, but it was entertaining when those two would bitch at each other like two old jewish woman..................

Wsn't Lupica part of the midday at one point as well??

Russ Salzberg made this show unlistenable. What an obnoxious bore! Not even obnoxious to the point where it is entertaining - he just made you want to turn the dial.

Len Berman was his partner for a while if I remember correctly. I think Imus made a anti-semitic crack that led to his quitting.

Have to agree with Mike0421. The only thing Salzburg is capable of doing is reading the sports segment for the local news off the teleprompter.

I'm glad Lupica was brought up, because there is a similarity between the two. Both guys are obnoxious pricks. However, with Lupica at least there is a brain behind that prickdom. Russ is just a plain idiot that manages to cop an attitude as well. That combination just doesn't work, and it is amazing that he got a spot on the FAN, and even more so that it lasted as long as it did.

Guess it proves that the 10-1 time slot just can't produce ratings, and they're willing to pretty much give anything a try.

Have to agree with Mike0421. The only thing Salzburg is capable of doing is reading the sports segment for the local news off the teleprompter.

I'm glad Lupica was brought up, because there is a similarity between the two. Both guys are obnoxious pricks. However, with Lupica at least there is a brain behind that prickdom. Russ is just a plain idiot that manages to cop an attitude as well. That combination just doesn't work, and it is amazing that he got a spot on the FAN, and even more so that it lasted as long as it did.

Guess it proves that the 10-1 time slot just can't produce ratings, and they're willing to pretty much give anything a try.

To me, Lupica reminds me of Dan Le Batard, who is also an obnoxious prick that thinks he is far too intelligent for the public. I think they were separated at birth.

Salzberg? All the guy did was yell and hang up on people. I swore that one day the man would blow a gasket and die on air. One of the worst on air personalities I've ever watched or listened to. Besides, his sweaters sucked.

why did they break those two up back in day for the 10-1 slot?

does this even need to be asked?

they sucked so bad. the best day of WFAN history was when they got rid of these two idiots in that timeslot.

the 2nd best day was when they got rid of somers.....but i guess when you pay people $6.50 an hour they had to bring that insomniac bore back.

i dont know about you but i dont find two jewish woman yelling at each other entertaining at all...

Salzberg is an embarrasment. To have him even on Ch. 9 (a superstation shown around the country) representing the New York area is a joke. However, sports on the local news has become insignificant. I can't even tell you for sure who are the local guys in NY.

Ch 4 = Berman
Ch 2 = ?
Ch 7 = Scott Clark? He's another joke.

You guys know from the old board that I'm a Somers fan, but really the jokes about his salary are lame. We don't know the numbers, but it's safe to assume at a station like the FAN, he makes more than most of us.

My only complaint is he could STFU about hockey. As a matter of fact, there should be a permanent ban on any hockey discussion on the air, and Chris should be punched in the mouth any time he talks about tennis.

Not trying to stir anything up, but... I remember Salzberg telling Vinny from Queens: "Hey, relax, have a slice of pizza". No big deal but I bet it would be blown out of proportion if someone told Salzberg "Hey, relax, have a bagel". Just something I remembered from the old days - another reason I can't stomach Salzberg.

Salzberg is an embarrasment. To have him even on Ch. 9 (a superstation shown around the country) representing the New York area is a joke. However, sports on the local news has become insignificant. I can't even tell you for sure who are the local guys in NY.

Ch 4 = Berman
Ch 2 = ?
Ch 7 = Scott Clark? He's another joke.

Channel 2 is Chris Wragge. And I didn't know Channel 9 was still a superstation. I guess the Yankees now have at least 98% of their games on National TV now.

You guys know from the old board that I'm a Somers fan, but really the jokes about his salary are lame. We don't know the numbers, but it's safe to assume at a station like the FAN, he makes more than most of us.

speak for yourself bro.
i would bet 1/2 my salary, i make more than he does.

i had a buddy who was a producer for a radio station and i think he said he made 80k. using a simple formula do you think Somers makes 1/10 of Mike or Mad Dog? if he does thats 150k a year.

judging from the **** golf clubs that benigno played with when i played with him, im sure i make 3x more than him :lol:

You guys know from the old board that I'm a Somers fan, but really the jokes about his salary are lame. We don't know the numbers, but it's safe to assume at a station like the FAN, he makes more than most of us.

speak for yourself bro.
i would bet 1/2 my salary, i make more than he does.

i had a buddy who was a producer for a radio station and i think he said he made 80k. using a simple formula do you think Somers makes 1/10 of Mike or Mad Dog? if he does thats 150k a year.

judging from the **** golf clubs that benigno played with when i played with him, im sure i make 3x more than him :lol:

I'm terribly impressed by your nebulous salary, but if you're in such a high-earning position you should have the common sense to know that there's no way a veteran on-air talent at one of the biggest stations -- in the biggest market in the country -- is only making $80,000.

Throw out your formula. Real talk.

not trying to impress but what i am saying is he probably does make 150k.

malusis doesnt have a pot to piss in.
carlin borrowing money from mike to go on vacation (or eat)
they all have side gigs.
they pay 20/20 guys minimum wage for the love of pete!

i may be wrong.

Wasn't Lupica part of midday at one point as well??

Lupica and Berman had *separate* midday shows for a brief time. I think for 2 hours each 10-12 and then 12-2. Berman and I think also Lupica had a falling out with Imus, who is a real power broker at the station (still is), and they both were gone eventually. Lupica has since made up with Imus, in case you are interested.

You guys know from the old board that I'm a Somers fan, but really the jokes about his salary are lame. We don't know the numbers, but it's safe to assume at a station like the FAN, he makes more than most of us.

speak for yourself bro.
i would bet 1/2 my salary, i make more than he does.

i had a buddy who was a producer for a radio station and i think he said he made 80k. using a simple formula do you think Somers makes 1/10 of Mike or Mad Dog? if he does thats 150k a year.

judging from the **** golf clubs that benigno played with when i played with him, im sure i make 3x more than him :lol:

Wow, 3x as much. Golly gee, you don't say!!!

Stop trying to inject your salary into the discussion! It's obnoxious and condescending. If you are in the 75th or 85th or 95th or whatever percentile of revenue earners in this country, than congrats and be grateful. But don't go dropping hints of your salary on this board - it's bad form and it makes you sound like an insecure, shallow, materialistic, self- absorbed ***... Judging someone by their golf clubs? Actually you would fit right in here in LA.

If all your saying is he doesn't make 150K - then just say so. Why even bring your own salary into the discussion?

Not to detract from the brewing storm between jerome and Not on Mickey's, but I to me both Salberg and Lupica were terrible and still are terrible. I think it shows that just cause you think you now everything does not mean you can run an effective talk show. Lupica is so pompous he makes Francessa look like a monk.

On aside a little while back didn't Salzberg have an interview with I think was it Tyson???? Where he got abused and then they stormed off, I remember the look on Slazbergs arrogant face was priceless.(Salzberg was in the studio and he was on location somewhere)....Does someone remember this better than I do

On aside a little while back didn't Salzberg have an interview with I think was it Tyson???? Where he got abused and then they stormed off, I remember the look on Slazbergs arrogant face was priceless.(Salzberg was in the studio and he was on location somewhere)....Does someone remember this better than I do

Yeah I remember that. Here's an account of it.

*************************************************

CH. 9 PULLS THE PLUG ON MIKE TYSON XXXCLUSIVE

By ANDY SOLTIS

Mike Tyson forced a local TV station to cut short an interview about his upcoming comeback fight last night when he launched into a series of X-rated answers that had to be bleeped out. Asked on WWOR/Channel 9 about Francois Botha being a 6-to-1 underdog against him, Iron Mike replied:

"I don't know anything about that. I don't know anything about numbers. I just know what I can do: I'm going to kill this mother------."

The former heavyweight champ, speaking from Las Vegas where he takes on Botha Saturday night, was questioned about his notorious temperament.

"You take into the ring a lot of rage. Does that work for you, or does it work against you at times?" Channel 9's Russ Salzberg asked.

"Who cares? We're in a fight anyway. What does it matter?" Tyson responded.

When Salzberg recalled how his "rage" hurt him against Evander Holyfield - when he bit Holyfield's ear, Tyson replied:

"Well, f--- it. It's a fight, so whatever happens, happens."

Salzberg asked: "Mike, why do you talk like that?"

Tyson defended himself:

"Well, I'm talking to you the way I want to talk to you," he said.

"You have to probably turn off your station," Tyson added.

Salzberg took him up on that.

"You know what, I think we'll end the discussion right now," he said.

"Then we could, a--hole!," Tyson shot back.

"You got it," Salzberg said, signaling the end of the interview. "Have a nice fight, Mike."

"S--k off!," Tyson said.

Salzberg had the final say.

"Class act, buddy," he said.

On aside a little while back didn't Salzberg have an interview with I think was it Tyson???? Where he got abused and then they stormed off, I remember the look on Slazbergs arrogant face was priceless.(Salzberg was in the studio and he was on location somewhere)....Does someone remember this better than I do

Yeah I remember that. Here's an account of it.

*************************************************

CH. 9 PULLS THE PLUG ON MIKE TYSON XXXCLUSIVE

By ANDY SOLTIS

Mike Tyson forced a local TV station to cut short an interview about his upcoming comeback fight last night when he launched into a series of X-rated answers that had to be bleeped out. Asked on WWOR/Channel 9 about Francois Botha being a 6-to-1 underdog against him, Iron Mike replied:

"I don't know anything about that. I don't know anything about numbers. I just know what I can do: I'm going to kill this mother------."

The former heavyweight champ, speaking from Las Vegas where he takes on Botha Saturday night, was questioned about his notorious temperament.

"You take into the ring a lot of rage. Does that work for you, or does it work against you at times?" Channel 9's Russ Salzberg asked.

"Who cares? We're in a fight anyway. What does it matter?" Tyson responded.

When Salzberg recalled how his "rage" hurt him against Evander Holyfield - when he bit Holyfield's ear, Tyson replied:

"Well, f--- it. It's a fight, so whatever happens, happens."

Salzberg asked: "Mike, why do you talk like that?"

Tyson defended himself:

"Well, I'm talking to you the way I want to talk to you," he said.

"You have to probably turn off your station," Tyson added.

Salzberg took him up on that.

"You know what, I think we'll end the discussion right now," he said.

"Then we could, a--hole!," Tyson shot back.

"You got it," Salzberg said, signaling the end of the interview. "Have a nice fight, Mike."

"S--k off!," Tyson said.

Salzberg had the final say.

"Class act, buddy," he said.

How the hell do you find this stuff? Once again, our resident historian strikes gold. :D

As a side note, does anyone remember ex-Giants coach Ray Handley losing his cool and going apeshit in a press conference? It turned out that the person that pissed him off with a question was Russ Salzberg. :twisted:

Trust me, if you had a daily midday of Somers (even with Salz) you'd
be crying for Joe B.

Joe B. needs a partner. Simple as that.

Amen to that. I cheered when they gave them the boot. Or should I say flush in reference to Salzberg. I also cried once they rehired sommers.

Whatever became of Russ's partner at Channel 9 , Monica Pelligrini ????

Russ Salzberg = zero personality.

How the hell do you find this stuff? Once again, our resident historian strikes gold. :D


Agreed. "Gun..." is a treasure!

russ calling card when he did the nightly sports on UPN weekdays was

"Bye Bye So Long Farewell" when a guy hit a homer.



To segue in between highlights he would go......movin' from da gridiron ovuh to da hardwood.

did they rehire sommers because Jerry Seinfeld made a public outcry for his rehiring or is that my imagination

Kind of true. Sommers was going to be rehired at some point anyway, they wanted to sweep out the show and I'm sure they didn't want Salzberg to go on the warpath on other stations asking why he was fired and Sommers reassigned to the post M&MD slot. So they fired the two of them and I guess made an agreement with the Schmoozer that he'd be brought back after a time period.

Jerry really did make a public outcry as well based on not knowing the facts behind the move (that Salzberg would be the type to retaliate somewhere if Sommers was kept around)

BTW, Salzberg went on one of my favorite rants on a caller, actually a couple of good ones, but my favorite was this one

Some young guy calls up and wonders what the big deal was about Sandy Koufax since Koufax did not have the stats that measure up with your "standard" Hall of Famer. Not a big deal if its coming from a young fan who really doesn't know the story of Koufax and the reason why he retired so young. Basically someone less volitale would have said to look at the season stats, look at the Cy Young awards (in a time where there was one per league) and that Koufax just trancsended the game because he was that dominant for such a short period of time, and that is why he is in the Hall despite retiring early due to an arthitic shoulder.

But Russ just laided into him in a brilliant tirade about this caller being a young punk who should read or something like that. It was so over the top in being an ahole to this kid that it was ROTFLAMO funny.

Another one I remember is some guy called up and he told the screener the name he wanted to use was LT, and he came on and ripped Russ about parroting some opinions and saying Russ needed to come up with an original thought or something, to which Russ hung up responding how dare someone calls up with the name LT blasting him (Russ) about originality. Never mind of course that Russ didn't know a darn thing about this caller, hell maybe the caller actually was one of the very few that didn't know Lawrence Taylor went by LT frequently, or maybe the caller had the "LT" nickname long before Taylor became a Giant. Just funny that Russ would assume that anyone calling up with a name "LT" would be stealing from Lawrence Taylor.

I liked when Russ used to comment on the Fearless Forecaster...wow over a decade ago...time flies.

I'm curious as to what he's doing. Probably collecting cans and bottles on the side of the street.

The Schmoozer and the loser...

i remember once someone asked Sommers if he liked working with Salzberg and Sommers replies "it was like working with a member of the family.....the adams family!"

They were a pretty funny team...maybe not a great sports talk team but almost a comedy team!

They were a pretty funny team...maybe not a great sports talk team but almost a comedy team!


Exactly how I feel.
The show was such a trainwreck that it could be hilarious at times.
The one show I really remember was when Russ and Steve went to Jets camp and Steve made some comment about some rookie they drafted or something and Kotite proceeded to tear Steve a new ******* on the air.
They used to replay clips of it all the time.
The one thing I didnt like about the show was that Steve had to move from the overnites. I used to listen to him religiously everynite. But I was excited he finally got a break so to speak and of course Joe came along and my enjoyment of the overnites continued.

and now we got nothing that great on the overnights.

Lupica and Berman had *separate* midday shows for a brief time. I think for 2 hours each 10-12 and then 12-2. Berman and I think also Lupica had a falling out with Imus, who is a real power broker at the station (still is), and they both were gone eventually. Lupica has since made up with Imus, in case you are interested.

Not anymore ... :rolleyes:

One of my favorite Salzberg comments was when the Schmoozer was off and a caller brought up Somers' annoying habit of not letting Salzberg complete a sentence. Russ S. said that sometimes he would like to staple Somers mouth shut ... and Russ Salzberg wans't kidding or looking for laughs.

I got the idea they had a love/hate relationship with each other.