Bruce Hooley

• Prescott

  Colin Cowherd is reporting that Bruce Hooley was let go by 97.1TheFan for his candid thoughts on the dog and pony show that OSU gave the world last week. I don't listen to Hooley much, but a sports talk host should be allowed to voice his opinion without the fear of being fired. The management of 97.1 should be ashamed of themselves.
• gerb131

  

  I heard about that too. I won't be sad.
• queencitybuckeye

  Prescott;716408 wrote:Colin Cowherd is reporting that Bruce Hooley was let go by 97.1TheFan for his candid thoughts on the dog and pony show that OSU gave the world last week. I don't listen to Hooley much, but a sports talk host should be allowed to voice his opinion without the fear of being fired. The management of 97.1 should be ashamed of themselves.

  
  A radio host is accountable to the marketplace.
• september63

  

  Hooley had been ranting that Tressel's punishment should have been for longer. Now, as of last night, it is longer. What did he really say that was so bad?
  
  I agree, though. Its all about the advertising dollars. You cant bite the hand that feeds you.
• LJ

  

  Prescott;716408 wrote:Colin Cowherd is reporting that Bruce Hooley was let go by 97.1TheFan for his candid thoughts on the dog and pony show that OSU gave the world last week. I don't listen to Hooley much, but a sports talk host should be allowed to voice his opinion without the fear of being fired. The management of 97.1 should be ashamed of themselves.

  
  He was fired because of listener outcry and sponsors being pissed. He is accountable to both.
• thedynasty1998

  

  His ratings were higher last week than they've ever been, apparently.
  
  I disliked Hooley as much as anyone, but he should not be fired for doing his job, especially when it came to fruition that the suspension was indeed lengthened.
  
  With that said, as the flagship station of OSU, you have to be careful of who you criticize and work within certain guidelines.
• krambman

  

  Prescott;716408 wrote:Colin Cowherd is reporting that Bruce Hooley was let go by 97.1TheFan for his candid thoughts on the dog and pony show that OSU gave the world last week. I don't listen to Hooley much, but a sports talk host should be allowed to voice his opinion without the fear of being fired. The management of 97.1 should be ashamed of themselves.

  
  Hooley tweeted yesterday that he had been fired. He works for the flagship home of Ohio State football. You can't blast the coach the way he did and keep your job.
  

  september63;716413 wrote:Hooley had been ranting that Tressel's punishment should have been for longer. Now, as of last night, it is longer. What did he really say that was so bad?
  
  I agree, though. Its all about the advertising dollars. You cant bite the hand that feeds you.

  
  Actually he was saying the Tressel should have been fired, not that the suspension should have been longer.
  

  thedynasty1998;716420 wrote:His ratings were higher last week than they've ever been, apparently.
  
  I disliked Hooley as much as anyone, but he should not be fired for doing his job, especially when it came to fruition that the suspension was indeed lengthened.
  
  With that said, as the flagship station of OSU, you have to be careful of who you criticize and work within certain guidelines.

  
  It's possible that his ratings were higher last week not because of what he said, but simply because of what was going on with Tressel. He say that he shouldn't be fired for doing his job. You are assuming that his job is to voice his opinion no matter what. Actually his job is to voice his opinion, but to not be too critical of his employer or sponsors. He was too critical of OSU. I have a feeling that the university likely threatened the radio station to either get rid of him, or lose their contract with OSU football. Had he come out the day after saying Tressel should have been fired and apologized and said he was just overreacting, he probably would have kept his job. He didn't do that and he continued to say he should be fired all week.
• LJ

  

  Hooley has always hated Tressel. He thought he was a bad hire and thought Mason was a much better choice. Common Man and Torg basically said the same thing Hooley was, but in a much better way. Hooley was just an arrogant ass about it
• thedynasty1998

  

  krambman;716428 wrote: I have a feeling that the university likely threatened the radio station to either get rid of him, or lose their contract with OSU football. Had he come out the day after saying Tressel should have been fired and apologized and said he was just overreacting, he probably would have kept his job. He didn't do that and he continued to say he should be fired all week.

  
  There is no question that he pissed off the University. Common Man and The Torg have hinted at how they have received calls from OSU because they've been critical of Diebler before.
• queencitybuckeye

  thedynasty1998;716420 wrote:His ratings were higher last week than they've ever been, apparently.
  
  I disliked Hooley as much as anyone, but he should not be fired for doing his job,

  
  His job is to generate a return for the shareholders of the radio station.
• BCBulldog

  

  I never liked Hooley. He's always come off as a bit of a condescending blowhard. He won't be missed. However, I did agree with much of what he said about the punishment being too weak. The way he said it and the arrogance he displayed toward his employer both on his show and on Paul Finebaum's show cost him his job. He not only slapped OSU in the face, but 97.1 also. Time to pay the piper.
• Nashley25

  I really wished they would have fired the common man and the torg too, I can't stand them. All they ever do is rip on people acting like their perfect. I no longer listen to them and never will.
• jordo212000

  

  I mean I can understand why he was let go, but to me 97.1 would have been smart to let it ride for a little while before they let him go. The timing is going to generate a lot of attention and bad PR.
  
  Like I said, I find firing him to be a little extreme, and I am never a fan of firing somebody because they disagree with your particular view. But like others have said, they are the Buckeyes flagship station and advertisers pretty much run the show.
• jordo212000

  

  Nashley25;716478 wrote:I really wished they would have fired the common man and the torg too, I can't stand them. All they ever do is rip on people acting like their perfect. I no longer listen to them and never will.

  I love Common Man and the Torg. Don't take them so seriously! They are so over the top with being homers sometimes that it makes me laugh, but the majority of the time they put on a good show.
• Nashley25

  ^^^ I get their schtick but I guess I like hearing something with a little substance.
• thedynasty1998

  

  jordo212000;716486 wrote:I love Common Man and the Torg. Don't take them so seriously! They are so over the top with being homers sometimes that it makes me laugh, but the majority of the time they put on a good show.

  
  Agree with this. I understand why some people do not like them, but I think it's because they take them way too serious.
  
  Ricordati actually posted a blog on facebook about himself and the firing of Hooley, and it's actually really well written:
  http://www.facebook.com/#!/notes/mike-ricordati/random-musings-of-a-man-child/10150116643872615
• jordo212000

  

  I actually like listening to those guys make fun of people. That doesnt happen much anymore. Everybody is so politically correct
• ptown_trojans_1

  

  Good to know I'll never hear any real criticism about OSU from The Fan.
  I get accountability to the sponsors, but come on, it is not like he personally attacked Tressel or another player on the air. He simply said what many nationally, including myself thought, Tressel got off too easy. So the sponsors were upset, at the most suspend the guy, don't fire him.
  I never did like his views, but I understood them and thought they provided at least a dose of skepticism and realism at some points. OSU fans may not like it, and he may be wrong as he often is, but sometimes it is nice to hear an opposing view saying you know what, maybe things are a little whacked here.
• LJ

  

  ptown_trojans_1;716517 wrote:it is not like he personally attacked Tressel or another player on the air..

  But many people thought he did, which is the problem here
• elbuckeye28

  ptown_trojans_1;716517 wrote:Good to know I'll never hear any real criticism about OSU from The Fan.
  I get accountability to the sponsors, but come on, it is not like he personally attacked Tressel or another player on the air. He simply said what many nationally, including myself thought, Tressel got off too easy. So the sponsors were upset, at the most suspend the guy, don't fire him.
  I never did like his views, but I understood them and thought they provided at least a dose of skepticism and realism at some points. OSU fans may not like it, and he may be wrong as he often is, but sometimes it is nice to hear an opposing view saying you know what, maybe things are a little whacked here.

  
  I was preface this by saying I never listened the Hooley or the Fan or any other radio station while I was in Columbus or since I have left. That being said, I have done a little research on Hooley and have read his articles, and read other message boards about him. As LJ pointed out the other day, he has had an agenda since the day Tressel was hired. Even when things were going well(which has been most of the time), he has had it out for Tressel. Now that things are not going well, he has used this incident to confirm his already negative agenda against him and taking it to the extreme. It was much like a political host that will spin anything that a republican or democrat does, no matter if it was actually a positive decision or not, and makes it seem like a horrible decision.
• Zoltan

  The firing was a direct result of an email campaign by the OSU fan base to get rid of him. He has attacked Tressel so many times and always carried resentment towards him. The people spoke very clearly here.
  
  The interesting thing to me is if they would have backed it up. It is one thing to email sponsors and the station GM saying you are boycotting until he is gone, and quite another to actually watch his ratings drop.
• Prescott

  So, many of you guys don't like a different viewpoint when iy comes to OSU?? I like to hear. If you don't agree with it, call in and voice your opinion. It's all good.
• Ty Webb

  

  He will end up getting a better job out of this
  
  He was doing his job, and its disgusting that OSU fans would bitch about it because they have a gay crush on Tressel
• FatHobbit

  

  Ty Webb;716773 wrote:He will end up getting a better job out of this

  You know this how?
  

  Ty Webb;716773 wrote:He was doing his job, and its disgusting that OSU fans would bitch about it because they have a gay crush on Tressel

  
  Apparently 97.1 is where you get all the sports news that OSU approves of.
• LJ

  

  Prescott;716772 wrote:So, many of you guys don't like a different viewpoint when iy comes to OSU?? I like to hear. If you don't agree with it, call in and voice your opinion. It's all good.

  
  It wasn't that people just didn't agree with him, he was a condescending asshole.