- SAPpy Center
- Same Team, New Look
- “King [LeBron] ain’t got $#!t on me!!!” – Denzel Washington, Training Day
- If Video Killed the Radio Star, Modernity Killed the Sports Champion
- Avaya Stadium: What You’re Missing
- The Home Stretch
- Pitchers and Catchers
- The Warriors Wow
- The Seattle Seahawks Have Been Lying to You
- Harbaugh: a Preview of Coming Subtractions
The Best Bay Area Sports Personality (part 3 of 4)
- Updated: February 24, 2011
This was a 3-part series coming atcha from bayareabias.com writer David Crowell. But because of length and procrastination, it is now a 4-parter. This is Part 3.
We continue with the Elite Eight of the bracket as the local sports personalities battle it out for best in the Bay. Part 1 can be found here, Part 2 can be found here.
ELITE 8:
Match-Up #9: Brian Murphy “Murph” v. Greg Papa
After taking down Marty Lurie in the previous round, Murph faces another long-timer in Greg Papa. This match-up fits better than the Philz Coffee cup in my VW cup holder as I drive up 880 listening to the good vibrations of KNBR’s Murph, because I see this guy becoming like Lurie and Papa; an established Bay Area voice that resonates well with the nostalgic fans. Murph carries himself with a charisma that you don’t see as much in sports radio these days. He plays the nice guy. He stays optimistic during a team’s down-trodden days. He takes the high road on a dud interviewee that mails it in on his show. He takes callers seriously and utilizes their shared passion, not flushing them if they stutter or have “bad knowledge”. Murph goes beyond his radio gig and seeks out the players and team personnel, donates his time to charity events, and has established a warm and familiar rapport with his morning crew while being able to chew the fat on testosterone filled topics like the legal age Mark Sanchez should be hooking up with and Rex Ryan’s gut. When the Giants won the World Series, Murph did a commendable job by helping us fans cherish the moment, put it in perspective, document it, and share it with each other and the community. And that’s the essence of Brian Murphy, he builds up the community we live in and ties us together by the common thread of sport on a daily basis at a hour we are all wishing we weren’t a part of: the commute to work. He shares his stories of encounters with guys like Huff Daddy and attends games sitting behind the visiting on-deck circle, heckling with the rest of us exchanging high-fives with other fans. For all these reasons that pile upon his core role of interviewing guests and entertaining us on our morning drive, Murph distinguishes himself above many, including Greg Papa.
Papa simply serves a different purpose for Bay Area nuts like us. He is a facilitator of conversation whether it be on his show Chronicle Live or in the booth narrating a Raider game. He has a vast lifetime of credentials and achievements in broadcasting that leave us lucky to have him within the Bay Area demographic, but how quickly he fades next to other local legends like Joe Starky, John Miller, Lon Simmons, Kruk and Kuip, and Ted Robinson. Papa does well, superbly in fact, in his realm of expertise, but there are others that exceed his prominence in Bay Area sports media that do so much more for us on a day-to-day basis.
Result: Brian Murphy has a chance at greatness, tying together a flood of fans anywhere from Gilroy to Pinole with his contagious spirit, and while Papa is a key figure here in the Bay Area, in the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately mind set, Murph has delivered in the studio, on the set, in the clubhouse, and in the community.
Match-Up #10: Dan Dibley “Dibbs” v. Ralph Barbieri “The Razor”
Dibbs pulled off an Appalachian State-like upset when he brought down the Walrus, Ray Ratto. But he is facing a much tougher opponent this time, the Razor. Here’s the honest and unfortunate truth about Dibbs. He’s Ed McMahon. His job is to sit next to the big boys and offer up some solid one-liners and content, just as ol’ Ed did for Johnny Carson. There is no shame in that, but it isn’t the lead role needed to knock off someone like the Razor who has been the main man for years and reigns supreme in that role. But before we move on from Dan “Diblay,” let me note that the dude is worth listening to not only “Murph and Mac” from 5 AM to 9 AM, but to sweat through Radnich’s 9 AM to Noon egocentric self-depreciation. Dibbs is current and justifies his KNBR employment by keeping Gary and Murph n’ Mac honest with a humorous slant that enables him to say whatever he wants without anyone taking him too seriously. Dibley probably can’t host his own show, but on days when Murph is out, he keeps the morning drive show afloat as Paulie Mac thumbs through Grateful Dead album artwork. In short, Dibbsis a fine candidate to sit and scotch with in a dark corner of a dive bar, but he’s not who you studied up on Will Clark’s 1988 stats for.
Meanwhile there is the polarizing Ralph Barbieri. Some feel the old man has lost some of his punch over the years and steadied into even keel, I feel otherwise. Listening to Ralph is like listening to your grandpa try and keep up at a Super Bowl party, laughing at jokes a few beats too late, continuing to talk though the subject has changed, and asking awkward questions that though you’re curious to know the answer to, have no balls to ask yourself. That’s why I like Ralph. He cuts through the BS like a 30-year employee not caring about HR’s new policies. Sure he is a little dated and rambles, but as long as his partner Mr. T is there to reel him back in and politely ask, “Should we take some calls?” when the Razor is on his fourth paragraph regarding why Notre Dame hired Ty Willingham ten years ago, we’re still good. Ralph is fun, he shows up every day, and unlike others in his seat at say, 10 AM, he likes his job. And so I like Ralph.
Result: The Razor cuts down Dibbs.
Match-Up #11: Tom Tolbert “Mr. T” v. Jaymee Sire
Mr. T kills in this one. Not to cut Jaymee short, she is a doll and if she wants to stick around the Bay Area for a while, she can make a nice name for herself in local sports lore. But Jaymee doesn’t have the exposure Tolbert enjoys, doesn’t occupy the highest rated radio program in the Bay Area in the male demographic, and can’t make me laugh – she can only make me smile.
Tolbert does, however, lack the TV exposure Jaymee enjoys. And let me be clear, I’d much rather see Jaymee on the tele than Mr. T’s bald awkward head, but I do wish we could get Mr. T as a color analyst for the Warriors games. He’d be good. He has some experience on national TV during the NBA a few years back, but unfortunately oddly sided with the Sacramento Kings, going as far as waving a flag for them on TV, and ABC(?) cut him off. So he came back to his full gig on KNBR chatting with Ralph and doing Sleep Train commercials. But why not expand into the Dubs television broadcasts and wear the hat Mike Krukow enjoys for the Giants. Similar personalities that are local legends and fan favorites – both can identify with the teams and the fans, and I think Mr. T is missing a huge opportunity that, for some inexplicable reason, Bob Fitzgerald currently holds. Seriously! Let’s get a “Hey everybody, Mr. T here for…Warriors basketball!”
Result: Slide over Jaymee, Mr. T keeps this bracket legitimate. Though, if this is truly a bracket to countdown who we’d want to have a drink with, there is no way in hell Tom Tolbert would beat you. But, you know how these things go…
Match-Up #12: Rod Brooks v. Damon Bruce
And that’s Damon Bruce. D-Bruce filled in well to the Sports Phone role a while ago. He was good late at night chewing it out with disgruntled Giants fans devoted enough to call in after a 6-5 loss in June. Night after night he could play on the strings of the Bay Area Fed-Up and bring in ratings DEMANDING ownership and management blah blahblah. He’d rally the troops and spin everyone up and make it funny and interesting enough to listen along at night. Then he got his own show with a loose format in the daytime where he could venture away from the Giants. And though this show is on 1050 AM and not 680, he still packs enough of a crowd through his Twitter feeds and attending the games and comingling with the fans that his cult following grows alongside Gary Radnich’s. Because yep, you either love or hate Bruce. He is a loud and boisterous cynic and moans about the losses, but when it comes down to the wins he stands on that annoying platform under the “Yeah, this is how we EXPECT it to be” tree. Rarely can he hand out credit, he knows the passion and ratings lie in the losses and frustration. But despite all this, Bruce is relevant and present – he serves a purpose and he makes people decide where they stand. And for that, he moves the needle.
Result: Damon Bruce sucker punches Rod and moves into the Final Four.
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