Tuesday's Angels game against the Yankees was going fine until AM DJ Rodger Lodge showed up in the Fox Sports West announcing booth to hawk a casino gambling promotion. Sure it was for golf, but all casino promotions are inherently gambling promotions, and all hawkers of these promotions are shills.
Rodger Lodge, a shill, rambled on and on about dating John Stamos while fans were left doubly suffering his pomposity as Angels pitcher Ervin Santana struggled to regain the movement that makes his fastball such a difficult pitch to hit.
Whiny-voiced and self-impressed, Lodge was in promo-mode and besides the Angels chances suffering during his painful inning, so too did the wounded ears of the television viewing audience, still bleeding a bit from a season of the unctuous Steve Physioc.
Worst inning of the year, worst casino of the year (take them away) and single worst-ever promo if the goal was attracting future listeners, worst brown-nosing on my part for not worshiping the non-witticisms of the Angels' apparent franchise radio personality - but if you don't believe me, read our game thread and note the 100% unanimously infuriated response against this caustic "personality" appearing during an important game and chuckling his conceit our way.
0 recs | 63 comments
Lodge Must Go
As much as I want to like KLAA, I have to turn the dial every time I hear his voice. Seems like he’s shouting all the time.
Diving Catch - September 22, 2009
He needs to be on some entertainment gossip talk show/radio.
He’d fit in with those ladies and queens that yap about that stuff 24-7.
Downing Rules - September 22, 2009
now can I ask
for $10?
maybe you should have gone double or nothing with the homestand… oh well, too late.
Brian S (brianguy) - September 23, 2009
I've already asked you where to send it in Sunday's post-game thread.
I’d go double or nothing, but I am much less pessimistic for this homestand.
I originally said the Halos go 6-4 on this homestand. I’ve since revised it to 7-3. You cannot possibly be more optimistic that that, can you? ;)
Give me an email address or send one to Rev asking him to forward your email address to me. I don’t post my address here in a public forum.
Downing Rules - September 23, 2009
yeah, figured I missed it
what with all the various threads flyin’ around…
if you send an email to rhinos7 at “eh oh ell”(an address I never use) I will read it & reply.
lucky for me I was just joking with the dub or nothin’ part :-)
Brian S (brianguy) - September 23, 2009
sent email
Downing Rules - September 23, 2009
I did what he asked and I have been paid already
Thanks Downing.
hauldog - September 23, 2009
Does anyone listen to "Riding Dirty" in the late morning?
I know its for a good cause but its the same thing over and over again.
figgifig - September 22, 2009
Never ran across it.
opiejeanne - September 22, 2009
Yes, I LOVE Chamillionaire! Great tune.
Downing Rules - September 22, 2009
haha
that is the song they play…honestly
but the show is about DUI’s…not a bad show but they talk about anything that should be considered DUI like texting…
figgifig - September 22, 2009
on around 10 or 11 am
figgifig - September 22, 2009
sorry........texting while driving....hence DUI
figgifig - September 22, 2009
weird
heard promos, and I always thought that show was an extremely weird idea. how can you talk for an hour or two a day about the same thing – DUI? it seems like it would just turn into a big infomercial for various DUI attorneys that sponsor the show – who else would?
luckily, never ran across it either. I guess they figure all the drunks wake up at that time and flip on the radio.
Brian S (brianguy) - September 23, 2009
I heard it today for the first time.
Not very good. It almost sounded as if the host thinks he can just wing it for a couple of hours.
opiejeanne - September 24, 2009
Lodge is really annoying.
And his show is trash.
opiejeanne - September 22, 2009
I liked it when Dave Smith was on it
I appreciated Smith’s knowledge of local sports history, and his Eeyore-like demeanor and constant sniping of Lodge were entertaining. But Smith seemed to get in trouble with station management at a certain point, and I wasn’t too surprised when they let him go (even though the announced reason was “budgetary”).
rspencer - September 23, 2009
I never even heard a reason
and I listen to parts of the show almost every day. to me it was just bizarre, I tuned in that one morning and he was gone, yet I remembered him being on the show the day before.
Brian S (brianguy) - September 23, 2009
budget
Dave was too expensive….but i’d take him over Lodge any time to discuss sports.
SCHalo - September 23, 2009
+1
Can’t stand the guy, personally.
Loved it when Hud said, "Roger Lodge has got to gooo…’ at the end of that miserable inning.
hbhalofan - September 23, 2009
yeah
that was funny.
Brian S (brianguy) - September 23, 2009
Was he visiting them in the radio booth too? Ugh.
Good for Rex.
opiejeanne - September 23, 2009
is it just me or,
Rex is a lot looser on the radio (if that’s even possible). but it’s like he can actually say what he’s thinking a little bit more. it seems like it works for him in some ways.
not like he doesn’t say “got to go” on TV, but just thinking aloud.
Brian S (brianguy) - September 23, 2009
I think Rex is better on the radio..
Day games seem to bring out the best in Rex, IMHO. Maybe he could do the morning sports talk show. He certainly has enough energy!
I like that Rex has a genuine sense of joy & enthusiasm, he can give some interesting insights from a former players’ perspective, and although he can get ‘carried away’ and off on a tangent, it doesn’t seem to detract from the game. He does interrupt Terry once in a while, but he apologizes, knows his limits, and the honesty is refreshing. I know he gets bashed on here all the time, but I think Rex has improved as a broadcaster over the last few years.
hbhalofan - September 23, 2009
agree 100%
Rex has actual insite into player mindsets that i do not hear articulated elsewhere and they bring value to the broadcast.
Rev Halofan - September 23, 2009
bingo
absolutely agree. when i hear rex on the radio, i enjoy him 10x more than on tv. he’s not babbling on about stupid crap i don’t care about. “i talked to him during BP and he said ‘HEY HUDDDDD’”
daze - September 23, 2009
I'm glad I live in SD so I watched the Yankees broadcast
No Rodger Lodge haha. Why does his name sound fake like a porno name?
He should go back to hosting Blind Date on UPN.
jtkelly86 - September 22, 2009
He IS extremely annoying
I did like that he “accidentally” blurted out A-Fraud.
TheAntiSox - September 22, 2009
not an accident...
tv killed the radio
starguyfiggifig - September 23, 2009
he plays much better on the radio
no doubt.
even I half-cringed at that one, and I definitely think A-Rod is a fraud.
Brian S (brianguy) - September 23, 2009
No, he's even worse on the radio.
Makes me jab at the radio buttons when his voice comes up the next morning after a game, if I’ve forgotten to change channels.
opiejeanne - September 23, 2009
I sincerely hope Tim Mead--a great guy--reads this
While the organization has become the classiest in baseball, the broadcasting remains mired in AA at best. For the most part, fans have looked the other way, found ways to rationalize Rex Hudler (in fact, liking him more than the rest of the crew, which should tell you something), and instead focused on all that is positive.
But now the relentless mediocrity and nightly unprofessionalism is just sticking out like a smashed thumb. Real Angel fans — you know, the ones who watch the broadcasts
- do not care about some beach volleyball player, or some idiot radio jock, or even some cute kid (sorry!) that they drag into the broadcast booth. It’s a distraction from the thing we are watching-the game! The only exceptions to this rule are people with germane POVs — Arte Moreno, Tony Reagins, Ken Forsch, Eddie Bane, maybe a recently signed draft pick, that kind of thing.Watch a Vin Scully broadcast sometime. You don’t need to try and copy is unrepeatable genius, but you can note a few things:
1) No idiot distracting interviews.
2) He (unlike Rory Markus, who I otherwise like) doesn’t run out of things to say besides the repeating the count in the FIRST INNING, let alone the first half of the game.
Meanwhile, the camera/production crew realize that if your pitcher has just held the Yanks to 2 runs in 8.1 innings, you put the camera on the guy walking off the field, and not on the freaking propaganda on the scoreboard. If Vladdie gets a hit in the late innings of a close game, someone — broadcaster, whoever’s producing the camera shot, etc. — tells us whether he’s being pinch-run for. THESE THINGS ARE DONE IN THE MINOR LEAGUES.
A great broadcast outfit keeps fans coming back in the lean months and years, and sears fan identification with a team. Our current broadcast outfit is a five-man exercise in fan alienation. Fix it, Tim Mead! Fix it, Arte Moreno! You can’t eat a five-course meal with plastic forks.
mattwelch - September 23, 2009
Don't know why I inadvertently crossed that stuff out....
mattwelch - September 23, 2009
what's Ross Porter doing?
i think he’d be great, just my opinion.
SCHalo - September 23, 2009
I like him
even with the speech impediment.
we already have our own “Ross Porter” though with his own style — Terry Smith. so I don’t see that happening. Rory is also very good, I wish they would permanently replace Fizz with him.
Brian S (brianguy) - September 23, 2009
Change SOMETHING!
Anything would be better than the bizarre revolving door announcing schedule they have now. I hate to think of anyone losing a job in this economy, but does any team really need this many announcers? And can’t they just pick TEAM A for radio and TEAM B to television?
The Gooch - September 23, 2009
Que?
Lodge is dating John Stamos?
Makes me glad the MLB Network telecast of the game was from the Yankees/My9 broadcast, and I never thought I would say I was glad I was listening to Michael Kay.
George Kaplan - September 23, 2009
Rev was using some artistic license
Lodge did talk about John Stamos — I don’t remember what he said as I wasn’t listening, but he didn’t say what Rev suggested.
Brody - September 23, 2009
They were roommates
he mentioned it a bizillion times
hauldog - September 23, 2009
meh.
If coincidence had, instead, put Lodge in the booth at a time when the Halos hit 4 consecutive HR’s, the first being a grand slam, Angels fans would be slobbering all over themselves with having a new Rally Monkey.
Stirrups - September 23, 2009
Doubtful
We’d probably be complaining about the fact that the broadcast was focusing on his celebrity golf tournament rather than the 4 consecutive HRs.
Brody - September 23, 2009
+1
opiejeanne - September 23, 2009
A chimp, anyway
George Kaplan - September 23, 2009
Nope
Read the game thread — people were blowing gaskets long before A-Rod connected.
mattwelch - September 23, 2009
Not according to the game thead.
Not to get into nitpicking, but it appears that Lodge was on for three minutes prior to ARod’s jack, and there were only 3 comments before that which could be considered vitriolic (yours leadign the charge). After the HR, the worse things got for Santana, the more the posts took out their anger at Lodge.
Stirrups - September 23, 2009
actually
this shows that the community here was not reflexively against him and gave him a fair shake, only to be repulsed by his presence after a minute or so …
Rev Halofan - September 23, 2009
That's in line with my original reaction at the thread comments
People around here (except for Matt, who took IMMEDIATE offense) really didn’t care so much either way until things started happening in the game. Things went south, and people directed their ire at the thing that stuck out: Lodge (how much due to Matt’s lead is another issue). Had Lodge been blabbing during an 8-run Halo rally, people would have not called him “jinx”, as they did, but “lucky”. We are fickle. Except for Matt. Matt’s not fickle. Matt was still gonna be pissed.
Stirrups - September 23, 2009
Sorry, by "people" I must have meant "the people in my head"
mattwelch - September 24, 2009
Low Espectations
Eh, Roger Lodge may not be radio gold by any stretch of the imagination, but he sure beats the wall to wall infomercials that make up most of KLAA’s programming.
The Gooch - September 23, 2009
most definitely
I understand it’s a poor economy and these stations have to do what they can to survive. especially for a fledgling upstart operation like AM 830. but the station is 90% paid programming — pretty much everything that’s not Lodge, the afternoon drive (Angels talk), or the actual games is infomercials. just awful… maybe get a mid-day show one of these days?
I’m sure there are young, upstart broadcasters who would practically work there for free. if you bill yourself as “L.A.’s only live local sports talk” or whatever it is, you should have enough shows to fill at least half a day.
I thought it used to be a conservative talk station, am I wrong? maybe bring back some of that stuff. at least these were actual shows not just programs about popping pills.
Brian S (brianguy) - September 23, 2009
We were on the freeway on Saturday, and kLAA had the Notre Dame game on.
With only a few minutes left in the football game, they abruptly switched to the Angels game just as it was starting. I can imagine the reaction to people who wanted to hear the end of that football game especially since the lead had just changed places but it was still close enough and there was enough time for it to shift again.
The station doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be.
And please, no more conservative radio shows or any kind of political show. There has to be some better way to bring in revenue.
opiejeanne - September 23, 2009
Whoops
That would be “expectations”
The Gooch - September 23, 2009
i can't figure out the roger lodge thing...
he’s either on the air because: a) he’s a cheap hire, b) klaa is trying to create it’s own brand and staying away from proven re-treads c) saving money until they can hire a proven re-tread d) or all of the above.
because there are warm bodies out there who are better, joe mcdonnel, hacksaw, etc.
thejd - September 23, 2009
Funny how when it is a hot chick, like say Mrs. Rob Quinlan, in the booth for an
inning or two babbling on about boxes of junk to be auctioned off nobody complains.
44FAN - September 23, 2009
I hate that too
And have complained in previous Game Threadage.
mattwelch - September 23, 2009
My excellence in broadcasting standards are negotiable for...
1) Charitable events.
2) Eye-candy.
I may have to reverse the order depending on the eye-candy rating. Combining the 2 is a win-win. If Marisa Tomei is saving the baby lima bean population from the depradations of parasitic wasps – or someting worse like…attorneys – then
legs… I mean lets get her in theboobs(damn!) booth.sothball - September 23, 2009
Hahaha! You're so cute.
opiejeanne - September 23, 2009
I'll miss her when they don't re-sign Q
George Kaplan - September 23, 2009
I just kind of laugh. Yes, it's for a good cause but the "artwork" looks like a child did it. An untalented child.
opiejeanne - September 23, 2009
remember that it could always be worse. imagine sitting through a game with some moron like hawk harrelson chirping his idiot catchphrases over and over. HE GONE? REALLY?
as for lodge, he’s not terrible to me, but i stopped listening to his radio show when dave smith got cut.
daze - September 23, 2009
P.S. the name is Roger Lodge. no D in the first name. xoxo
daze - September 23, 2009
I am located in Kansas City but a life long Angels fan, while watching the game on Monday night (it doesn’t start here until 9:00 or so), after the first or second inning I dozed off. Then nastily I was woken up by a shrill irritating voice coming from my TV. My comment, I said outloud, to myself was: who is this idiot in the broadcast booth!, waking me from a peaceful nap? It turns out that it was non other than Roger Lodge spouting off about how Scioscia had just mentioned to his pitcher (on the mound for a visit) that there was some golf tourney or some crap. That was the most painful interview that the Angels could have possibly put on the air during an important game. Come on Tim!!!
The silver lining in all of this was that at least he woke me up to watch the rest of an entertaining game.
criswood1 - September 24, 2009
i agree once Dave Smith left, the show went down hill & Lodge is over the top w/being an Angel Homer
salmonforever - September 24, 2009
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