Bring Back the Big Dog!

Joe Rose

For years, it was my morning wakeup ritual. At exactly 7:30 am, my alarm clock radio would blare with the familiar booming voice of the "Big Dog" Joe Rose. Usually he would sing one of his commercial jingles for sponsors like Air Around The Clock or Headquarter Toyota. But let me tell you, just hearing Rose sing one of his out-of-tune jingles was a better pick-me-up than the strongest Cuban coffee. It was irritating. But it got my attention.

However for the past month, the Big Dog has been silenced. Local sports talk station 790 The Ticket has decided to dump Rose from the airwaves and replace him with the annoying Sid Rosenberg, who still thinks he's doing a show in New York. The station's decision wasn't based on ratings. Rose was beating rival WQAM's morning team of Kim Bokamper and Kenny Walker in the most recent ratings book. The decision was based completely out of spite by The Ticket's GM Joel Feinberg.

When WQAM regained the rights to the Miami Dolphins broadcasts, it became well-known it was interested in bringing Rose back to the station where he once worked for over a decade. But Rose was still under contract by The Ticket. When the station pushed Rose to sign a new deal, Rose kept putting the decision off. Finally, Feinberg got fed up and axed Rose.

When Rose went off the air, I was horrified to hear the voice of Sid Rosenberg on my radio. Sorry New Yorkers, but you guys have the most annoying accent known to man. Sid is the posterchild of an obnoxious New Yorker. All he talks about is the Mets, Giants, Knicks and The Sopranos--which I am still proud to say I've never seen a single episode. Rosenberg was fired from his New York radio gig after he made racially insensitve remarks about Serena Williams. Add to that, he was a known concaine addict and alcoholic. To Sid's credit, it seems he's made a nice recovery from his addictions. But as a host, he still sucks.

How much do I dislike Rosenberg? I actually switched the dial and started listening to Kim Bokamper and Kenny Walker. Yikes! Bokamper is okay. But Walker might be the most unknowledgeable person I've ever heard discuss sports. His only connection to sports is that his wife is the director for the Miami Dolphins cheerleaders. His previous job was as a morning DJ on Y-100. He's more fit to introduce a Justin Timberlake song than discuss the Dolphins offense.

But hope is on the way. Bokamper and Walker have been a ratings disaster. WQAM had never lost in the ratings book to another sports talk station until Bokamper and Walker showed up. They're the Larry Coker of sports talk radio. They've taken a good job and driven it to the ground. Enter Joe Rose. He's expected to take over the morning drive slot next month and will also join Jimmy Cefalo and Jim Mandich in the booth for the Dolphins broadcasts. It can't happen soon enough. I never thought I would miss those Nature Bee commercials or those silly jingles. But sometimes you don't know what you've got until it's gone. Come back Big Dog!