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Slideshow: The Top 10 in the St. Louis Sports Media Power Rankings
Power Ranking |
Name |
Gigs |
Notes |
|
1 |
Bernie Miklasz |
ESPN Radio WXOS (101.1 FM), St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
Most powerful media personality in St. Louis sports. Be it radio, TV or print, the Big Dog holds fanbase and franchises alike in his sway. On top of all that, unlike his fellow columnists/pundits, he actually takes the trouble to enter the locker room and report. |
.987 |
2 |
Bob Costas |
NBC-TV |
One word sums up this pint-size sports-media personality's outsized stature: gravitas. Costas, who got his big break at KMOX, has it in spades. |
.976 |
3 |
Martin Kilcoyne |
KTVI-TV (Channel 2), KTRS (550 AM) |
Smart and witty, a pleasure to tune in. Nightly rant, "The Kilcoyne Opinion" (a.k.a. TKO), guarantees the FOX newscast a happy ending. |
.892 |
4 |
Joe Strauss |
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, KTRS (550 AM) |
On a scale of 1 to 10, Strauss is an 11 -- in his book. Do we hate him because he's an asshole, or do we love him because he's an asshole? The answer depends on whether we're in the mood for anal. |
.850 |
5 |
Derrick Goold |
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, KTRS (550 AM) |
Cardinals beat writer doesn't have his own radio show, but he might be the local sports landscape's only Twitter must-follow, offering scoops, humor and unequaled fan-reporter interaction. |
.850 |
6 |
Steve Savard |
KMOV-TV (Channel 4), ESPN Radio WXOS (101.1 FM) |
KMOV sports director/Rams radio play-by-play man is among the most well-informed and smartest journos in town. Astounding that he doesn't have his own radio show. |
.838 |
7 |
Mike Shannon |
KMOX (1120 AM) |
As he rolls on into the deepening twilight of a long broadcasting career, the Moon Man's eyesight fails him with increasing frequency. Words, however, never do. A local treasure. |
.815 |
8 |
Joe Buck |
FOX-TV |
Anybody who shares a podcast with Tim McKernan has, ipso facto, some serious character flaws. And though he's not in the same league as his fellow Joe (Strauss), he can redline the assholemeter from time to time. But props for his knowledge and dry humor. |
.800 |
9 |
Mike Claiborne |
KMOX (1120 AM), St. Louis American |
His smug demeanor can make him come across as a know-it-all, but truth is he does know an awful lot about St. Louis sports. |
.795 |
10 |
Tom Ackerman |
KMOX (1120 AM) |
A straighter shot than I-70 to Kansas City. Tends to be a homer, but that might be a job requirement at the "Mighty 'MOX." |
.750 |
11 |
John Rooney |
KMOX (1120 AM) |
Baseball radio man came to St. Louis in 2006, straight from calling the Chicago White Sox's first World Series triumph in nearly 90 years -- then promptly rode the Redbirds to their first since '82. So far he's 4 for 7 in postseason appearances, with two World Championships. Now that's a Cardinals winner! |
.750 |
12 |
Randy Karraker |
ESPN Radio WXOS (101.1 FM) |
Consummate pro, always informed, always prepared, Karraker often plays the foil to his less-competent but louder boothmates. Facts trump opinion every time, though. An astonishing trove of sports trivia. |
.721 |
13 |
Dan McLaughlin |
FOX Sports Midwest |
Many lampoon him for his drunken run-ins with Johnny Law. But he's a far better play-by-play man than folks give him credit for. Plus, he has to put up with insufferable goody-two-shoes Rick Horton and Al "The Hair" Hrabosky. |
.702 |
14 |
Dan Dierdorf |
CBS-TV |
The old Big Red offensive lineman reached his personal broadcasting pinnacle a generation ago with a dozen-year stint on ABC's Monday Night Football, but he's still going strong on CBS. |
.673 |
15 |
Pat Parris |
FOX Sports Midwest |
Parris is Dean Martin to Jim Hayes' Jerry Lewis. A solid, oft-overlooked journalist. |
.667 |
16 |
Rick Hummel |
St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
Busch Stadium's press box is named in honor of Bob Broeg and Hummel. The difference is Broeg has the decency to be dead, while the man they call "The Commish" plods on. As a scribe and reporter, the truth is he's merely better than average. The key to his elevated rep? Not pissing anyone off. |
.651 |
17 |
Chris Duncan |
ESPN Radio WXOS (101.1 FM), FOX Sports Midwest |
Former Cardinals left fielder has ramped up his knowledge of other sports to become a respectable radio host in record time. Let us all raise our man-sodas to toast sports radio's hardest trier! |
.636 |
18 |
Brian Stull |
ESPN Radio WXOS (101.1 FM) |
Hard worker who puts in more than his share of hours at the ballpark. Bonus points for having to cohost with Bob Ramsey. |
.619 |
19 |
Kevin Wheeler |
KMOX (1120 AM) |
Scrappy blue-collar guy who worked his way up from graveyard shifts in other markets. Exhibits unparalleled patience in suffering endless call-ins from idiot listeners (and Ron Jacober). |
.608 |
20 |
Jimmy "The Cat" Hayes |
KFNS "The Fan" (590 AM), FOX Sports Midwest |
Quick to joke about others but thin-skinned himself, especially on the topic of his hairpiece -- which, until he upgraded it not long ago, deserved its own show, if not its own slot in these power rankings. Still, his on-field access to Cardinals players (who mercilessly mock him without fear of retribution) provides him with fodder for some meaty reportage. |
.599 |
21 |
John Kelly |
FOX Sports Midwest |
Son of legendary Blues broadcaster Dan Kelly, John Kelly is a chip off the old block -- but in a good way (cf. Jay Randolph Jr. and B.J. Rains). |
.586 |
22 |
Kevin Slaten |
KFNS "The Fan" (590 AM) |
The Bill O'Reilly of St. Louis sports media. Screw the facts -- hell, screw everybody. He's a bully, and an unapologetic one at that. Still, his willingness to call out players, coaches and team brass is undeniably refreshing in this too-polite town. |
.567 |
23 |
Tim McKernan |
KFNS "The Fan" (590 AM) |
Dreams of being the Howard Stern of St. Louis sports radio, but he's more like our Al Goldstein (infamous founder of Screw magazine). He knows his stuff, ballwise, but his frequent digressions on porn and poker smack of self-loathing. |
.555 |
24 |
Frank Cusumano |
KFNS "The Fan" |
King of the non sequitur and the feel-good story -- often achieving both simultaneously. Know of a one-armed Belleville basketball player with a three-legged dog? Cusumano is there! |
.532 |
25 |
Chris Kerber |
KMOX (1120 AM) |
A bit dorky. OK, really dorky. Also an extremely diligent hockey reporter. |
.517 |
26 |
Vahe Gregorian |
St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
No man is an island, unless he's Vahe Gregorian, holding down the Mizzou beat for St. Louis' Only Daily. |
.472 |
27 |
Tony Softli |
ESPN Radio WXOS (101.1 FM) |
Imagine the Rams' surprise when they showed their vice president of player development the door -- only to see him sneak back into Rams Park as a sports journo? |
.461 |
28 |
Kathleen Nelson |
St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
Not her fault! Forced to cover cast-off material her male colleagues refuse to touch. |
.448 |
29 |
Zach McCrite |
ESPN Radio WXOS (101.1 FM) |
Newcomer to the market is a perfect match for the couch-potato set (it takes one to know one). Knowledgeable enough to get by and a competent, sometimes colorful interviewer. Trending upward for his yeoman duty propping up the dead weight of on-air partner Rick Venturi. |
.437 |
30 |
D'Marco Farr |
ESPN Radio WXOS (101.1 FM) |
Ex-Rams defensive tackle, now the biggest shill on St. Louis sports radio. Does there exist a business or product Farr wouldn't plug? Football knowledge is predictably on target but adds little to the conversation when the topic turns to other sports. |
.414 |
31 |
Rene Knott |
KSDK-TV (Channel 5) |
Knott's not a dummy by any stretch, but balance that with his unfailingly obsequious interviewing style (and the fact that he's always seemingly jacked on Hi-C or some similar sugar high), and what you get is utter mediocrity. |
.402 |
32 |
Rich Gould |
KPLR-TV (Channel 11) |
The jester of St. Louis sports journalism. Too bad he's so hard to take seriously, given that he has managed to persevere for more than three decades on the St. Louis airwaves. |
.383 |
33 |
Jeremy Rutherford |
St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
The Blues are locked out, and Jeremy Rutherford is a man without a country. |
.349 |
34 |
Jim Thomas |
St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
Do the Rams deserve better? Nah. |
.343 |
35 |
Al Hrabosky |
FOX Sports Midwest |
What he lacks in colorful commentary he more than makes up for in cranial and facial hair. Is there such a thing as gay lions? |
.291 |
36 |
Doug Vaughn |
KFNS "The Fan" (590 AM), KMOV-TV (Channel 4) |
If TV sports anchors were ice cream, Vaughn would be vanilla (the white kind; not the cream-colored stuff with "real specks"). But his gig on KFNS' Morning After adds a few sprinkles to the sundae. |
.263 |
37 |
B.J. Rains |
KXFN "The Fan 2" (1380 AM), FOX Sports Midwest |
Is there an industry (excluding military dictatorships) more prone to nepotism than sports journalism? The son of former Globe-Democrat sports reporter Rob Rains, B.J. shares a radio show with Dad and pens online content for FOX Sports Midwest. |
.252 |
38 |
Michelle Smallmon |
ESPN Radio WXOS (101.1 FM) |
As Bernie Miklasz's producer on WXOS, Smallmon is the sports-journalism equivalent of one of the minor moons that orbits Jupiter. How hard is it to book guests for Bernie? Dude gets anyone he wants. |
.251 |
39 |
Rick Venturi |
ESPN Radio WXOS (101.1 FM) |
A pre-senile version of Jim Hanifan. Ex-defensive coordinator brings X's and O's to the table and nothing more. Moves up three spots in these rankings in deference to the number of victories he rang up as head coach -- for Northwestern University (1-31-1), the New Orleans Saints (1-7) and the Indianapolis Colts (1-11). |
.240 |
40 |
Ron Jacober |
KMOX (1120 AM) |
The Wilford Brimley of sports radio. His Sunday-morning show is only a slightly better option than going to church. |
.233 |
41 |
Bryan Burwell |
St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
Strip away the adjectives, and his columns would be as thin as his arguments. |
.196 |
42 |
Howard Balzer |
KFNS "The Fan" (590 AM) |
Harder to eradicate than a cockroach. Seems like Balzer hasn't had a paying gig in more than a decade (as is common in radio, he sells advertising for his own shows), yet he's still here. His NFL draft soliloquies are less welcome than tests of the Emergency Broadcast System. |
.170 |
43 |
Rob Rains |
KXFN "The Fan 2" (1380 AM) |
Impressive ability to fart out sports books of absolutely no consequence. Who can forget Mac Attack (1998), Marshall Faulk -- Rushing to Glory (1999) and Whitey's Boys (2002)? |
.159 |
44 |
Dan Caesar |
St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
Has these exact-same power rankings written in lipstick on his bathroom mirror. Scary. |
.118 |
45 |
Bob Ramsey |
ESPN Radio WXOS (101.1 FM) |
Play-by-play man for Saint Louis University basketball is a passable shot caller who's fortunate to have Mr. Nice Guy Earl Austin Jr. as his tag-team partner. As a radio host, he's a bigger bag of gas than the Hindenburg. |
.099 |
46 |
Jeff Gordon |
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, KXFN "The Fan 2" (1380 AM) |
Output is dominated by regurgitated excerpts from other writers' work and wire stories. |
.076 |
47 |
Rick Horton |
FOX Sports Midwest |
Give us Hrabosky any day. |
.058 |
48 |
John Hadley |
KTRS (550 AM) |
Inflection's a dead ringer for Bill Murray's immortal turn as Carl Spackler in Caddyshack. Well, that's got to be worth something! |
.049 |
49 |
Alvin Reid |
ESPN Radio WXOS (101.1 FM) |
Alvin Reid's dilemma: Which to put lower on résumé: obscure sports-talk show or obscure public-television political roundtable? Props for willingness to work Saturdays when no one is listening. (The better to cackle at his own jokes.) |
.032 |
50 |
Jay Randolph Jr. |
KFNS "The Fan" (590 AM) |
Picture Jay Randolph having sex. Sorry! Still, you have to admit it beats listening to his son on the radio. |
.019 |