By David Scott
BSMW Columnist

As promised, another Scott’s Shots Winnebago Field Trip, this time from Brighton Landing’s New Balance building at 20 Guest Street, where they create sneakers, apparel and Boston’s most compelling talk radio.

It’s Good to Be Kings
Man is not made to awaken at four in the ay-em. Rooster is not even made to crow this early. Six in the ay-em is early; four? Well, four is down right unacceptable.
But it’s a whole lot more palatable and a whole lot less dark outside when the “books” - the standings that serve as quarterly box scores for Major Market Radio - are receiving rave, best-seller-type, reviews. As the Boston Globe reported last month:

“Sports talker WEEI-AM (850), which recently expanded into Southern New England with the purchase of a Providence-based station, has also posted some impressive numbers (in the winter book). For the first time, the Entercom station took the No. 1 position among listeners ages 25-54 for the entire ratings day (6 a.m. to midnight), with a 6.4 share (up from the autumn’s 3.4). The drive-time “Dennis and Callahan Show” came in second to Stern and WBCN among that demographic, with a 12.4 share. And overall, WEEI remains the top station for male listeners 25-54, with an 11 share, cementing a position it has held for the last four ratings periods.”

Even with those outstanding numbers which translate into outstanding numbers of listeners, it could still take a snooze button or two to start each new day.
But waking up is always easier when your destination has fairly chipper faces, doing fairly fun work in a fairly casual environment. It also ain’t so bad when, on your fairly cluttered desk, there awaits a large Dunkin’ Donuts iced coffee for your 5:30 a.m. arrival.
“Don’t let anyone tell you different. Waking up this early sucks,” confides WEEI-850 AM’s Gerry Callahan, before inserting his straw into his morning jolt. “Dino (co-host, John Dennis) says you get used to it. . . No you don’t.”
So much for the Java elixir. But what the sometimes cranky, always sharp Callahan is trying to say is more aptly this: “Doing morning radio drives you insane,” he states.
Okay, maybe that’s not the point either. This isn’t going well. Next caller?
“You DO get used to it,” says Dennis, as he Hi-lites, tears and pores over Wednesday morning’s papers, all the while watching (and re-watching) Jayme Parker’s NESN re-cap of the Red Sox 7-6 loss at Anaheim.
But maybe what the duo – and their faithful morning show teammates – truly get used to, is the thrill of kicking morning drive-time ass in a competitive market with discerning listeners. When the 25-year Boston TV veteran and the 20-year Boston newspaper vet were paired back in October of 1997, it was handled almost like a test-marketing of a new product. The duo was given the 10 to Noon spot, a daily two-hour audition for the morning drive slot, as it turned out.
After almost two years of just 10 hours of air-time per week, D&C were “promoted” and given the unenviable task of replacing a fading Don Imus AND needing to anchor the weekday programming for ‘EEI.
Few gave D&C a legit chance but you sense Callahan knew the combo could click. “They dumped Imus to put us on,” says Callahan, who had taken a five-year tour of duty with Sports Illustrated in a lead up to the full-time radio gig (all of which followed 11-plus years at the Lowell Sun and the Boston Herald). “When we started, we knew it wasn’t like the Supreme Court – it wasn’t a job that you’d have forever. You have to perform.”
And perform they have. Especially to that sprawling demographic of 25-54 year old males who buy everything from beer to wireless service to automobiles to bratwursts and beyond.
True, there has been controversy, suspensions and borderline comments, but mostly there has been growing numbers of listeners, advertisers and smiling faces in the shiny 300 East wing of “Boston’s newest landmark, the New Balance building.”
So, just how do you explain the duo’s fortuitous timing amidst the white-hot backdrop of a transforming (and morphing) sports journalism world? How, for my purposes, do you convey an aural medium into a written definition? And how, oh how, would you ever get used to FOUR IN THE DAMN AY-EM?
Maybe it’s better to try it on the fly - much the way Dennis and Callahan (and trusty FlashBoy, an emerging personality in his own right, Jon Meterparel) pride themselves on doing five days a week, four hours a day and, seemingly, 365 days a year. “It’s unscripted,” Callahan says.

“Amber Frey? That skank?” – Gerry Callahan, Hour No. 1
At home in Andover, this morning, while his wife Tracy and the kids – Shannon and Jack – slept, their Daddy had arisen from five and a half hours of shut eye. He “TiVoed through the runs” and the key plays of the Sox in Anaheim, and Callahan also managed to surf, at the very least: dirtdogs.com, espn.com and Drudge. He essentially pre-prepped for the prep he would do in morning show’s office, where newspapers and printed stats also awaited him.
Nowhere in all of that rapid information consumption – not even at Drudge’s site – was there any nugget any better than “Amber Frey? That Skank?” That was Callahan’s on-air response to Dennis’s explanation that part of the Scott Peterson trial’s allure was Peterson’s dalliance with Frey.
“It doesn’t have a celebrity, it has no mystery. You know he did it. I just don’t get the fascination,” Callahan says on-air, standing over the massive microphone.
Still, the non-fascinating topic eats up a good 30 minutes of air-time and generates a few calls, mostly from lawyers, including Mike in Lynnfield, who is allowed to present his views without interruption (a novel concept in talk radio, wouldn’t you say?).
“There’s nothing better than a good caller,” Callahan will say after his shift is over, and before heading home for his nap. “It’s like boxing, when it’s good, it’s really good. But when it’s bad. . .
“The callers are invaluable, but at the same time they are also props. When you stumble across a good debate, you know it.”

“What is a ‘quad’? That’s a place you hung out in college.” – Gerry Callahan, Hour No. 2
It’s not your typical (i.e., WFAN) sports radio when, in about two hours of real radio time, you get mentions of the long-forgotten Sgt. Moose of sniper fame, Pete Carroll, Scott Boras, condom delivery in Sweden, terrorism suspect Jose Padilla AND the lingering ‘quad’riceps injury of one Trot Nixon.
But this is not typical sports radio and therein lies some of what makes D&C the BMOCs of morning radio. “Let’s face it,” Callahan says off-air, “one thing we’re good at here (at WEEI) is beating topics to death. But that’s talk radio in general. We’re pounding on those topics like veal.”
For Callahan especially, it’s that veal cutlet approach that fuels his fire. Even when his business card read “Sports Illustrated,” a plateau that thousands, if not millions, have aspired, he felt the emptiness that comes from long trips to Monterrey, Mexico or even shorter jaunts to a St. Louis Blues game. “You can’t take it for granted whether the subject matter is relevant (to you). Going to Arizona to do a story on Luis Gonzalez just wasn’t that important.
“Here, in Boston and on radio, it’s stuff that matters to everybody. There’s passion about it,” Callahan says. “This job is the most fun when you tap into that passion. SI is a good job, it’s prestigious, but it just wasn’t fulfilling for me.”
Those words are not to be interpreted as Callahan being cranky or cursing his good fate, his giant talent or his great opportunities. He’s just laying it out there for you. That’s exactly what good, effective talk radio does when it’s humming along. That’s what D&C do most of the time.
“We’re able to wander far afield from sports,” says Dennis, the captain of the Good Ship D&C, who steers into breaks and has the in-studio controls at his fingertips. “It makes for a much more interesting day.
“There was a diminishing time allotment in TV sports – you’d get about two and a half minutes by the time I finished (at the old Channel 7),” he says. “Given enough bananas, a chimp could learn to do that. I did it for 20 years. This is something entirely different.
“It seems so laughable when I look back on the preparation I would put it in for three-minute live shots from the Garden or Fenway. Now it’s four hours of extemporaneous talk.”

“A 55-pound infant? That’s like five pounds lighter than (super-svelte) Meter.” – Gerry Callahan, Hour No. 4
Callahan is cast as the right wing, Bush-backing voice who favors the New York Post writings of Ralph Peters over anything Als Franken or Gore might offer up. He’s equal parts Bart Simpson and Sean Hannity with a little Eddie Haskell mixed in. In liberal Massachusetts, from a studio not too far from the People’s Republics of Cambridge and Newton, Callahan can rile up antagonism almost by simply slipping on the headphones.
Dennis is the foil to all of that, but he’s no dope about it. Astute and commanding with his deep, made-for-speakers pipes, Dennis also knows how to make “good radio.” On Wednesday, he picked on Manny for some “Planet Manny” miscues the night before. In response, Callahan offered up the numbers that suggested, “Let Manny do whatever he wants. He’s producing.”
And the callers responded, which in the radio biz triggers this result from savvy hosts: keep on it, keep on it hard and keep on it until it dies a slow death.
Presto-magic, they create debate!
“Why does everything have to be Manny-bashing?” asks Kevin in Malden.
“Give Manny a break,” says Rick in Hanover. And on it goes. Minutes fly, the four hours coast. If this is hard work, I’m sold. Sign ME up for Connecticut School of Broadcasting.
Still, there’s that entertainment side that can not be denied. Sometimes it’s transparent, sometimes not. But it’s always there.
Knowing as much, don’t let Callahan fool you entirely. He’s a student of the games, but also a learned student of the writing game, the music game and the political game. He’s not a one-trick pony, in other words. He respects his peers, but knows some of them are “unioned-in” and there for the long haul. He knows of the Internet and its power, even if not all his Herald bosses can quite grasp the concept. He’s street smart and wholly humble.
Callahan gushes about having worked under Bob Sales (and now Mark Torpey) at the Herald and reserves true, devoted praise for the writings of Red Smith and Jimmy Cannon. He appreciates the art of writing even as he somewhat contributes to its demise with more and more good newspaper guys following his lead and finding comfortable studio jobs.
A few months ago, he told me “I’m a bleeder. I wish I could just mail it in with my column. But I can’t. I don’t.”
And it shows. He’s a crafter and a shaper who thinks about the writing process. “Do you write at night? I see that you post at night,” he asks me quite unexpectedly. “I write at night, I don’t know why. I guess because of my hours here (at WEEI).”
His allegiance is to radio, but you have to sense his heart is probably in writing. Callahan’s not ready for a book yet, he says, but when he is, it’s sure to open many more doors for him – think Mitch Albom, but funnier.
“This (WEEI) pays the bills. This is my primary gig.”
Still, he understands the difference between the two mediums better than most: “There’s the opposite dynamic in radio – you’re feeding off someone. Writing is solitary.”
At both endeavors, Callahan has matured and blossomed. Once you have the notorious heavy-editing at SI for a while, you learn what works best for you. You become better by default, almost. Even if you’re already pretty damn good, as Callahan was when Mark Mulvoy plucked him from the Herald.
Callahan admits he’s grown into the radio part: “I’ve gotten better. You know what works, what doesn’t.”

“If Jose Padilla did follow through on his plans to blow up apartment buildings, that begs the question: Does he get his security deposit back? – John Dennis, Hour No. 2
Sports talk radio can be great or grating, and often it borrows from both categories. WWZN 1510 AM tried its darnedest to “raise the bar,” but the bar wasn’t in need of raising. Not yet, anyway. Talk radio – any variety you desire – is, at its core, Lowest Common Denominator Programming (LCDP). It needs to be that way in order to serve the greatest percentage of the masses.
Truth be uttered, the best sports talk radio going is almost certainly Bill Littlefield’s “Only a Game” on NPR. But it runs one hour a week, it doesn’t take callers and sometimes earnestly and seriously dedicates a segment to sports like rugby or curling. It’s smart radio done smartly.
But it’s not quite loud enough, both figuratively and literally, to be mainstream. For the masses, there needs to be more needle-bending on the big control board. Some pizzazz, some oomph and yes, some juvenile humor.
“With Dino and myself, we’re genuinely meshing,” Callahan says. “Yes, the intensity and emotion is amplified for the good of the show. This station, not just this show, is as much confrontation radio as anything else.”
Well said. And even more well executed by a diverse range of GM Jason Wolfe’s Pack of voices, perspectives and personalities. D&C are probably the most cerebral of the ‘EEIers, but Neumie and Dale (Bob Neumeier and Dale Arnold) keep it calm and mostly courteous from 10 to 2.
The Big O zone is what it is: loud men clamoring for mike time and sometimes offering insight. Often, it sounds like fog horns competing to be heard. But it appeals to a lot of afternoon drivers and because of that, it succeeds. Don’t try to understand it, just accept what the numbers tell us.
Teddy Sarandis manages to stay above the fray, but that’s more of an indication of his time slot and his own, kind, giving personality. He keeps it proper and gets into the nuts and bolts with deftness.
The weekend shows all sound the same, if you ask me, but they fill a need just the same. The Wolfe/Entercom Formula and Formations are working, clearly.
Under those beliefs, it’s not a far leap to suggest that D&C are not only the most tolerable of ‘EEI’s programming, they’re also the most diverse and talented.
“You know what? I don’t care if a critic or a caller or an e-mailer says, ‘You suck or Meter sucks or Dino sucks,’” Callahan says. “But they can not say we’re not producing. They can hate the way we play, but they can’t ignore the won-loss record.
“Someone said we ‘market ourselves’ as No. 1. That’s because we are! Ratings are our barometer in this business and you have to mention the ratings if you’re going to talk about the show, or the station. People are listening,” he says, a company man all the way down to his feet. (Or more accurately, a Building Man – proven by his Model # 1005 New Balance sneakers, ($69.99 at the NB outlet store across the street) which lace up over his “NB”-logoed, white, anklet socks (3-pack for $6.99, 6-pack for $12.99).
“I’ll give you a number: In the winter book, we had a 12.4 and Imus had a 3.4. They dumped him to put us on full-time from 6-10 in 1999. Those are the standings now. That’s where we are.
“If you’re not doing well in this business, if we fall on our face, we’re gone,” he says. “It seems like maybe there is a shelf life, but really you just have to do it successfully and if you don’t do it successfully, you’re gone.”
D&C are far from gone – both signed five year deals that have three years remaining. They’ve weathered storms, ridden the waves and if it seems like they’re enjoying the ride, it’s because they are. Whether it’s four in the ay-em in Andover or at noon on the first tee.
Maybe Dennis had it right after all. You probably do get used to it.

“Buzzer Beaters” from the Scott’s Shots’ Winnebago Field Trip to ‘EEI
Yes, I did broach the Metco incident in my post-show sit-down with Callahan, but both sides, as part of the settlement agreement, will not comment any further on the issue. Callahan would say, however, “You find out who your friends are.” Read into that as you will, but know this: It would have been a nightmare had ‘EEI canned the duo, as some out-of-touch yahoos wanted. By handling the situation in the manner he did, Wolfe managed to keep his stars aligned and in place and made (albeit temporary) peace with some outspoken “community leaders,” who get their britches in a bunch over small, innocent things said by big, visible people. . . Dennis did, indeed, have an official state document to prove his attendance at jury duty on Tuesday. In the post-show clubhouse/office where the troops gather to come down from the evident of BUZZ of the show, he threw it in the general direction of a smiling Wolfe, who had evidently heard Dennis’s humorous on-air voice-mail imitation of the GM. . . The production duo of Rich “Teets” Teter and Scott “Chaach” Ciaccio is in the same kind of sync as the pair of voices they enable each morning. Both are research whizzes and Chaach works the board like a prime-of-life John Kiley on the organ. . . Teter’s book of numbers and contacts is slightly bigger than Wilt Chamberlin’s old black book. Chaach is all digital with his stylish Sony Clio hand-held. As if you cared to know that. . . Young Percy the Dog was so confused by the 4 a.m. visit to Mr. Tree and Mrs. Grass, he actually tried to go back to sleep mid-tinkle. Good doggie. . . Callahan, a Class of ’83 UMie, is still a bit bitter about being told by Collegian editors that he couldn’t write for the paper. No worries, Ger, they thought I COULD! Suckas. . . Four a.m. is so early that I think I heard Rush Limbaugh on NPR. . . Four-thirty a.m. is so early that the Herald box at a Route 3A Dunkin’ Donuts has Wednesday’s news, while the abutting Globe box is still selling Tuesday’s bad news. . . Four-forty-five is so early that there isn’t a single women awake in all of southern, Metro Boston. . . I’m thinking of asking Meter to help me put together a Scott’s Shots Sabbath Field Trip in the Winnebago for all our fellow Tribal members who are currently running the Boston sports kingdom. We could meet in Brookline to light the candles, head to schull and get ripped on Manieschevitz at the Oneg sponsored by Hadassah. The early invite list would have to include: GM Boytchyka Wonders, Theo Epstein, Jason Wolfe, any and all Krafts and soon to be gone, little Gabey Kapler. Space should fill up quick, so join in soon and send your shekels . . . Five o’clock is so early that a cabbie let me go in front of him at the Pike merge. I’m guessing he had just fallen asleep. . . You’d be amazed how often you can hear “sleep deprivation” in a five hour span and suddenly realize how sleep deprived you are feeling. . . The Major League Lacrosse and Boston Cannons’office shares space at the NB Building which makes you think they don’t even need a radio deal, they could just takeover the studio at night the way the Third World Page used to take over the UMass Daily Collegian on random evenings. . .There are constant, daily reminders of the impact that ESPN has had on sports media, but my favorite ‘EEIllustration was when 20-something, Eric the Intern shook my hand and said, “I’m like Stat Boy.” Tony Reali, I underestimated your power. My bad. . . The last time I woke up at 4 a.m. for something other than a hangover-helper dose of Advil, was probably back in ‘89 when I did a stint on the North Shore cops beat for the Beverly Times. Those mean streets of Danvers, Salem and Peabody were, I now fondly recall, sometimes worth the pre-dawn awakenings. Especially if, after poring over the misdemeanors and felonies I brought something juicy for A1, to my very first, real editor, the dignified Paul Briand. . . The third floor’s regular FedEx Guy, was in mid-delivery when he chatted up Callahan near the stairs. “Gerry? They’re gonna be all right, aren’t they?” Callahan reassured him with a Trot and Nomar soother. “That FedEx guy is one of the most well-read guys - he knows his stuff,” Callahan explained. . . By the way, I’m assuming you understood “TiVoed through the runs” up above, but just in case my technically-impaired parents, The Baze or The Shirl are reading, it’s a way of saying he fast-forwarded through the junk and watched only the true highlights/lowlights, via use of his box score and TiVo remote. . . I hope no one on the morning show team took it personally when I snuck in a good effort on the USA Today crossword puzzle during Hours No. 2 and No. 3. I’m the poster child for sports Talk Radio Adult Attention Deficit Disorder. . . Callahan was pushing the writings of this Ralph Peters fellow and raving to Scott’s Shots about Harlan Coben, an Amherst College grad he says is a must-read. . . An eager beaver honcho over at NBC7 FedExed over a copy of a book written by one of the NBC7ers’ buddies. It was titled, “Prince of Thieves,” which is funny because that’s exactly what I tend to think of when I see the starchy Joe Amorosino. He’s robbing ‘em blind every Sunday night. . .I should be on the FedEx payroll with all these mentions. . . Callahan still credits his work on The Big Show for allowing him to take the next step, but was also kind in mentioning former WRKO sports guy, Bowling Dick Lutsk. Which is useless fodder, unless you’re like me and love typing the name Lutsk for no apparent reason. . . During Callahan’s romp through the morning’s papers, he stopped, ever so briefly, at the Globe’s comics. It was a tough call on whether he was checking “This Day in History” “Reflection for the day” or “Bird Sightings.” He might have been confused and thought it was “LARRY Bird sightings,” otherwise we’ll assume it was for “This Day. . .” Dennis would appear to be on some fad diet regimen: he came back to the studio after the 8 a.m. break with a microwaved plate of turkey breast and cheese, which stunk up the joint like a lunchtime D’Angelo shop. Callahan digested a nutrition bar from a lime-green wrapper just before show-time. . . The preceding dietary news was brought to you by the Food Network. . It’s not exactly “Hello, may I help you,” but you’ve gotta respect Teter’s caller line answering technique: “Where do you live?. . . What do you want to say?. . . Hold on.” Keeps away the morons for the most part. . .The morning show guys are almost all fans of the TV series called, “The Shield” and Meter was crowing about the re-start of the gruesome “Nip/Tuck.” Doesn’t anyone have ESPN. Or C-SPAN maybe? To their credit, they’re big on The Sopranos, especially Johnny Sack, who stopped by Fox and Friends on Wednesday. Eric the Intern was immediately dispatched to tape the segment, in case they could get some good “sound” bytes from it. . . Dale Arnold was an early arrival for his shift, but Neumie must have been digesting some last minute Daily Racing Form just before his shift began. We’re guessing 4 a.m. wouldn’t work for the Horse Doctor. . . Callahan also praised many of his former SI colleagues but raved about talented Tom Verducci – “The hardest working guy in magazines,” Callahan says – and investigative guru, Don Yaeger, whom he recently talked to and cited for his Heraldo column on Corey Dillon. . . Another post-show office/clubhouse discussion focused on plans for some type of party surrounding the Jimmy Buffett dates at Fenway. Dennis is not a fan and asked for (and quickly received) ammunition in the form of a column from MSNBC’s Mike Breen titled, “10 Reasons I Hate Buffett.”. Callahan, who regrets his lack of time for music-listening is a bit of a Parrot Head himself, so there’s good potential for unlimited humor on that topic. . . Callahan recalled a car ride with Darius Rucker a few years back where they listened to the yet-to-be-released-at-the-time “Back to Then”. “It was so cool siting in the back seat and having him sing the words right there,” says Callahan, who met Hootie through his and Dennis’s everlasting Farrelly Brothers connection. . . Next Thursday, the station will officially celebrate its launch in Providence at 103.7, with a full day of activities from Friarville and will even include a Scott’s Shots fave, the good-natured, Timmy Welsh. They gotta get Buddy C on the horn again!. . . The viewing pleasures (on mute) in-studio for D&C range from ESPN, Fox NewsChannel and FOX25’s abysmal morning show with VB – Very Bad boy. What, you were expecting HGTV and Oxygen?. . .Post-show, Teter was efforting some more information from a car detailer who claims Ty Law owes him money. . . There’s definitely some competition between the teams that make up each of the WEEI shows respective crews, but overall you get the feeling they all know it’s a group effort that makes for being named Best Station of 2003 by something known as Rick Scott’s Sports Radio Conference: Presented by ESPN Radio.” With a name like Scott, you know it’s distinguished. . . Clearly, from the 4,200 words above, talk radio can generate some reaction from this corner, even if my normal choices lean more to WUMB, 91.9 FM and WBUR, 90.9 FM.

One Man’s Thoughts on the Sopranos season-ender:
Tony whacks Johnny Sack. Junior whacks Janice. Meadow whacks AJ. And finally, Tony Siragusa whacks Tony Soprano, proving once and for all that Paul Tagliabue runs the mob. Fade to black. . .After Matthew Gilbert’s rave review of Edie Falco in Thursday’s Globe Living/Arts, you’d almost think he was sleeping with Carmela. Gilbert made a convincing argument for Falco’s considerable acting “chops,” but he neglected to mention Lorraine Bracco’s transcendent performances as Dr. Jennifer Melfi, especially after her rape and in the early Tony sessions. . .Losing Christopher will not be a biggie, if you ask me. He was more lucid on drugs. . . Meadow could kick AJ’s ass, you know that, right?. . . You know the “Doogie Howser” kid who now does some dirty work for Tony? I’m thinking, after all these unsolved crime years, he might be the one that whacked Doogie in that series’ fabulous finale. On second thought, I think they figured out it was Marcus Welby, MD who whacked Doggie. . . Don’t be whacking the Doogie, at home, kiddies, okay?

Black Rubber
Iginla? He’ll just kill ya. . . Couldn’t resist, even if it is hockey. . . Nice hockey babe bench reporters over at ABC, ay Hoser?. . Gary Thorne earned a place on the Calgary highlight DVD with the call of last night’s overtime game-winner. But that’s about the only place you’ll hear it again.

The Ponies
Now that we’ve got loyal Philadelphia readers, this would be the perfect time to wish our Phine Phillied Phriends the best of luck in their efforts to win SOMETHING, ANYTHING. But you know what? We’re a bit sick of the smug, smiling Smarty Pants baying at us from this newspaper and that magazine. He’s running against what, two, or three other horses of any worth? The Belmont folks even called Scott’s Shots to see if Percy the Dog could handle a saddle and a rider on Saturday. He declined to be with his tennis ball. . . I can’t find it in me to root for anything Philly unless he’s named John Chaney. . . With Kenny Mayne and Hammered Hank on duty, ESPN has the oddest broadcasting duo in the history of TV.

Between the Lines of Pages
Rumors were swirling amongst the ‘EEIers that old Heraldo hack, Jim Baker is once again compiling press releases for some unsuspecting editor in New Hampshire. Maybe dull and lazy plays better up north. If anyone has specific whereabouts for Baker’s prose, please alert me. My Google search came up empty. Thankfully.

Rawhide
The dream has died over at (what we’re calling) the New Fraser Field in Lynn, where the hopes for a undefeated season under ex-Sox Super Sub, John Kennedy, were dashed last weekend. Fear not though, the best local nine not named Red Sox are sitting pretty at 6-2 and sharing first place in the Northeast League’s North Division. The damn Rox get more coverage than Kerry, all the while the sabermetrics-friendly Spirit have the league’s top three OBP leaders and bat .306 as a team. Enough of Brockton’s bombers bullcrap. Where’s the love for the Spirit, folks?. . . Now would be a good time to disclose that Kennedy’s affable son, Scott, started off the official Hull Summer ‘04 Adult Beverage Season with a frosty case of Red Stripe last weekend. In the interest of fairness, I’d gladly accept the same offering from any Northeast league team and/or their representatives. But I’ll always be a Spirit guy, just so you know. . . Bob “Monty” Montgomery has been doing color for some CN8 Eastern League games. Where on earth did they dig him up from?. . . BOSTON’S FOX SPORTS NET SPECIAL NEWSFLASH: Sean McAdam was just engulfed by the oversized black leather, center seat on the set of Tanguay and Dickerson’s show. The chair has previously swallowed up lithe Tony Mazz and has also lost a split-decision to hefty Pete Sheppard.

Rants and Raves
Great. Affleck’s got another honey who jiggles and giggles. I was so, so worried about him. Now I can focus on my own love life for a while. Not that it makes much of a difference. The last true, worthwhile woman I had was named St. Pauli Girl. . . PTI’s brilliant Tony Kornheiser said this about the Scripps Howard Spelling Bee on Tuesday: “I want the winner to be a kid with a moustache - boy or girl.” That’s so wrong, it’s beautiful. . . How about the kid winning the whole thing sharing the “David Scott” portion of his name with this very space! David Scott Tidmarsh would surely be ashamed of the spelling attrocitties purpetchuwate hairywith. I, however, like to think they keep me human. . . . Akshay Buddiga, a 13-year-old from Colorado Springs, Colo., the he kid who passed out momentarily at the Spelling Bee has the potential to be like that annoying American Idol failure, William Hung. Can’t you see the record-deal already. “Akshay Spells his Toughest Words, Vol .1″.

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David Scott writes from a seaside shanty on the shores of Hull and can be reached at david@bostonsportsmedia.com