Club owners have the money and power. Players have their unions and the right to strike. Referees have the last word. But what does the forgotten sports fan have? Sports Huddle, that's what.
Originating in Boston, Sports Huddle is a raucous weekly radio show dedicated to "looking out for the fans." The proprietors-Mark Witkin, Jim McCarthy and Eddie Andelman-are an unholy trio of amateur broadcasters and professional fans. Every Sunday night from 7 to 11, they rail against everything from overpriced tickets and cold hot dogs to sportswriters ("Sock sniffers in the locker room") and the sports establishment ("They've been abusing the public for years"). Their format is like the New England Patriots' offense: haphazard. Their delivery sounds like three guys gassing in a ginmill-that is. loose and loudmouth.
It all comes naturally to Attorney Witkin, 33, Insurance Executive McCarthy, 44, and Real Estate Broker Andelman, 36. They were "discovered" four years ago when an executive from station WUNR overheard their loud banter in a Boston bar and invited them to sound off at a microphone. Sports Huddle was such an instant hit that six months later it was transferred to WBZ, a 50,000-watt station heard in 32 states and Canada. Before long, the station, which also broadcasts the Boston Bruins' games, had some grievances of its own: McCarthy dismissed Bruin President Weston Adams Jr. as "the biggest jerk I ever met," while Andelman described Boston Garden, the Bruins' home rink, as "a pig pen, a garbage pit. Even Vincent Price wouldn't shoot a horror movie there." When WBZ, reportedly under pressure from the Bruins, dropped the show in May 1971, 2,000 Sports Huddle loyalists staged a demonstration in the station's parking lot.
The show was quickly picked up by WEEK, a CBS affiliate, and a syndicated version is now heard on more than 50 stations across the U.S. Deluged with up to 20,000 calls a night, the three superfans attack what they call the "hidden injuries of class" by blasting everyone from politicians who hog tickets to the "phony, bigoted yachtsmen of the New York Yacht Club." Though they have broadened their attack to suit their national audience, they still hit home the hardest. Among their favorite targets are Boston Red Sox Manager Eddie Kasko ("A mealymouthed marshmal-low") and Bruin Star Bobby Orr ("He's not the humble, gracious, Bible-touting kid everyone says he is"). While some of their high jinks are sophomoric or just plain silly (they once telephoned the commandant of the Buckingham Palace Guards to ask if he would trade two of Her Majesty's finest for a pair of Patriot guards), WEEI'S triple threats are convinced that "the majority of our opinions are what the fans believe."