Upon popular demand from our readers, here’s the much anticipated take on Sid Rosenberg vs. Dan Le Batard…

Virtually every passionate South Florida sports fan will turn on sports talk radio from time to time. As a resident of Aventura (or “Aventorture” as some would call it), I swap between 790 The Ticket and 560 QAM when driving home from work daily (I also flip to a third sports show on 940 WINZ but only to sub for commercials). The star personalities of The Ticket and QAM from 3-7pm M-F are none other than Dan Le Batard and Sid Rosenberg, respectively.

Now these are not your typical sports talk show hosts. They are more akin to “Shock Jocks” spewing controversial topics at listeners faster than we can say Heat Championship. And if you care about entertainment and information, with these two you certainly get both. So let’s see what makes their 3-hour competing stints “must hear” sports radio, and who Aventurans (coined here first) prefer.

Before we really get started, let’s establish this: Sid Rosenberg is a NY guy and of the Jewish faith, and Dan Le Batard is Miami-bred and of Cuban descent. Well, I’m both Jewish and Cuban, so that makes me a “Jewban” and impervious to any accusation of bias or prejudice based on these factors. However, I will tell you that my love for Miami and disdain for NY sports will definitely impact this blog.

Le Batard is known for his self-deprecating humor which pervades his WAXY 790 The Ticket radio show alongside co-host John “Stugotz” Weiner. He also makes frequent appearances on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption, Outside the Lines, The Sports Reporters, and College Gameday. So Dan is sort of a quasi-sports celebrity, and has access to numerous big-name athletes and sports figures. The fact that he has been a sports columnist for The Miami Herald since 1990 also helps in this regard, but mainly it has made him sort of a beloved sports authority in South Florida.

Rosenberg actually started his radio career in West Palm Beach with the syndicated The Drive on the Sports Fan Radio Network, after which he moved to NYC and co-hosted WNE-FM’s morning show. He then joined the controversial Imus in the Morning program and thereafter co-hosted the midday show on Imus’ flagship station WFAN. As of July 25th his 560 WQAM 3-7 pm show is the number one rated show in that time slot, beating out Le Batard who previously reigned supreme for more than one year.

Both Dan and Sid do not shy away from any topic, no matter the degree of taboo or controversy with which it may be associated. In fact, each in their own unique style aggressively pursues discussions that create intense and passionate responses from listeners. For example, Sid has said on-air that Venus and Serena Williams would be better suited for National Geographic Magazine than for Playboy. Dan is likewise primed to make outrageous statements such as shouting on a live broadcast that South Beach should open its legs because the “giant royal penis” [Lebron James] is coming to play for the Heat. Dan, however, has the distinction of being an accomplished journalist writing for The Miami Hurricane while in college, where he once published then-Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz’ personal phone number in a column. For the past 20 years his writing for The Herald is always bold, notably having exposed his alumni football team’s Pell Grant scandal. Meanwhile, Sid has a new book out (actually Paul Schwartz wrote it), You’re Wrong and You’re Ugly”, where he takes shots at media personalities such as Keith Olbermann (MSNBC) and Chris Russo (the “Mad Dog”). He also recruits several NY-area sports figures to routinely appear on his show and give updates on, for example, NY Giants’ training camp.

Perhaps there is no more polarizing perspective of these mega-Shock Jocks than to present them with NY vs. Miami sports. Sid on the one hand has always maintained that he loves Miami as a place in which to live; but that NY sports fans are simply “more knowledgeable” than the locals in South Fla. Of course Dan is a NY-sports hater extraordinaire (especially Jets and Mets), and has recently declared after the Knicks failed to land Lebron: “NY, Welcome to Another Decade of Irrelevance”. Dan’s periodic attacks on co-host & New Yorker, Stugotz is unrelenting, typically dedicating entire shows to incite responses from despondent NY fans (such as when the Dolphins and Marlins both beat their NY counterparts to end their seasons in ’08). Blogs are indeed plentiful in their attacks on both Sid and Dan on numerous topics, some unrelated to sports such as race and politics. But this is a sports blog, so I dare not digress.

In trying to get some neutral feedback from the locals, I ventured out to a neighborhood sports bar at Miami Prime Grill in North Miami Beach, where Aventura residents are apparently plentiful, to hear what you guys thought about Sid vs. Dan. Ironically, Sid was doing a live broadcast from Miami Prime and was ending his show when I arrived. Undeterred, I took a poll of 20 people who regularly listen to both personalities on the radio (14 guys, 6 gals) and asked them to comment on each. Now, I can’t print the exact words that some used to describe Sid and his opinions, but I can tell you this: they didn’t wish him happy birthday. Apparently, Sid managed to incite strong emotions from the live crowd at the bar just before I started polling.

Overall, 15 patrons (10 guys and 5 gals) had very nasty things to say about Sid. The other 5 (4 guys and 1 female…presumably) like Sid a lot. Oh, did I mention those 5 are from NY? Not important, I know. As for Dan, only 5 of the entire lot (4 guys and that one mixed breed) had negative comments about the ex-Cane’s writer. As to which of the 2 they prefer to listen? An overwhelming 15-5 picked Dan as their fave. Of the Aventura crowd (14), 10 voted for Dan. There you have it. A purely scientific poll has just declared that 75% of South Floridians and 71% of Aventurans prefer Dan over Sid (margin of error: 99%).

I for one can stand Dan (although his logic sometimes baffles me), but no matter how popular the ratings say Sid is, he can take his sports memories of the Yankees, Giants and Mark Gastineau back to NY. Whether you disagree with me or are just a lousy stinking NY sports fan, feel free to send me your comments and vote for who you’d rather listen to. After all, some of you are the “most knowledgeable fans” down here, right?

by: Eric Miller – Sports / Fantasy Football Contributor
Follow Eric Miller on Twitter @footballnutsy

That’s all for now.

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