Off the air

October 20, 1997 - March 10, 2008.

That will go down as the duration of the Score in Providence. Unfortunately, today marks the end of the run as Sportsradio the Score's live and local sportalk format. Why are we gone? In the end, it's simple: not enough money. It's typical of today's radio industry. Now, as to why we ever got to that point, we could spend hours upon end dissecting that one and we'd still probably not come to a true end point.

It's truly a sad day as the local end of sportstalk in Rhode Island has come to an end. What you hear on the radio will no longer be the same. There will be no more talk of Providence College, URI, Brown, the Pawsox, P-Bruins, the Peter Manfredo JR's, the Lincoln Little League and all the nuances of this quirky little state. To all our state teams and organizations, you sure make my job easier and for that, I thank you!

Sure, can you still get some sportstalk in various forms from elsewhere on the radio dial and satellite, but it all comes at a price. It's your voice. We at the Score knew that your voice mattered. I'm not sure the other guys think that the listeners are much more than foil.

For me, I can't say that I'm completely shocked by all this. Citadel, our parent company, has been making cuts across the country and we've always been on the front end of the rumormill. It's just a sad end when nine people lose their job and the reason they do has nothing to do with job performance. It's not to assess blame, it just a fact of reality.

I'm not at all bitter, just bittersweet. For the past 10 years, the Score has always been about outhustling the competition with a smaller staff, less resources and in a smaller market. And IMHO, our product has always been top notch. At the end of the day, to each his own.

It's for that reason I will miss Rhode Island's only, until today at 12pm, sportstalk radio station. The people made the Score what it was. From our bosses to the hosts and producers right down to the very last caller each and every day, they made it worth walking through the door everyday.

So, it's with that I thank Ron St.Pierre for bringing in me that very first week. Without that, I could never have had the chance to have as much fun as I did the past 10 years. It was 10 years in which I met my wife Laura (yes at work) and saw the birth of our daughter, Abigail. Both occasions were ones in which we fondly shared with our loyal Score listeners, including a very special "toast" from Don King before our wedding.

I thank all of our hosts Scott Cordischi, Andy Gresh, John "Coach" Colletto, Scott Zolak, Bryan Morry, Jess Atkinson, John Rooke, Steve Hyder, Kevin Winter and Amy Lawrence. They taught me more than you can ever know. Behind the scenes, "Sun Chips," Jim Louth, Tony Cornetta, John "Buddylove" Andrade, Brett Ferruccio, Jackie Dillard, Greg Desrocher, Ryan Riel, Ross Goodwin, Joe "6-pack" Mulvey, Chris "Fat Chris" Dusel, Mark Cannizzaro, Mark Fortney, Bob McDonald, Tracy Mills, Brian Deignan, Scott Cook, Greg Anderson, Jeff Durand, Dave Gardiner, Mike Campagna and so many others made sure that everything was exactly where it needed to be on any given night.

Promotionally, it was Jeff McBride, Jodi Johnson, Chris Gardiner , Patrick McCue, Jason "Slappy" Martins, Kristen Chudy, Sarah Milewski, Traci Harris and Patrick Austin who kept us going.

And on the sales side, Randy Scott, Phillip Norton, Jesse Shibley, Mike Reiss, Joe Lembo, Deb Thomas, Paula Miller, Mark Brunero, Craig Burkhardt, Steve Perry, Jen Nemirow, Nicole Walker, Jim Berman, Chris Harkness, Chris Lobono, Nancy Rakovan, Brett Fish, Rochelle Richard and Lisa D'Angelo and countless others sealed the deal. Plus, how could we not thank Duffy Egan, Dave Farrar, Gabe Cerezo, Kevin Leamey and Bob Boisvert who kept us on the air.

But, in the end, it's you, the Score listener that we thank the most. Without you, the Score would've been off the air a long time ago. It's for Mikey in Warren and Joel in Worcester, Joe the Milkman and Anthony in Charlestown, Mike in the Car and Craig from Warwick, Nancy from North Providence and Jamie in Barrington, Monty in the truck and Danny in Quincy, Steve in Fall River and Lee in Bristol, Ronnie in the Car and Vinny in Coventry, Bagwell Steve and the Mad Emailer. Unfortunately, for all of our listeners, there is not another segment to take your call.

To all our friends we've made on the air and off, through email and out and about the state, you mean more than can know. So, no, this is not a good-bye, just a good-bye on the air. It's been a long, strange road to get to a day of silence.

Where to next, stay tuned!