"Sports Talk with Craig and John" cancelled

[jackrabit1]

Today is the last broadcast of "Sports Talk with Craig and John" on KWSN. Layoffs at Midwest Broadcasting due to the COVID shutdown led to the decision.

Frankly, I think it's a huge mistake. Despite what you may think of Craig and/or John, they are true professionals. They have a passion not only for Sioux Falls sports, but for sports across South Dakota (including SDSU).

I hope this cancellation is temporary at best. Talking about sports daily on the radio is easy to do... but very difficult to do well.

https://kwsn.com/news/articles/2020/...r-now/1016117/

[filbert]

I guess the field is clear for Jeff Thurn on ESPN 99.1 then.

[goon]

I guess the field is clear for Jeff Thurn on ESPN 99.1 then.

Cant say I am a fan of his. Some times he has some local stuff that's good.

[BTownJack]

Today is the last broadcast of "Sports Talk with Craig and John" on KWSN. Layoffs at Midwest Broadcasting due to the COVID shutdown led to the decision.

Frankly, I think it's a huge mistake. Despite what you may think of Craig and/or John, they are true professionals. They have a passion not only for Sioux Falls sports, but for sports across South Dakota (including SDSU).

I hope this cancellation is temporary at best. Talking about sports daily on the radio is easy to do... but very difficult to do well.

https://kwsn.com/news/articles/2020/...r-now/1016117/

Put me in the camp of doing cart wheels these guys got cancelled. They were f'ing terrible and I simply could not stand their show. Not one bit surprised they got cancelled.

[Nidaros]

This Virus thing has made some changes that were unthinkable six months ago. I think Craig and John served a purpose. They seem to make Jackrabbit Nation more united and as a SD native, I have always had this SF resentment. The dislike of big cities and the love of Brookville and some place special. Lucky for us going back to the Dakota Territory days SF wanted the state prison and not the cow college.

[MontanaRabbit]

Hard for me to root for someone losing their jobs, but generally if a show was profitable before this pandemic they would have done all they could to carry them through this. It's possible this pandemic was just a good excuse to pull the plug.

If the show doesn't come back after the pandemic we will know the answer.

[jackrabit1]

Having worked at several South Dakota radio stations over 15 years, I had many opportunities to cross paths with Craig and John, whether it was appearing on their show to break down local games (in the Madison or Mitchell areas), taking feeds (or giving feeds) for basketball games when either station had a problem with their equipment, or simply saying hi at the State Football championships. Every time I crossed paths with Craig and John, they were always professional, accommodating, and just plain good guys.

I know some of us in Jackrabbit nation are not big fans and think they're terrible because they didn't carry SDSU's water all the time. That's fair. Frankly, I'm not impressed with "homer" announcers. I prefer radio sports people to "call it as they see it." And if that ruffles a few feathers, so be it.

From talking with Craig and John, the decision to cancel the show was not something that was a snap decision. Essentially, Midwest Communications (KWSN's parent company) ordered each market to reduce staff in order to cut costs and maintain fiscal stability. One of our SDSU football alums was also laid off as a result of this, Dom Claire, who had been handling the digital marketing in Sioux Falls. Unfortunately, the axe also fell on Craig and John, especially with most sports being shut down (unless you are a fan of Korean baseball).

Personally, I don't agree with the decision to cancel the show. Despite how you might feel in their approach to SDSU sports, both guys focused on LOCAL sports. That includes most of the area colleges (including SDSU), high school sports, Skyforce, Storm, Stampede, and Canaries, heck, even amateur baseball! KSOO-FM seems to concentrate more on giving a local spin on national sports, which is fine. But I don't think they have the focus on local sports that KWSN had. And now that is gone for the most part (though Mike Henriksen and Mark Ovenden do a fantastic job with "Calling All Sports").

Could they come back? I really hope so. But I'm jaded enough (especially when it comes to corporate radio) that I think they won't be back. After all, they can get satellite programs from Fox Sports that are more cost-effective. I'm not too worried about Craig and John. I'm sure if Craig doesn't find work at another station, he'll probably move into the business sector as a PR specialist. As for John, I don't think he'll move to a larger market (his husband and family live in Lennox), but I could see him possibly going to MidcoSN or doing something with SDPB once everything gets back to normal. Of course, this is just me spitballing.

With this and all the layoffs in radio that I've seen over the past few years, one thing is for certain... I made the right decision to get out of radio and back into teaching.

[JimmieTuba]

I am going to reference a post from the Auggie to the Summit discussion: http://sdsufans.com/board/forum/beyo...678#post508678

I think it was John that had the 'fact' that a band member lost a scholarship due to football cost increases. Saying things like that on air is one reason why I am unmoved to hear they got cancelled.

[OldHare]

This may trickle into the Argus situation as well. The sports page has often condensed to 2 pages. Brian H and Matt Z have been scrambling to manufacture stories so the Gannon/USA and AP are not the only sources. The virus could infect a large part of the local and national sourcing. I am not planning to make NFL draft day and Michael Jordan biography my TV preferences either.

[Jacks-02]

I am going to reference a post from the Auggie to the Summit discussion: http://sdsufans.com/board/forum/beyo...678#post508678

I think it was John that had the 'fact' that a band member lost a scholarship due to football cost increases. Saying things like that on air is one reason why I am unmoved to hear they got cancelled.

I'm willing to give a guy a break or two on some bad opinions. Pretty sure if I had to come up with news stories to fill three hours a day of a show that ran five days a week for multiple years, I'd have a bad take or two during that time as well.

Overall, I think they put on a good show, and I always enjoyed tuning in for interviews from local sports teams. No, they weren't Jackrabbit homers, and no I didn't always agree with them, but IMHO the Sioux Fall's sports market is far worse off with their show cancelled.

[BTownJack]

I am going to reference a post from the Auggie to the Summit discussion: http://sdsufans.com/board/forum/beyo...678#post508678

I think it was John that had the 'fact' that a band member lost a scholarship due to football cost increases. Saying things like that on air is one reason why I am unmoved to hear they got cancelled.

There is this story and MANY other instances like this over the years that just made you shake your head. The collective, ACCURATE knowledge of all sports fans in SD will increase without these two spewing out random crap like the one referenced above.

They were on Twitter begging people to email their superiors to get the decision reversed. I took their advice to email, but it was to pat those making the decision on that back for making the correct decision.

[JimmieTuba]

I'm willing to give a guy a break or two on some bad opinions. Pretty sure if I had to come up with news stories to fill three hours a day of a show that ran five days a week for multiple years, I'd have a bad take or two during that time as well.

Except he stated it was a fact. That is where it falls apart.