Ranking the Top 100 Sports Radio Shows

Talkers Magazine has once again ranked the Top 100 sports radio shows in the country, and New York’s unintentionally hilarious blowhard, Mike Francesa, remains No. 1.

I don’t pretend to listen to nearly enough radio shows across the country to rank them all, but I can say this with some certainty: Mike Francesa is one of the few radio hosts who can drive internet traffic. For a variety of reasons, that tiny group includes (with their ranking on the list in parentheses) Jim Rome (3), Dan Patrick (4), Colin Cowherd (22) and Dan LeBatard (14). Is it a case of those guys knowing the right buttons to push for maximum pickup, or are they just some of the most visible hosts in radio? Or perhaps they have a strong producing team that knows good radio when it happens, and knows what websites to send it to for maximum coverage?

Here’s last year’s list. And here are a few names from this year’s list, with some thoughts (since photos were added, I’ll let you chime in on the whiteness of the medium):

1-10: Guess how many in the Top 10 are in the I-95 corridor (Washington, Philly, NY, Boston)? Seven. Two in Detroit. And then Rome.

14. Mike Missanelli – An absolute injustice. I listen to about seven minutes daily – when Francesa, Rush or NPR are on commercial – and my ears really do bleed.
29. Chris Russo – On no planet is Mad Dog better radio than …
31. Tony Kornheiser – Wish I listened to his show more.
42. Paul Finebaum – He’s a huge deal in college football and in the South, which makes this ranking seem low.
56. Steve Somers – Kitschy and friends with Jerry Seinfeld, the latter which probably explains this ranking.
57. Stephen A. Smith & Ryan Ruocco – They go head-to-head with Francesa.
77. LaVar Arrington & Chad Dukes – Said it last year, will say it again: Criminally underrated. And not just because I’m on there sometimes.
93. Jorge Sedano & Mark Schlereth. Such a new pairing … how can they possible crack the list?