NBA Rumors: Zydrunas Ilgauskas is Contemplating Retirement Following Season
October 8, 2009Replacing The Grinder, Eric Wedge: My List
October 8, 2009In response to Michael Reghi’s comments late yesterday afternoon, the much-discussed WKNR/850AM radio contributor Sabrina Parr took the set in order to defend the comments that have drawn the ire of many including local authorities. Similar to your evening news broadcast, the program waiting until one of the final segments for Parr’s response, but nonetheless.
“I’ve never met Michael Reghi, and would introduce myself if he was in the studio today. But clearly, he knows about me,” stated Parrr. “I looked up credibility. It describes the power that inspires belief. Yesterday, from my description and the listeners that tuned in leading to reports means I was pretty credible.”
“I was at the club. I cannot speak about practice, training camp. I hear about things they do, but do not speak about them. I do not argue points of those who are there. How can I be questioned about things I saw when I was there,” she questioned. “A real man would not have contacted other employees and co-workers.”
Parr used a lot of tone as if she was speaking this directly to Reghi, feeling that Reghi’s words were a personal attack on her. The fact that she had to look up the words “credible” and “monger” (in reference to Reghi’s claim of Parr being a “gossip monger”) can be debated as a point of interest for a member of the media. Josh Sabo mentioned that he felt Reghi’s issues were with the private conversations with Edwards.
“When you say stuff, you are going to be accountable,” said Tony Rizzo despite Parr not appearing to want to hear more criticism. “You cannot have it both ways if you want to be in the media in this day in age.”
Rizzo took the high road throughout his broadcast. He considers Reghi a close friend, and in no way is this issue a “Big Show versus Reghi” matter – a path which many in the comments yesterday decided to take. Rizzo repetedly mentioned that he stands by all of his coworkers, not just those on his very radio show.
Rizzo claims that Parr knew exactly what she was getting herself into with her comments yesterday afternoon and that he supports her decision to discuss the material. I assume that her retort – which was only fair given what happened later in the day – will be the end of this matter.
—
(image courtesy of Cleveland.com)
50 Comments
wow she does not come out looking good from this.
you had to look up “credibility?”
I listened to that, I too was struck by the fact that she didn’t know what “credibility” and “monger” mean. My God, how can you be in the communications business if you’re . . . well, never mind.
This is going to be somewhat tangental, but bear with me:
Here’s my problem with things like this: so many people (and I will refrain from naming a bunch of names, lest this devolves into some kind of debate not intended for this forum) want to have the respect of being considered a “journalist” without also accepting the responsiblity that goes along with *actually* being a real “journalist”.
There was discussion in the thread from yesterday about this notion of the “ivory tower institution” of journalism. In truth, I think it *should* be an ivory tower for some things: war correspondance, economic issues, political policy debates, etc.
What’s happened in our society is that we’ve created so many streams and outlets for information that there becomes an inherent need to fill all of that space. How many 24 hours news/sports/weather networks are there now? Because of that need to fill space, these networks have painted themselves into the corner of needing two things:
1) people with some kind of credentials to fill the space with information, and
2) a reason to get people to pick THEIR stream/source over all of the countless others out there.
Enter pundits (whether they be political, news, and sports), and enter attention-grabbing dreck.
And, to me, that’s what this is, on both sides. This woman obviously wants people to pay attention to her and to make herself feel relevent. I believe Trent Reznor wrote a song about it called “Starf**kers, Inc.”
Rizzo and Hammer want people to listen to their show. That helps them, and in turn also makes them feel more relevent.
Reghi wants that same attention, and may be jealous that he’s not getting it. So, to get people to pay attention to him and make himself more locally relevent, he inserts himself into the story.
And, to me, that’s the problem with, as that one self-righteous d-hole yesterday put it, the “uneducation” of this country. So many people get their “news” from what amounts to partisan talking heads (on all sides of the political/sports/information spectrums… not singling anyone or any network out here), and don’t have: a) access to unbiased information meant to inform as opposed to get ratings, and b) the critical thinking skills to gather the information themselves and discern what’s accurate versus what’s being sensationalized.
And this situation is no different. This boils down to Larry King talking to Sabrina in one via-satellite box and Reghi in another on a split screen. He said, she said. No real valuable and verifiable information coming from either talking head. And sadly, that’s what now passes for “informed debate” in this country.
(climbs off soap box)
…
(briefly climbs back onto soap box)
And, while I have never honestly read The Fountainhead and had heard the name Howard Rourke but didn’t know who it was, I hope that the above shows that I consider myself educated. And I grew up in NE Ohio! Shocking!
(climbs back off soap box)
NOW I’M DONE.
im pretty sure she didnt look up those words because she didnt know what they meant. i think she meant she looked them up just to provide a literal definition.
i didnt listen to what she said though so maybe she didnt know what they meant? but i doubt it.
This all sounds like a ratings booster to me. Maybe Reghi did really have a problem with what she said, but you don’t go on the air and air that out without even talking to the person. So everyone tuned in today to hear Sabrina’s response, then they’ll tune into tonight to hear Reghi and so it goes.
Personally, Reghi’s show is borderline unlistenable. I can stomach him as a play-by-play guy (kind of), but he’s an awful talk show host.
my sister is trying to do something with her life unlike alot of you people..Reghi is a coward of the worst kind attacking a female over the radio,a female he dosent know and has never met..to call her a pillow talker is sickning…what if i called your woman a pillow talker/money chaser?she has to be just that.. [WFNY Edit: Personal attacks will not be tolerated]..keep my sisters name out of your mouth if you want to beef with someone do it with a man punk!invite me to your show look me in my eyes and spew the venom you sent out over the air waves october 7th…better yet ill make sure to come to one of you low rated on the road shows so we can talk MAN TO MAN! thats my word
“NOW I’M DONE.”
/quinn’d
[WFNY Edit: Come on, Mark, I’m running out of funny ways to say that YOU CAN’T POST PERSONAL ATTACKS IN OUR COMMENTS.]
This whole story is stupid. Let’s talk about the Cavs.
<– Vehemently agrees with Mr. Cleaveland and Billegarm
@ Marcus Parr:
I agree with you Marcus. Reghi should act like a man and leave a threatening post on a website that he has probably never heard of and has never read (no offense WFNY staff). THAT’S HOW MY GRANDPA SETTLED DISPUTES!!
@Clown: I promise you he’s at least HEARD of WFNY before, if only because when I met him I told him about it. Now, I doubt he’s ever actually seen this site or read it, but he’s at least heard of it before.
Marcus I couldn’t disagree with you more. You are being a hypocrite. What Reghi did is exactly what your sister did. She went on a rant about somebody on the radio who doesn’t have the same forum as she does. You can’t be a journalist and be friends with who you cover. If you do then anything they do or tell you when you are hanging out with them is off limits to reporting. Sorry that is the way it goes. He is making that point. You may disagree but you are wrong and your sister has a lot to learn.
Clown – no offense taken. Though, I may have to point out that several members of the Cleveland media do peruse the site and have associations/acquaintences with contributing members of our staff. I’ll leave it at that.
Or…. What Rock said.
Really, can we just turn the comments off of this? There have to be a thousand other things going on right now that actually merit discussion. This really feels like a TMZ post.
1) Indians Manager ( potential ) nominees?
2) Quick profile on Stuckey?
3) Delonte update?
4) Browns Bills matchup?
5) Ohio State / Wisconsin?
and on and on.
Well, you guys snuck #1 in on me. Thank you kind sirs.
Didn’t mean to slight anyone…..my point is that lost in all of this is the pettiness that Reghi displayed and now (maybe) the girls’ brother is displaying. Reghi should have NEVER aired his problems over the radio. He had a problem and to took it management. Fine but that should be the end. To challenge somebody to a fight in a comments section is just as laughable. The East Coast/West Coast feud has got nothing on this!
Talk about self perpetuating news…sheesh
This is why I listen to music and not “news,” as much as humanly possible.
Then again maybe it’s because I can make up my own mind and I don’t need the likes of Riz or Reg to tell me what to think.
These people need to go back and take Journalism 101.
…at least tell Parr to go take a Conceptual English seminar. She, obviously, doesn’t understand basic language and communication by her analysis of the word credible. That, or she’s a Fox News style idiot who believe that ratings = factual truth. “HEY, IF MORE THAN A FEW THOUSAND PEOPLE HEAR ME SAY THIS THING, IT’LL BE TRUE REGARDLESS OF ITS FACTUAL INTEGRITY.”
[WFNY Edit: Guys… seriously.]
1) Indians Manager ( potential ) nominees? – Done
2) Quick profile on Stuckey? – Not a bad idea…
3) Delonte update? – Later today
4) Browns Bills matchup? – Friday’s BWWI
5) Ohio State / Wisconsin? – Hopefully tomorrow as well
marcus parr – point taken. however, there are much worse kinds of cowards than what you accuse reghi of doing/being. lets not go overboard here.
so let me get this stright its ok for Reghi to call her a pillow talker and say she gives women a bad name without ever meeting her thats classy and professional but the minute i call him unattractive and question why he has a much much younger woman who is in my opinion a pillow talker/money chaser thats a problem? me making thoes statements is same thing Reghi did attacking someones caracter/lifestyle without meeting them its ridiculous
and for the record i didnt challenge a 56 year old Reghi to a fight thats a joke i challenged him to talk man to man
The really big show can be entertaining, but this whole episode is not one of them. I listen WKNR to listen to sports, not to listen to grown people putting themselves out there as if they were 5 year olds. I think Rizzo made some good comments about his new-school show vs Reghi’s old-school show (meaning covering more ground than just sports). But Rizzo, this whole incident is just pathetic, lame and nearly embarassing. It nearly looks like as if this has been a setup (as in staged) because it’s so pathetic. But I don’t see Reghi doing stupid lame setups like this just to attract more listeners. Leave the drama for Rover’s morning glory please, talk about sports please
Unfortunately I didn’t get to listen to Sabrina’s reply thanks to college classes getting in the way.
I will say this, Reghi’s view doesn’t look nearly as good as it did yesterday. I caught the first 2 hours of the show and I could tell Rizz was taking subtle shots at Reghi and the “Call in show” format.
My thoughts were correct, Rizz and Hammer DID check and double check before letting her go on, knowing what the repercussions were. It wasn’t as completely irresponsible as Reghi would want you to believe.
billlegarm, it was not a ratings booster. I can promise you that. When Sabrina was talking about players taking plays off and dogging it in practice in August, Reghi was deeply concerned about where she was getting that from. I won’t go into specifics because I won’t air KNR’s dirty laundry (there isn’t much anyway). But I can assure you this was NOT a ratings grab on Reghi’s part.
Rizzo’s show is basically an outlet to let Rizz be himself and not the guy who’s on FOX 8 every night. It’s actually kind of funny to listen to his show then watch FOX 8 at night. It’s like two totally different people. And I can tell you right now, the Really Big Show is not an act. Neither is Reghi’s show or Roda’s show or even Papa Prune Juice (Brinda’s affectionate nickname).
Anyway, back to my point. The way I see it, this blog and the comments that follow are like a “call in show” and you don’t have to wait 40 minutes to get on the air, AND you can respond! What incentive do we have to call into Reghi’s show? a) You want to hear yourself on the air. b) He’s Michael Reghi and people still wish he called Cavs games. You have the incentive to call into Roda and Drennan as well because they’ve already made their reputations. A new guy isn’t likely to have that kind of pull.
You have an incentive to listen to The Really Big Show because it’s NOT a true call in show. Hell, the Really Big Show is the reason I got back into KNR after not listening after they lost the rights to the Tribe. And I could tell you right now that if I had my own show (already have a title: Live Rounds w/ Mike “Ammo” Notpublishinglastname), I’d have a format similar to The Really Big Show, but with my own spin so it’s not a rip-off.
Reghi is old school and has trouble adapting to “new media” (see: his rant about Twitter), BUT, he does have a point about new media when it comes to news that is truly important (see: politics and world news…in the big picture sports is trivial as much as I love it).
That being said, The Really Big Show and shows like it are the future of sports radio. There’s a reason they got the Rome gig. Rome gave a speech at Dinner With a Legend that he had to think of a format that separates him from the pack…the results speak for itself. The Really Big Show stands on its own at KNR and there’s a reason why it’s the flagship show.
I still defend parts of Reghi’s point and I still have the utmost respect for the man, but the more I think about it, the more I think he came off as a sourpuss yesterday. But then again, it could have been a stroke of brilliance on his part to create buzz for his show.
Marcus, the problem is the unprofessionalism. I am not talking about the other insults. Sabrina did something that was wrong, that is what I am saying. Again she is young and people make mistakes but I think she needs to realize that it was wrong and then she can move on and learn from it.
LOL @ Marcus. Yeah, you’re sister is so professional, that she goes on the airwaves talking about having [a prior relationship] with Brandon Mcdonald, Donte’ Stallworth, Aytah Rubin, etc.
BTW, MarcusParr:
I never met that Hitler guy but I’ve heard that he’s kind of a jerk. Can I talk about him though??
“…he has a much much younger woman who is in my opinion a PILLOW TALKER”
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
/princess brided
yes she was wrong for talking about a privite conversation thats all…but for a man that has been in the media for 20 plus years to feed into that come on his show and say she is a embarrassment to all women is a joke its ridiculous and there is no way thoes comments can be justified
“so let me get this stright its ok for Reghi to call her a pillow talker and say she gives women a bad name without ever meeting her thats classy and professional but the minute i call him unattractive and question why he has a much much younger woman who is in my opinion a pillow talker/money chaser thats a problem? ”
Mr Reghi did not use WFNY’s medium do voice his displeasure. You did. I think that may be where the issues are – not in what was said.
CRIPPLE FIGHT!!!
“yes she was wrong for talking about a privite conversation thats all…but for a man that has been in the media for 20 plus years to feed into that come on his show and say she is a embarrassment to all women is a joke its ridiculous and there is no way thoes comments can be justified”
Atleast you can acknowledge that. I agree that some of his comments were unjustified and in bad taste.
Someone up there said Reghi probably never heard of this site before, but I would just like to point out how I found it one day. It was referenced in a Terry Pluto article as a site that he commonly reads. Just sayin…
Keep up the good work WFNY.
O, and this whole Reghi, Parr thing is kinda stupid to begin with. get over yourselves. Reghi should’ve just talked about the trade, or get callers to talk about the trade or something yesterday… o well.
[WFNY Edit: Sorry, Dave, but there’s no place for this on this blog. You stay classy.]
Ammo…why not just post your resume up here. Or better yet, KNR is in the Galleria…go apply.
I am so tired of bimbos on the air already. We have had the endless amounts of bimbos with Triv in the afternoon and now Rizzo has the bimbo brigade on his show. Have some women on the show that can talk about more than how many men they sleep with.
I think y’allz need to get over the idea that she’s got every right to do as she wishes in her personal life and quit alluding to her as the town bicicleta. What she wants to do with her life is irrelevant to the story and bringing it up and making personal attacks is 1) childish and 2) irrelevant.
Why did my comment get edited?!?!
You referred to her as the town bicicleta, which she seems very proud of since she repeatedly comments on her “prior relationships” with athletes. This is in stark contrast to Marcus calling her a “classy woman” who has “lofty career goals.”
It needs to be said what she truly is….
@Ben – “Timmay!”
Wow, all this action for a couple of nobodies. She didn’t give up national security secrets. Give the hussy a break.
I don’t care about her personal life. I don’t care that she sleeps around with Browns players either. Just keep your personal life to yourself is all I am asking. The Rizzo show needs to find women on their show that can talk sports and not how many athletes they can get into bed.
I didn’t call her that. I said you all need to stop referring to her as such. Subtle but pronounced difference, ace.
Gimme a break, Denny. You’re loving the extra comments and page views that this is drawing. Don’t try and get classy on us now.
Hah – I’ve had pretty much zero opinion on all of this and don’t really care about the “extra comments and page views”. I’ve been quiet and classy this whole time. You, on the other hand…
WKNR would be much better from 9am-Noon if just Tony Rizzo and Jeff Thomas did the show. Keep Goldhammer, Sabo, Chloe and Sabrina off the air. It turns the show into a elementary school classroom.
For the sake of this young woman, I hope this think does not go to criminal trial (although you would think they would not waste the taxpayers dollars on something this small)…..the defense lawyer would have a field day on this girl…..if she is willing to let out so much personal info on the air without any prompting, imagine how dicey it would get with a high-priced defense lawyer grilling her.
sometimes you just gotta learn when to shut your mouth.
rizz needs to stick to sports and stop having all these immature children contributing so much to the show…..it gets annoying real quick.
For the record, I (not anyone else on the site) am closing the comments for this thread.
1. I’m tired of having to read them. They’re pointless.
2. I have a real job and don’t have the time trying to decide where on the sliding scale of what this site considers “appropriate” most of them are.
3. Dave, I edited your one comment because the entire thing read as a blatant insult at someone, directly. Read the “Before You Post” link before you complain. This isn’t something new, nor was yours the only comment I myself edited.
4. There’s never going to be resolution of this particular debate. It’s one thing to debate the merits of the actual idea of this from a journalistic point of view, but if all you want to do is lob shots at someone’s personal life and then say, “that’s wrong!” “no, it’s not!” “yes, it is!” then this is not the site for you.
Cheerio.
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stop it tough guy. you’ll be locked up like she’s been. you’re only affirming how terrible you and your sister are with words by making threats. you won’t do anything so cut it out, all caps.