Tim and Sid: Cut - On Fan 590

So after an extended hiatus, Tim and Sid are back on the air. It is certainly good to have them back on the podcast rotation, but there have been some considerable changes. A lot of the "window dressing" is still there. The Famous theme song, the rapid fire intro/segment, unfortunately though, a lot of the stuff that isn't window dressing, .i.e. the stuff that actually matters, just isn't the same.

Now I understand that regular radio is different from satellite radio; very different. But the problem here is that what made Tim and Sid so successful (on sat radio & podcast), and what helped them develop their following, has been drastically altered to make them better fit into a prototypical, Toronto sports radio program.

I listened to Tim and Sid (a podcast, that I would have had to seek out), because I was sick to death of listening to puckheads on the radio fill time by droning on and on about the Leafs' pathetic penalty kill, or the problem of concussions in hockey. I heard Tim ask the question "so what do we do about concussions" about three times last week, which is three times more than I ever wanted to hear it. There are other people, hosting other shows, whose job it is to ask that question every fucking day (as if somebody is ever going to actually have "the answer" anyways), I never listened to Tim and Sid in the first place to hear this topic lamented for 20-30 minutes a day. I am sure Millard and Kypreos are nice guys, but I don't listen to Hockeycentral for a reason; because, living in Toronto, and watching every Leaf game, I get my fill of hockey talk through any number of avenues; I don't need to seek it out on radio.

I am definitely not surprised to see these changes, but I am disappointed. Tim and Sid: Uncut was such a successful podcast because they didn't do what every other program was doing. They were the alternative to the incessant white noise of TSN and Sportsnet, and unfortunately, they have now been taken in by that white noise. I understand it is just business, and I certainly don't begrudge Tim and Sid for "getting theirs", and making the jump to Sportsnet, but I am not convinced this strategy is going to work, long term.

The people who want to hear interviews with Dion Phanuef and Luke Schenn, the people who want to hear special teams and concussion talk every single day, they think it is serious business, and they won't appreciate Tim and (especially) Sid's irreverent approach to the topic. The people who don't want to hear interviews with hockey players and who don't want to hear about concussions all day, that is Tim and Sid's wheelhouse, and they will be turned off by the, as Bob McCown would put it "hockey hockey hockey hockey" talk.

The best segments of last week were when they brought in the writers (people with eloquence and forethought like Brunt and Grange), and the absolute worst, were the ones where they brought on Sportsnet's "Hockey Experts" to ask them the same tired questions they just finished asking each other during the previous hour of radio. Maybe next week, with Bobcat on vacation, they can poach some of his better guests. I think Darren Rovell would be a perfect guest for Tim and Sid. The three of them talking hot-dog eating competition could be comedy gold.

It is good for Tim and Sid that they made the jump, and I hope they succeed. But as an original "Tim and Sid-izen", I really hope their show evolves, back in to the irreverent, light-hearted and fun program that it used to be.


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