Moving Up The Dial

After months of speculation, word broke yesterday that the White Sox will be leaving their radio home since 2006, WSCR The Score, at the end of this season and will be moving up the dial to WLS.  The former Big 89, which beat out WGN along with The Score, are expected to sign a 6 year deal with the White Sox later this week.

No word yet on whether the current broadcast team of Ed Farmer and Darrin Jackson will make the move.  Farmer followed the club from ESPN 1000 to The Score following the 2005 season, but will be 66 by opening day 2016.  Jackson, who turns 52 in August, is the young pup of the White Sox broadcast team.

Now that the first domino has fallen in the Chicago radio rights game, expect the next to come rather quickly.  CBS Radio, knowing that the Sox contact was due to expire, set up a clause in their Cubs deal that allows them to move those broadcasts to The Score from WBBM.  Given the poor fit that Cubs baseball has been on the all news station, I expect them to do so sooner rather than later.

Radio Musical Chairs

Last summer, the Cubs left their longtime radio home of WGN, signing a 7 year deal with CBS radio to move their games to WBBM starting this year.  Coincidentally, the White Sox radio deal expires after this season, and reports surfaced today that they are exploring options with 3 different radio stations: WGN, WLS, and their current home, The Score.

If the White Sox end up leaving the Score, their radio home since 2006, that might kick off another upheaval for the Cubs.  CBS Radio, owners of both WBBM and The Score, have the right to move the Cubs off of WBBM, their all news station and really a bad fit for baseball, to The Score should the White Sox leave.

So no matter what happens later this summer, there will be baseball on The Score next year.  Soon we shall learn where else.

 

iTunes Top 100: #1 – 10

itunes_imageMy latest desktop computer arrived in late 2007, at which point I transitioned all of my music off of my laptop. 2 iPods, 2 iPhones, and an iPad later, that computer is still my main repository of music, with iTunes updating its stats every time I listen to something.

Having already gone through cassette tapes and CDs, it is now time to look at digital music with the Top 100 songs that I’ve listened to as of 6/2/2013, according to iTunes. Today we look at the top 10 songs, all of which are featured on my White Sox playlist that gets used driving home from victories.

#1: Klaus Badelt – He’s a Pirate

Was used as the background music for the White Sox pregame intro video until this season.

iTunes stats: 127 plays, most recently on 5/26/2013

#2: Gordon Beckham Intro

The Outfield’s hit “Your Love” featuring Gene Honda introducing the then rookie third baseman.

iTunes stats: 115 plays, most recently on 5/26/2013

#3: Captain Stubby & the Buccaneers – Let’s Go-Go-Go White Sox

Dating from 1959, the song was resurrected during the 2005 season for an inter-league matchup against the Dodgers, the White Sox opponent in the 1959 World Series.

iTunes stats: 114 plays, most recently on 5/26/2013

#4: AC/DC – Thunderstruck

The song has been used as the White Sox take the field since 2004.

iTunes stats: 110 plays, most recently on 5/26/2013

#5: Steam – Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye

The number one hit from 1969 enjoyed a second life when White Sox organist Nancy Faust started playing it as a taunt whenever the White Sox would hit a home run or chase the opposing team’s pitcher in 1977.

iTunes stats: 107 plays, most recently on 5/26/2013

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