I was surprised to see that there was no topic started on JRIB already. I have to admit that I am a fan. I get why he irritates people and why some people hate him with the fire of a thousand suns. But, I really enjoy his takes, some of which are hysterical. And he's actually funny, unlike several sports personalities out there who are corny or just not funny at all.

I don't consider myself part of "The Clones." Unfortunately (for me at least), the new JRIB starting Monday, February 14th will have more input from The Clones than I care for. I do hope the show does well at 4:30, and maybe even replaces ATH (I've started to sour on this show).

For those who want to check it out, here is ESPN's JRIB website

On the few occasions that he forgets to bring his ego and schtick into the studio, he can be a decent interviewer. Unfortunately, most of the time he comes across as an utter cretin (yes, I'm one of those who hate him with the fire of a thousand suns).

Personally, my favorite moment of his career was when he found himself confronted by a player whose toughness he questioned, only to collapse and cower like a frightened little bunny. If he's going to encourage "smack talk" and denigrate athletes for a lack of courage, maybe he should nut up and stand his ground. Of course, that makes him a perfect foil for sports talk radio, which is pretty much a wasteland littered with frustrated wanna-bes calling in for advice on who to pick for their fantasy teams.

the jim rome-"chris" everitt fight

How stupid is it that they changed the name from "Rome is Burning"...

It's a pretty weird P.R. move. I would assume Disney was behind it more so than ESPN. Because I'm sure the old name caused people to have the sudden urge to burn Rome. Instead, now I just picture Jim Rome burning like Joan of Arc. Just to put an analogy to it, compare the name change of rap label Murder, Inc. to The Inc. Yes, that P.R. move paid off handsomely. Because no one still associates gangster rap and violent innuendo anymore to The Inc.

As always, SportsPickle.com has a humorous take on this.

I used to hate the guy with the fire of a thousand suns, but he has definitely toned down the act. I probably only hate him now to the degree of, say, two or three hundred suns. Haven't heard "ehhhh-pic" from him in a while. I listen/watch every now and then to hear him get stuff out of players no one else seems to be able to, like when he got Merril Hoge to talk frankly about his awful post-concussion syndrome.

He generally saves that term until he has a great interview with someone interesting. He hasn't used it much (if at all) on JRIB because he's more into raving about himself and his interviews on the radio as opposed to on TV.

Probably because none of us realized that Rome Is Burning had disappeared from the airwaves.

How much Jungle gloss does Rome use on the television show (such as "geeked," "Chowd," or "Gangsta Hoopa")?

It's not as much on TV. I'd say expect 60-70% less Jungle catchphrases/cliches. However, this number could increase for the worse because of the new format they are going to with more input from The Clones. I'll be interested to see how it goes.

Well today's the day that ESPN unveils the new late-afternoon lineup of "1st & 10," JRIB, ATH and finally PTI. I can't stand to watch '1st & 10' although I like Woody Paige a lot. Really looking forward to seeing JRIB in the afternoon, it will be a heckuva lot more relevant than at midnight like it was before. DH listens to Romie almost every day and is psyched to see him as well. Should be fun!

So ... is this show worth watching?

I think it's better than the weekly show. I don't know if it's because the show is only a half hour but somehow he seems more bearable. Then again, this was only the first week.

I hate his smarminess with the actors he has on his show; his ignorance of hockey; and if I hear: "I hate reality TV! Everybody hates reality TV! And if you don't hate reality TV, you're not smart!" just one more time, I'm gonna shoot him. (Sports is reality TV, you dipwad).

However, he is right at times. Sometimes.

Rome tries to portray the stereotypical male American attitude at all times: Soccer sucks, women's sports sucks, etc. It can get tiresome very quickly, especially his soccer "takes." I get why he rags on leagues/sports that are supposed to be huge, but have little to no following (WNBA, MLS, NHL). But, we get the joke. No one cares.

Oddly, Rome likes hockey. He has several guys he loves to interview, such as Ray Ferraro and Jeremy Roenick. It's the league he can't stand. But, you're right zenner, he knows nothing about hockey.

Since you asked...I'll answer with an emphatic "NO". The guy is a horse's ass with a lame and tired schtick. Take all of the worst aspects of sports talk radio, and they're all rolled up into Jim Rome.

What happened to this show ? Was it already canceled ?

Halfpint Ingals, as far as I know, no.
March Madness takes over the ESPN family these days, and Jim took time off to be with his wife who just gave birth to their second son last week.

I just saw it on Tuesday. Good show.
He's the sort of horrible ass that makes good television.

I usually enjoy the forum segment, though I'm not quite sure why he has the guy from Blind Date on there sometimes.

Roger Lodge and Rome, for whatever reason, are good buddies. He is on his radio show fairly often and I believe he has filled in a few times when Rome is out. Also, Roger plays in the celebrity basketball league in L.A. and also follows sports very closely.

And another bad show is made worse by the guest hosting of Stephen A. Smith.

Could Stephen A(sshole). Smith stop drooling over Amanda Beard during their interview today? He used the phrase "sex symbol" at least three times in five minutes. Get a room!

Well, even a broken clock is correct twice a day.

Well he's more like a broken digital clock flashong 12:00 AM, right once a day.

How does someone as stupid as Denny Hocking get paid to deliver his opinions on this show? He was on with Jim Gray subbing for Rome, and when they started talking about Michelle Wie, Hocking went on about how she should not be allowed to qualify for the US Open because the majors should reserved for men. He wasn't talking about exemptions, but saying even if she beat the men to qualify, she shouldn't be allowed to compete.

Then he went on to say that it didn't look like Pujols had actually done anything that would have caused him to pull a muscle and that should lead to speculation (wink,wink, steroids) about what actually happened.

I was only watching this show to catch up on Wie, and I am quite sure I won't be watching it again.

What an ass!

Edited for clarity. Gimme Stitches, my point is not against the forum segment, it is against Denny Hocking, and a company that would pay anyone who is so unabashedly sexist. Jim Gray and the other guest (I don't remember his name, but he used to be on SportsCenter) were consistently trying to refute his arguments and he refused to concede, so we can't chalk it up to a slip of the tongue. Hocking does not believe that a woman who qualifies for the Open should be allowed to compete solely because she is a woman.

We are not to far removed from when people said the same thing about African Americans playing on the tour, why should it be acceptable for Hocking to say it about anyone who is able to qualify, including a 16 year old female? Just like racist views, sexist views are not a part of good sports talk, it's just sexist and racist.

As for the Pujols deal, that's just someone who is just trying to stir up shit. If you are going to make such a claim, then at least try and provide some evidence.

Yeah, whatever your point was. Not clear at all.

I enjoy the forum segment on JRIB. It's always good sports talk, in my opinion.

edit: xaxat, fair enough on the Denny Hocking thing. Truth be told, I'm so sick of the Michele Wie coverage that I probably tuned that part of the segment out a little bit, so I didn't pick up on the obvious sexism. I've got it TIVO'd still, so I'll go back and watch it. Because even though I said I was sick of the coverage, I in no way agree with the type of thinking that you said Hocking conveyed.

I'm just a little defensive when it comes to this show, because I truly believe it has turned into a pretty good half hour of sports talk.

Man, did anyone catch the opening segment yesterday? Absolutely brutal. I don't know who was to blame for that cringe-worthy sequence, but it was difficult to watch.

Yeah, I just did, on Tivo (yes, I actually Tivo this show...). Jebus. What was that?

I actually LOL'd at the Freeney segment, or at least what we thought was the Freeney segment. "...let's talk about...Joseph Addai...the running back situation...the Indianapolis Colts..." (10-second silence) All this while highlights of Grossman are shown. WTH?

Sounds like he really had to wing it, and if you've listened to/watched him long enough, you know ad-libbing is not his strong suit.

bttt for a sec...how about Stink Schlereth sitting in for Rome yesterday? Totally did not expect that as I don't believe he'd ever filled in there before. IMO he didn't do too badly.

He came strong with his "takes" (although not quite as rapid-fire and staccato as JR, but then, who is?) and was surprisingly well-rounded with some insightful comments about topics in various sports; I'd always pegged him as strictly a football guy. Handled the interview and forum segments well, too. Pretty good for a first-time fill-in.

I thought he did pretty well. And yeah, totally unexpected seeing him filling in for Rome. I always like him on NFL Live.

Mike Wise is always welcome in the forum segment. I need to start reading his columns more often.

ITA Stink did well. I guess he holds back a little on NFL Live, although he hasn't made it a secret that he doesn't like the Norv Turner hire. Nice to see that he's well-rounded too.

If he really did coach the national soccer team, I'd watch!

OK, I'll admit that I do like some of his "burns" even if he does try too hard... (Dude, just because you know what "making it rain" means does not make it OK to repeat it ten times a week--it just makes you look like an old guy trying to sound cool.)

Michael Smith is filling in all week! Now THAT is a great substitute

I don't care much for Rome ever since the "Chris Evert" incident with Jim Everett, but Jim Gray made him look 100 percent better with his "Final Burn" today re: the new book on the 1927 Yankees. Babe Ruth's appitites for everything were known while he was playing, though the womanizing was concealed. Roberr Creamer (sp) who wrote the definite Ruth biography and who knew Ruth personally, didn't conceal it. So why is this new book on the 1927 Yankees so offensive to Gray because Ruth has been dead for 58 years? I guess ambushing Pete Rose on one of the rare times he was allowed inside a major league stadium at the worst possible time for Rose to give a response is somehow more moral?

Adam Carolla was pretty awful yesterday as well.

I like Rome.

"Adam Carolla was pretty awful yesterday as well."

Yes, I'd like to see him try his interview technique on say, Charles Barkley!

Erik Kuselias got off quite the little rant on the May 23 show about Indianapolis being awarded the 2011 Super Bowl, because it's not fair (a) a cold city got it and (b) new York City deserved it because it'll be the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

It's too bad Indianapolis was actually awarded the 2012 game.

Catastrophic Fail.

I also don't think it was a good idea to have a guy that was in the forum all week suddenly host the show on friday.

EK did okay, but yeah, I wasn't really feeling his rant about Indy hosting a Super Bowl either(and that was before I knew he had the year wrong).

My biggest problem about his Super Bowl rant was that he was being disingenuous. He knows (I hope) that the primary driver in awarding the Super Bowl to a non-traditional city is generating leverage to get local authorities to pay for a new stadium. When there was talk about New Yorkers paying for a fancy new stadium on the west side, there was still talk about a Super Bowl in the city (2010). Once the Jets, Giants and the league had to pay for a new stadium, that talk disappeared. Lukas Oil Stadium is financed primarily with public money, hence they got the bid. There's really no need to be shocked or surprised about what happened.

You know, I gotta say, Bonnie Bernstein isn't half bad.

I was wondering who that was hosting this week. She has definitely changed in appearance from her CBS days, with longer, lighter hair.

Beats the hell out of Jim Gray.

...and Adam Carolla and Jason Stone and Jemele Hill, etc.

Indy got a Super Bowl because Lucas Oil is a domed/retractable roofed stadium. The proposed new Giants/jets stadium was going to be open air and there is no way in hell the NFL will ever hold a Super Bowl in an open air stadium in a northern (cold weather) city.

It will never happen.

I don't usually watch Jim Rome because it's always college sports heavy and I could give a shit, but I could not believe that jackass on yesterday who was crying about the Yankees agreeing with Little Stein's complaint about the lowly Dodgers making it and the Yanks not. EVERY year a good AL team doesn't make the playoffs. Just like every year a WC team in the NBA doesn't make it while 4 under 500 teams in the east do. Suddenly we need a rule change because the Yankees weren't good enough to beat a team with less than half their pay roll? I'm a Sox fan but power to the Rays for winning the division (you know they will). That guy even said that the Sox should play the Rays in a playoff as if they didn't deserve the playoff spot via wild card. What world are these people living in? Did they really want to get knocked out in the division series by LA again anyway?

Is is me, or does Terrence Moore go out of his way to be an asshole? It's not like JRIB is my fave show anyway, but whenever he's on, I just fast forward whenever he opens his hole. Seems like he argues for the sake of arguing...and to piss off whomever is unlucky enough to have to sit next to him that week.

Just saying...