Newstalk's Off the ball show

heybaby · 06-11-2008 04:06AM #1

Just wondering what everyone thinks about Newstalks Off the Ball programme? I'm not a huge fan of newstalk generally, but as sports programming goes Off the ball has got to be the best on Irish radio. All of the lads that put the show together seem to have a passion and depth of knowledge for their subject matter be it soccer, gaa, rugby, sports stateside or whatever and they are supported by contributors from Gilesy to gerry thornley amongst others. The line of questioning is always intelligent and informative. Any thoughts?

mayordenis · 06-11-2008 04:24AM

I am pretty much a huge fan of newstalk so maybe i'm slightly biased but I think it's the best show of any kind on irish radio.

Could go on and on but i'm too lazy, great show.

Xavi6 · 06-11-2008 05:57AM

Ken Early is the most pretentious wanker on Irish radio and knows a lot less about football than he thinks. The News Talk website describes him as a 'shock jock' so basically he's a Dunphy wannabe.

Other than him it's a fantastic show.

keane2097 · 06-11-2008 05:59AM

I always enjoy it tbh...

The Muppet · 06-11-2008 09:12AM

I agree with the op, I enjoy the show.

FlutterinBantam · 06-11-2008 09:28AM

Small doses lads small doses, couldn't put up with the bad pronunciation,grammar ,diction,accents for too long,wear a body out so it would. There are just so many times I can listen to guy saying "Foohhball" iso "football" before I get the urge to cant the tranny into the next 'burb.

Agree with previous poster about Ken Early, shock jock!!! my nut brown...

Only thing that guy would shock with his delivery and speaking voice is a three legged dormouse who strayed on to the control panel.

Has potential for the time of evening though

Ham'nd'egger · 06-11-2008 11:57AM

FlutterinBantam wrote: »

Small doses lads small doses, couldn't put up with the bad pronunciation,grammar ,diction,accents for too long,wear a body out so it would. There are just so many times I can listen to guy saying "Foohhball" iso "football" before I get the urge to cant the tranny into the next 'burb.

Agree with previous poster about Ken Early, shock jock!!! my nut brown...

Only thing that guy would shock with his delivery and speaking voice is a three legged dormouse who strayed on to the control panel.

Has potential for the time of evening though

More along my thinking is Mister Bantam. There is a lot of sloppy work on the show; cut it down by an hour a night and it will sound a hell of a lot tighter though some of the bad diction may just be a change of pace from the normal talk cycle.

keane2097 · 06-11-2008 01:38PM

FlutterinBantam wrote: »

There are just so many times I can listen to guy saying "Foohhball" iso "football" before I get the urge to cant the tranny into the next 'burb.

This sentence made my brain bleed!

Can you rephrase or explain or something..!?:)

spank_inferno · 06-11-2008 02:45PM

far from a perfect show but If i'm out on the road in the evening its the only option I go for.

I dislike the "off the ball - Extra" on a friday. Is it just a repeat show?

themont85 · 06-11-2008 03:03PM

spank_inferno wrote: »

far from a perfect show but If i'm out on the road in the evening its the only option I go for.

I dislike the "off the ball - Extra" on a friday. Is it just a repeat show?

Nah its on for 2 hours live down from the original 3 it was a few months ago when it was plain old OTB. How it can be described as 'Extra' is beyond me.

Profiler · 06-11-2008 10:25PM

Xavi6 wrote: »

Ken Early is the most pretentious wanker on Irish radio and knows a lot less about football than he thinks. The News Talk website describes him as a 'shock jock' so basically he's a Dunphy wannabe.

Other than him it's a fantastic show.

Ken...Ken... Ken... first up, get a hairciut, you look like a bag of ripped out knitting.

Now I'm not sure if Ken's problem is a result of Newstalk's push to be the Sun newspaper of the Radio world (appeal to the lowest common denominator and you will normally just get by) or if it is just a flaw in him.

However he falls into the trap of the bog standard tabloid hack in that he dresses up poorly thought out ideas as "fact"

Moreover the show in general tends to stray far too often into the "drama queen" approach. Lets be controversial, because that gets people annoyed and some get annoyed enough to text in (for 30 cent) as a retort.

The thing is, I think the show it's self could be great, and that is becuase they have some top quality regular contributors and sometimes the odd fantastic guest.

However I fear that the producers of OTB are not good enough and the owners of Newstalk themselves have chosen a path that requires truth in what is reported as a happy coincidence rather than a deliberate intetion.

Dub13 · 06-11-2008 10:27PM

Yea its a good show,I cant stand it in the GAA season but other than that its great.Its a shame they cut it back to 4 days a week.

humberklog · 06-11-2008 10:39PM

Love it. Bold programming proved effective by assembling a quality team.
I don't like all the sports covered, I don't always like every host and I don't always agree with the sentiments of the hosts or guests. That's a good sign.
I like the mixing of regional/social accents and I think the errors in grammar and pronunciation only add to the distinction of flavour of this show from any other show.

Funny, entertaining, irreverent and informative to boot.

P.S A radio presenters hairdo wouldn't annoy me.

Stylo · 07-11-2008 11:28AM

Like a lot of other radio shows, it's got a lot of good things going for it ..... and a few bad things too - but if the producers are reading this CAN YOU PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE CHANGE THE SIG TUNE - we've had it now for about 2-3 years and it's tired - in fact I'M tired of listening to it. It's past its sell by date and it's simply lazy not to change it

Make the prog as good as it can be and give us a new sig - PLEASE

S

landmonster · 07-11-2008 02:08PM

Xavi6 wrote: »

Ken Early is the most pretentious wanker on Irish radio and knows a lot less about football than he thinks. The News Talk website describes him as a 'shock jock' so basically he's a Dunphy wannabe.

Other than him it's a fantastic show.

I couldn't possibly agree with this more. If he was even 10% as funny as he thinks he is he'd be the funniest man on earth. What a ****.

The Muppet · 07-11-2008 11:22PM

landmonster wrote: »

I couldn't possibly agree with this more. If he was even 10% as funny as he thinks he is he'd be the funniest man on earth. What a ****.

Do you know him personally ?

_blank_ · 09-11-2008 02:50PM

Love the show.

I like Ken too, I like his deadpan delivery.

deadhead13 · 09-11-2008 05:58PM

Whether Mcdevitt likes it or not, ken is the real star of "Off the Ball". Football players and managers pronouncements are overhyped banal drival which Ken treats with the contempt they deserve. For me , the "ken Early football show" is unmissable and should be reinstated to its friday night slot.

connundrum · 10-11-2008 03:03PM

deadhead13 wrote: »

Whether Mcdevitt likes it or not, ken is the real star of "Off the Ball". Football players and managers pronouncements are overhyped banal drival which Ken treats with the contempt they deserve. For me , the "ken Early football show" is unmissable and should be reinstated to its friday night slot.

Is that you, Ken?

For what its worth, I've been listening to OTB for 2 years now and find it really good. When it first started, I wondered how they would fill 15 hours a week with relevant sports news - but fair play, they did and it never really gets boring.

I've only really started to take an interest in the horse racing and boxing since I started listening in. Don with the tips and B-Hop with the quotes.. priceless :pac:

Xavi6 · 10-11-2008 03:05PM

deadhead13 wrote: »

Whether Mcdevitt likes it or not, ken is the real star of "Off the Ball". Football players and managers pronouncements are overhyped banal drival which Ken treats with the contempt they deserve. For me , the "ken Early football show" is unmissable and should be reinstated to its friday night slot.

Lol welcome to boards Ken. You're a cock.

aassddff · 10-11-2008 03:09PM

Ken can you put up a photo somewhere? your a living legend, give FM 104 a shout and ask us for a job

FlutterinBantam · 10-11-2008 06:44PM

Ken Early !! the only man in Ireland who makes Dessie Farrell sound animated!!!

I'd pay good money to hear a conversation between those too, I reckon I would be in a fcuker coma in 15 mins.

Deadpan!!!

Dead!!

landmonster · 10-11-2008 07:53PM

The Muppet wrote: »

Do you know him personally ?

What has that got to do with anything?

Xavi6 wrote:

Lol welcome to boards Ken. You're a cock.

haha

deadhead13 · 10-11-2008 08:45PM

connundrum wrote: »

Is that you, Ken?

No.

rochie16 · 12-11-2008 04:53PM

Xavi6 wrote: »

Ken Early is the most pretentious wanker on Irish radio and knows a lot less about football than he thinks. The News Talk website describes him as a 'shock jock' so basically he's a Dunphy wannabe.

Other than him it's a fantastic show.

Why do some people translate "intelligent" into "pretentious". I personally think that Ken is the best radio personality in the country.

humberklog · 12-11-2008 06:29PM

Deadhead and Rochie sat under a bush.
Said Deadhead to Rochie I love you so much.
There's no one like Ken in the sporting arena.
Oh what a joy we meet in our mild schizophrenia.

(Ps I'm aware that split personality and schozophrenia are different but it didn't rhyme as well).

Quint · 13-11-2008 12:08AM

The show is the best thing on irish radio BY A MILE! I used to listen every night, can't now, but still manage to hear a good bit. Funniest show too! Eoin McDevett is a great presenter, way better than Gilroy. I'm not even a GAA fan, but I'd happily listen to their gaa coverage, they make it interesting, and funny. Murphs Country Pages is clearly the best 10 minutes of radio in europe.
I can understand people not liking ken. He must read football 365's mediawatch every day, cos most of his information is from there. But he works well with the show, and he does great interviews with players.

Xavi6 · 13-11-2008 07:04AM

rochie16 wrote: »

Why do some people translate "intelligent" into "pretentious". I personally think that Ken is the best radio personality in the country.

Intelligent? Don't make me laugh. For example, I remember one incident off the top of my head when the man said that there were two Davis' playing for Spurs when in fact it was Sean Davis and Simon Davies. If he's gonna be such a cocky prick then he should at least be right.

raven136 · 13-11-2008 01:37PM

was there anything like this on radio here before?No

are we sports fans better off with it?Yes

why do we always have to be bitching about things like this,sports fans of all types are well served by this show every week day and im delighted its on.Nfl,rugby,soccer,gaa and boxing all covered in depth and by very good outside pundits.

And before anyone says,is that you ken/eoin/murph or whoever in that really unfunny way people on this forum do,im not,i just enjoy it

Xavi6 · 13-11-2008 01:48PM

raven136 wrote: »

was there anything like this on radio here before?No

are we sports fans better off with it?Yes

why do we always have to be bitching about things like this,sports fans of all types are well served by this show every week day and im delighted its on.Nfl,rugby,soccer,gaa and boxing all covered in depth and by very good outside pundits.

And before anyone says,is that you ken/eoin/murph or whoever in that really unfunny way people on this forum do,im not,i just enjoy it

Did anyone here say they don't actually like the show? I've not seen that anyway.

Get rid of Early and the show would be perfect.

Ol' Donie · 13-11-2008 01:56PM

Best Radio Show I know. By miles. Best sports show, on any medium.

What the hell is all the negativity towards Ken?

McDevitt is a quality presenter. Star of the show if you ask me.

The only thing i'm unhappy about is Off The Ball Extra on Friday. Bring the football show back, please.

Newstalk's Off the ball show

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