Sequel to 2008's award-winning
"The Hard Lie"
By Richie Whitt
DFWSportatorium
PART 1: DEAD MEN TALKING
PART II: THE BLOODY KNEE
PART III: HIGH ROAD TO HELL
PART IV: SH*T HITS THE FAN
PART V: DIFFERENT DIRECTION
So where
is Greggo?
In bed on the third floor of his Oak Lawn condo? Immersed in a dusty old military book? On Wikipedia stealing someone's Top 10 list as his own? In denial? In the same foggy state he brought to Papa G's? In the middle of telling another whopper to another naive, adoring fan who's equipped only with guns, gullibility and a GED? Or in (hopefully) rehab?
There remain those stubbornly tied to the belief that Greggo carried us on
RAGE. If by "carried" they mean taking Sybil, Armen and me and "fatally dragging into a ditch," then, well, yep, we totally agree.
Despite our ailments, when
RAGE was good it was gold.
The Super Bowl water-gun fight in the Indianapolis hotel. The road trips to the Rangers' World Series and the Mavs' NBA Finals. The fun and frivolity at Cowboys' training camps. The nightly horsing around on TXA 21. The on-air debates about Jerry Jones and music and white trucks and Josh Hamilton and gun control and the 1% Club and "bananas." And, of course, the classic "Shut up, Armen!" episode.
In the last half of 2011
RAGE actually pushed ratings into the 4's - nowhere near threatening
The Hardline on The Ticket but good enough to temporarily topple
Galloway on ESPN, and in early 2012 Bruce gave us a motivational motto: "The Drive For 5." And, yes, for the majority of our tenure Williams and I got along swimmingly.
(continued from page 1)
We cashed ratings bonuses, we were having fun and we ... went downhill from there.
I certainly wasn't perfect, and I shoulder my share of the blame. Any time a show fails, even after a decent three-year run, the No. 1 voice deserves the No. 1 criticism. But, despite my unsavory work environment, I never missed a single show over 36 months for anything other than a pre-approved absence. I exceeded my writing obligations to The Fan's web site. I steered our show through 25 hours a week. And I never once showed up under the influence of drugs.
And, yes - as evidenced in this series - "I
do have the facts to back this up." All of it.
On a road trip in 2010 Williams was unpacking when his "pill box" accidentally opened and spilled its contents all over his bed. As I helped him attempt to put the correct pills back into the right spot - it was a long, rectangular blue-and-pink box with seven days' of "P.M." and "A.M." compartments, for 14 total - I remember being stunned at the quantity. There were, minimum, 10 pills in each compartment. Over a week that's approximately 150 pills.
I asked Greggo what the heck they could possibly be for.
"Vitamins, depression, sleep, and who knows what else?" he answered. "I don't know. Jenn puts all that together for me."
I remember feeling sad about his current state. And scared about our long-term future.
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Sure enough, from 2010-13 he unexpectedly missed work for: "Pneumonia", "bicycle wreck", "Mom's stroke", "Mom's moving (three times)", "Mom's accident at rest home", "Mom's allergic reaction to new medication", "serious family crisis", "lost my voice", "fainting", "Jennifer's knee", "treadmill accident", "horrible cough" and, on multiple occasions, "Unexplained."
Said Williams after each episode, "It's always something with me."
Eventually, the sincerity of his excuses carried all the weight of two gnats exchanging sign language in a cotton field.
Behind his back, CBS management from all levels referred to Greggo as "a hillbilly f*ck," "a f*cking idiot," and "the Devil." And now I hear he attempts to exact revenge on those supervisors by comically labeling them "sharpe (yes, with an e) as mashed potatoes."
Perfect.
Again, I performed this public autopsy and wrote this postmortem not as a means to disparage CBS, but rather as an explanation to the loyal fans who tuned in to our show and turned out to our events. Life ain't fair, and neither is having your favorite radio program instantly Dead 'n Gone without any reason. Hope this helps. My goal was to present the facts and then let you - the avid-listener-turned-interested-reader - make up your own mind as to
RAGE's cause of death. I'm not looking for sympathy, just the understanding and clarification of the details surrounding my firing. I'm hoping to clear my good name.
It remains my opinion that CBS feared retribution for Williams' singular firing in the form of a lawsuit filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and therefore axed me and Sybil and reduced Armen's role as a collective buffer.
Instead of merely removing the tumor, CBS decided to burn the body.
Unfortunately, sometimes taking the high road leads you to a dead end.
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Bottom line: Sybil and I lost primo gigs, including radio jobs, endorsement opportunities and bonus roles as prominent voices at Cowboys Stadium and Texas Motor Speedway. And that's the gigantic difference between Greggo's departures from The Ticket and The Fan. When the Ticket guys turned their collective back on Williams, they still had their jobs. At 105.3, he took me down with him.
Healthy income and good reputation, both severely damaged. All with never another syllable uttered from Williams about the fist fight or the ski slope or the ...
Me? Lingering bitterness aside, I'll be fine. I
am fine. Getting married to Sybil (my favorite parting gift) this Fall, on a tropical island far from white trash and white trucks. While she's talented enough to find another radio job in this market, I'm embarking on two career ventures where the boss can no longer screw me over, because his name is Richie Whitt. I'm opening a Pizza Buzz restaurant in Tarrant County that will deliver both pizza and, yep, beer. And christening this here web site after a clean, if not totally amicable break from CBS. I guess I'd be willing to return to radio, given it's the right place, right time and, most importantly, the right partner.
I'll remain friends and/or friendly with all of the Fan hosts, including
RAGE's ultimate replacement show,
Ben and Skin. And even though station sales spokesmen, in a desperate attempt to maintain their suddenly shrinking list of clients, initially lied to advertisers that I might be returning, I'll still root for The Fan
, a joint I feel like I helped build.
(continued from page 4)
And Where's Greggo? Honestly, I don't know. And a large part of me doesn't care.
I mean, I'll always have a tiny soft spot for him on some level. But after what has transpired, at this point those feelings are unable to manifest themselves in friendship.
People ask me why I don't talk to Greggo these days. Simple. Because back when our show and our relationship were marginally successful and very salvageable, it was him who unequivocally left me and
RAGE high, dry and lied to.
Think about this: The two hosts that worked alongside Williams on a daily basis for a combined 17 years - me and The Ticket's Mike Rhyner - both now shun their former partner. And the similarities of the divorces are eerily similar.
In a
2008 Dallas Observer/Sportatorium blog item in the wake of "The Hard Lie"'s release, I wrote:
"Whether you perceive Rhyner as an unforgiving friend who should've tried harder to keep his buddy from destroying himself, or you see Williams as a destructive business partner who irresponsibly shit on the company product, there's no ignoring the brutality of the break-up."
In the beginning, I got Greggo hired.
And in the end, Greggo got me fired.
So where is Greggo?
