Jim Rome Smack-Off 2012: The Party's Over

Great post! How epic would it be if all the past champs didn't call next year. Made the twitter rsvp but no show the day of, in protest of ol ringworm winning. Jim would be stuck with JoeLean, Ray gay, Jay, mike in Indy and some new guy with a golden ticket(whos been on hold since wednesday). In the second hour surprise KB with a smack off take! Sure Jim can do anything he wants with HIS show even burn it to the ground, doesn't mean we have to like it.

I did not listen to this years Smack-Off, well I actually have skipped that last 2 or 3. Not because I no longer like JR, just can't relate to the show anymore. Maybe for the same reasons no longer care about the NBA Finals. My team no longer gets to participate and I just cant relate to the new players. I miss the old days of the Dream and MJ and Malone and Barkley. And its not the same with the Di Tollas, Iafrate, Silk or you.

With that said, I am pretty sure Chael is not the first athlete to be invited, we can all remember Jim Harbaugh famously flaming out back in 98.

I miss The Jungle, NBA and my old 1560.

Since Greg in Vegas was always my favorite caller, I couldn't be happier that he's now calling into the more entertaining annual show -- Smackoff on a Mobile -- instead.

A perfect summation of the last smackoff. Listening to sonnen announced as the winner I literally thought it was a joke and when I realized it wasn't I felt sick all weekend long. It was a kick to the groin to his longtime listeners and to the poor legends who participated. BTW why were you ineligible to compete?

Great article, Sean.  Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever, Think Sonnen winning Smackoff 2012 was a huge miscalculation on Rome's part but the only real issues that I have are that he didn't have to play his way in like most everyone else and that he is affiliated with a sponsor. I would have a bigger problem (and this isn't personal) if you, JT The Brick or Travis won at this point in your lives because you are professionals - you all get paid to talk sports for a living.Question: If Rome would let you on - would you still call.

The first year they let in Mike in Wichita, I knew it was time to go Ol' Yeller on the Smack Off. I knew I should not be allowed to be in that thing, at that time, I wasn't good enough to have a chance at winning. I wasn't bad enough to be a sacrificial lamb.

THE Mike in Wichita

I'm an LA native who was listening to Rome way back in 1992 pre-syndication, when his show was 5 hours and he hosted the "Scrub Saturday" show.  Have been an occasional emailer, never called, but I doubt there are many folks out there who have listened to as many hours of the Jungle as I have.  It is very sad what has happened to Jim Rome, and Sean articulated it brilliantly.  The decline has been incremental, brick by brick, so you don't necessarily notice it as it's happening, but if you remember the way the Jungle used to be, you can't even recognize the current incarnation.  

What it used to be is the most rapid-fire, off-the-wall, free-wheeling, laugh-out-loud show on the radio, sports or otherwise.  To put it in perspective, Jim nowadays has maybe 2 or 3 takes in the open, maybe 2 more in the second segment, and maybe spreads 4 or 5 more out through the rest of the show (after teasing them relentlessly) , while regurgitating at the top of each hour the few takes in the show's open.  And if you've checked Yahoo! Sports before the show starts, you will see that at least half of these takes are pulled directly from columns or stories there. The other half are things of the "so what" variety that Jim can still kind of get away with because he has done it so long and has a certain gift, but forgettable.  Maybe once a week (if that) he has a truly memorable take or burn.

Back in the day, Rome was a whirlwind.  He could have 10 takes at the top of the show, each one delivered with a marksman's precision, that cut right through the BS and delivered with in a language that would be completely incomprehensible to a layman.  No matter what was happening in the sports world (even if nothing was happening), he would charge out of the gate, no 5-Hour Energy, and basically be a conflagration destroying everything in its path.  The second segment would be the same thing.  You would be amazed how much material he had.  If there are podcasts of the early shows out there, I would love to be able to download some.  Probably Jim has destroyed them because they show what a poor imitation of himself he is these days.

Speaking of 5-Hour Energy, as others have mentioned, Jim used to be proud of the fact that he did no endorsements.  If he was forced to endorse something, like a network event, he would preface it with "Romey the sales-hack" or something like that.  He did no commercials, much less live bits.  He also had basically one or two drops ("drug test" and "big dump in your pants" were the only two drops for a long time), and he had no need of recycling the same tired bits over and over again.

That's why the callers were better back then.  Because Rome was better.  And if the callers were "clones," at least they were "clones" of something great.  Sean was one of them.  He made the show better because Jim set such a high bar.  When Terence from Sierra Madre called once a week, that was always a few minutes of genius.  The emails (faxes back then) were better too, not just one-liners, or "Wars" (which didn't exist).  The Jungle felt like a family.

In other words, Jim has slowed way down, and his (and his staff's) inspiration is maybe 2% of what it used to be.  The quality of his takes and his delivery are still better than the average honk, and he still is an excellent interviewer in my opinion, but the bottom line is that the callers have no take and suck because they are clones of something that, sadly, has no take and sucks.

Out.

It's not like Rome will wake up tommorow and not be funny but the Smack Off will have a STENCH on it that will probably never come off.  I'm done.

Thank you Sean for a great article.  I almost feel vindicated in a way that someone else(you) feels the exact same way as me.  I'm never tuning in to another smack off again.  EVER.  It seriously insults everyone's intelligence for Rome to get up there and justify picking Sonnen as the winner.  He picked the biggest mouthpiece of the up and coming UFC organization as the winner.  This was a buttkissing manuver I NEVER EVER thought I would see Jim Rome do.  It hurt as a Rome fan so see him cower to such a tool.  I lost a lot of respect.  I don't want to be a clone if CHAEL SONNEN represents clones now.

I have been a Jungle Insider for years, simply so I don't miss The Smackoff. I am a 20 year Clone, but the MMA Bullshit disgusts me. Canceling my sub, I am done.

This guy is not even on the radio In Houston anymore is he??

Sad fact is rome's act has always been a sham.  Clones were only ones that made that show.  I worked on premiere ad sales staff a few years back and it was comical how hard execs worked to protect him from being exposed  -- including banning anyone from bringing clients to his control room to watch his show ("hey look! he's parroting every single thought fed via headset from T-Rog")

You cited Mohr as the lone exception (prior to Sonnen) to the Smack Off's being comprised of Jungle-dwellers only, but you forgot about Jim Harbaugh's oft-ridiculed Smack Off call in the mid-'90s, which to the best of my recollection consisted almost entirely of the following:

"I don't have a whole lot of smack to say today, Romey"

&

"This is a time where we should all get along, just like Fuzzy and Tiger playing together at the Masters"

&

"I want to wish everyone and their families a Happy Easter(?), except for the clones who have no families, and are behind in their child support, like your boy Sean in Syracuse....tell that clone to get a life.  I'm out."

Good insight Sean. I'm a fan of both you and Rome. I go back to about 2000, so maybe I didn't hear the show in its rawest form, but I can understand your sentiment that the show has become more corporate. That "arc" is not uncommon from any artist really. Take Jay-Z, after 11 number 1 albums, people will always say that he will never be better then when he released his first album. Rome has said his goal was to be on a major network. Well, he could never achieved a gig with CBS if he kept talking about the rat pack and meat whistles for 3 hours a day. I'm not making an excuse for him, i'm saying I get it. You have to evolve - both personally and professionally. People may not like it, but they should understand.As far a Sonnen winning the Smackoff, a ballsy choice, but I'm not ready to say sold out just yet. Remember how people wanted to put Donald Trump in the smackoff after he lit Rosie of Fat up? What if he came in and ripped it? Would people scream fix? I'm sure the thought crossed Rome's mind that Chael winning would be good for business, but pound for pound is was one of the best calls - and every year is up for debate.Personally I think the only person who could go toe to toe with you was Kerwin in Riverside. I thought he got robbed in 1999 and 2000. Any chance to get him on the mobile next year? What ever happened to him? To me, you guys were Larry and Magic!

Being a college student during one of the peaks of the Smack-Off (2004-07), I would cut class during each Smackoff in those years. It was that big. Those three hours were absolutely classic radio and one of the few times I would laugh at the radio. As echoed in the comments, I think the turning point for both Rome and The Jungle was when he got the ESPN show, particularly when it was moved the afternoon and when it became a daily program. I remember how Rome used top play some of his radio callers on the show. That stopped after a few years. Slowly but surely, Rome became what he despised early on. Taming down your show because you get older and more experienced is one thing, but completely changing what made your show listenable is another. 

Have to admit I've never listened to his show.  I saw him act like a badass with that QB from the Rams and get emasculated on national tv, figured that was all I needed to know about him. 

I had listened to Rome for damn near 20 years.  Had to stop for the two years I was in London and when I came back this year I had no reason to listen anymore. All of the old stuff that made the show great had disappeared. I mean I will still never forget that guy who called in and wanted to fight Barry Bonds...LMAO. What happened to THAT show. Anyway it was a sad demise into the mundane but as you said everything has an arc.

After the 2010 Smack-off I stopped caring about it, and not long after that the Rome SHow just wasn't what I wnjoyed for entertainment. I haven't listened in over a year.

I do miss the days of Rome at his best. UFC, horse racing (now he owns em), auto racing (will he own em?), soccer (is he a fan now?) were all taboo topics and they received the harshest treatment. In a word, corporate sucks. 

Stern fans have been saying this for years.

I used to listen every day then again on WOAI at night. It was like being in a cult. It felt like I was in a family. The sports was secondary to the stars of the Jungle and the smack. But Jim's drive for acceptance at the mainstream level choked off the irreverence that made it a Jungle. I quit listening when the interviews turned into pandering and when smack gave way to chasing sponsors. Thanks Sean for your great calls during those days.

wow...kind of makes me wish i listened to Rome back in the day...once seemed like a cool show.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Granted, this is far from the first time the Smackoff has been fixed. Jeff in Richmond winning was clearly meant to piss people off as well as Vic a couple years ago. But there's a difference between giving it to Jeff to get some controversy and giving it to a human cockfighter because you've sold out.

I discovered Rome's show when I was in about fifth or sixth grade, not long before the Denver tour stop. During the summer, I would plan my day around being near a radio to listen to the show. During the school year, I would take a walkman with me to listen during lunch. Then when I got my own car, I would spend my lunch period sitting in it listening. I work in radio today in part because I grew up listening to the Jungle.

I continued to listen fairly regularly until about a year ago, but it clearly went downhill quickly after Travis was fired. The hard hitting commentary stopped. The funny discussion of non-sports topics dropped off in favor of soundbites being played ad nauseum. I couldn't count on hearing calls from Terrance every few weeks or occasional calls from Greg, Dan, Jeff or most of the other old school legends. The voice of the host is the same, but otherwise it's nothing like the show I loved for a decade.

I discovered your show and Travis's after the first SOAM and was disappointed when I found out you wouldn't be on nationally before Travis anymore. Now I listen to T-Rodge on podcast every night when I get home from work. It's not the same as the show I once loved, but it's the closest thing we have.

RIP to what was once the best radio show ever.

Seanny, you nailed it.  And I don't care what anybody says, you have always been straight up about your past and how you got to where you are today, due in part to Rome's show.

The arc was at its peak around the beginning of the 2000's.  Once Rome had kids and went back on ESPN, the arc began its downward trend.  Once corporate entities began to pop up as sponsors, his takes on certain things began to change because it was better for his brand and bottom line (AKA his "look").  Throw in the fact that he began investing in stuff like horses and daytime/reality TV douchebags, and well, you have an accelerated curve towards the end point.  Severing all ties with things that weren't in line with his intere$t$ brought us to this point today.  Handing over the Smack Off title to a corporate sponsor, ERRRR, surprise celebrity caller, was just the coup de grâce.  @facebook-1639530865:disqus All I want to know, at this point is...

When is the wake and the funeral? 

Trapper is just plain awful.

Excellent article, I was a listener of the jungle from 2002 until it was pulled from Houston at the end of 2011. I had noticed a few months before the show was dropped I had the jungle on but didn't really listen, and realized the quality had really gone down the tubes. I was glad to find a stream for the smack off on Friday, but once I heard MMA guy call in and read off his bulletpoints, I knew the jungle was dead. Even after that, I thought Rome would rightly crown Iafrate the champ, I was shocked to hear the winner was a guy that didn't work his way into the field.

I streamed the show today only because I was interested to see how Rome would defend himself, and I found it convenient that the phone lines went down today when Mike in Wichita was about to get on the air. They never came back up either. A sad ending to my days of listening to the jungle. It reminds me of how Rome used to bring up Willie Mays struggling in the outfield with the Mets, he should have hung it up a couple of years ago.

As for myself. I wish he would just go off the air and put a real sports show on..

This whole post is sad but true. Don't expect the same show that I listened to while I was skipping class in college, but it's ridiculous what the show has become. Great read...btw you're the reason I've never been able to take Vic in NoCal seriously. "...I am Tony Soprano, you are little Vito in the shower in gym class." Lulz, maybe my favorite line of smack in the history of the once mighty Jungle.

The real problem, after listening to Rome explain it all way today, was that he didn't announce Sonnen's presence before he showed up. So nobody really had time to work on him. For all we knew, Jim Everett could have showed up and won. Oh, and Sonnen was a reader. Tripped over one carriage return and butchered the insanity take that KB wrote for him.

The real tragedy of the smack-off is that nobody asked Trapper why he borrowed 30 pieces of silver to pay for hair plugs, for which he might lose his law license and his job over not disclosing.

Of course I listened.  And noted the absolute lack of mention of one Sean The Cablinasian and threw up in my mouth a little when some dude named Brad was touted as the best caller ever.   I was outraged by the selection of Sonnen as the "champion," but not surprised.  Of COURSE he did.  Anyone who didn't see that coming hasn't been paying attention.  What surprised me was that apparently Rome wasn't ready for the absolute tidal wave of backlash.  He thought we'd think it was cool if Sonnen won.  Just another clue that Rome is obviously listening more to his mma-jocksniffer butt-boy Kyle than his own savvy that got him to the top in the first place.  It is increasingly clear that Rome has become the Larry King of sports radio.

What was most beautiful to me was Joe in the OC committing Jungle Suicide by verbally murdering (sorry oren) Brandt.  History has shown that guy isn't a fan of criticism (not like rome is, but KB has kickbanned me on every platform for suggesting that he's a programmatic nonfit for the show).  We'll see if Joe in the OC ever shows up on Rome's air ever again.  At least all Sean The Cablinasian did was go get a job at a competing radio station.  Joe?  Joe did this:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...  Joe, you are my fucken hero.  You speak for many of us.

What's sad to me is that now that the smackoff has been demonstrated to be a complete sham, that it's become a caricature of itself, that the smackoff-on-a-mobile will die, too.  No reason to make fun of something that itself has become a joke.

Sean was making a point that even as the jungle was changing the smack off was still about the callers. Really only day I even listened anymore. The show went right down hill when Travis Rodgers left and  it was pretty noticeable. He was so predictable with all the sound effects, horse race talk and mma fighting, nascar all the stuff that used to made fun of. Now the show is about tickers(whatever that is) sleds and talking and promoting his race horses.

Good story Sean.

so you fancy yourself a sports journalist, and then you write THIS? are you familiar with the terms "objectivity" and "conflict of interest?" granted, this is a blog post, so perhaps you have a little leeway, but considering you'd be nothing without Rome (who sucks almost as hard as you do), this is pretty brazen. your story lead should have been that you were a multiple smack off winner and that this post should be taken with a grain of salt, to say the least. admit that fact, get it out of the way, THEN voice your opinion. you can't objectively assess the smack off given your history with the event. get off the airwaves, please.

I am very oldskool, smak is not smack, deal with it clones (and review yer jungle history).

I just re-listened to the alleged-king-of-2012-smak's call... You are 100% correct Sean.  I would add that most of the smak CS ran was the equivalent of "water is wet" and "the sky is blue". His take on nascar guys drive in circles and is fixed but cletus isn't smart enough to figure that out was from Rome's take about NECK-Car like 15 years ago only with a ricky bobby dale name-blast missing... and then there was the kardashians have sex with pro-athletes [yep, water still wet n sky still blue... YAWN] and Tiger's wife was hot and he was stupid for banging not-nearly-as-hot perkins java-slaps... [yeah, that's year-long-award-winning smak.]  Even his blast on Jay Mohr was something Vic already had done repeatedly over the past 3 years... but hey, water is still wet and he's just peachy for winning tickets to his own event...

One thing everyone seems to forget to mention is THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME Romey fixed a smakoff... He absolutely fixed it in 1998 when Steve from LMU's I am not a clone call was at-best 5th place material that year and he also screwed Dan in DC in 2000 because his affiliate wasn't running all 3 hours live.

I miss the days of edgy sometimes overly-mean smak but I get that it's not corporate-safe which has brought us the debacle from last friday...  RIP SmakOff 1995-2012

I really wish we could get back to the days of "it's a bet" and "stop abusing midgets errr little people on horsies"... money corrupts us all... but who am i kidding... we'd all sellout too for the kind of jack that Rome makes that would allow us to buy an AMG-tuned european sled that could almost-beat Corvette-guy in his ZR-1

What does Steve Everett think of all this?

I agree with this post 100% but as a few have mentioned, your kinda calling the kettle black Sean.  I've had nothing but love for ya, but I wish you had the balls to write about what is truly going on at our, "err" your station. I know you have no real pull, hell few do but "The Beefy Boys" are killing 1560/YSR just as all the changes Jim made ruined The Jungle! That's the story that needs to be told, not this one! Hell anyone that has listened to Rome knows he's garbage these days! Last thing you want is for yourself to be associated with trash as well! And its heading that way, especially with this tragedy that is Shemon solo, following your show! Oh and who puts their best talent on air between 9pm-6am??? Larson is a fucking idiot! 

I noticed that you forgot to mention that the decline started to occur when the real worlder ghey soap opera joined the show and started to become Jim's double sided release toy. I mean KB had spent years in radio sucking his way up the pole to become the.producer.He understands the phrase banging the monkey, but he's not supposed to be the one letting a 5ft manget getting all sweaty with his toner goatee running down his chest. The hiring of KB.was the day the music died. #FACT

Great article Sean. You know I've been a fan for years and 1560 used to be the thing I dorked over the first few years of being on the air. I couldn't help but notice some parallels in ieryour description of Rome's show from 2010 with that of how 1560 has evolved. The show used to be a lot edgier, caller-centric, and the additions of Travis rodgers and the Yahoo partnership have basically told the world about "Secret Society's" fight club. I miss the old days of John and Lance in the morning, Hoffy and Nuno around lunch, and Sean and John in the afternoon. I guess it's an impossibility to for any successful business to maintain independence and resist the inevitibility of maturing into a CPOD (you're not quite there yet, but it's going that direction). I still listen occasionally, but I just can't dork over you guys anymore. I feel like a listner without a home now.