Ralph Barbieri
Bay Area sportscaster Ralph Barbieri appeared on KGMZ on Monday. The 66 year old radio legend is suing Cumulus radio after being dumped by Cumulus owned KNBR 680, where Barbieri worked for 28 years.
“The litmus test of when something’s gone awry is when somebody treats you totally differently than they ever did before. And it was on May 19th that I talked to them [KNBR] and told them that I had Diabetes 2 and it was on August 2nd that I told them that I had Parkinson’s,” Barbieri began, then suddenly explained to his hosts that he had a Parkinson’s joke.
“I digress here a little bit,” Barbieri laughed.
“We’ve got time,” one of his interviewers explained.
“Ok. A doctor tells his patient ‘you have Parkinson’s disease.’ And the patient says, ‘Does he want it back’?”
Awkward gigging ensued. “Ya gotta think about it,” Barbieri declared.
All syntax humor aside, allegedly telling your boss you have two hugely life threatening diseases, then getting the heave ho shortly thereafter is no laughing matter. The case is being handled by San Francisco attorney Angela Alioto, who says the claimed reason for the dismissal is that Barbieri showed up late for work.
“The action . . . sends the message loud and clear that if you are 66 years old and have a disability, ‘we don’t want you anymore’,” Alioto’s statement declares. “The message we will send, right back to them, loud and clear, is that this type of despicable illegal behavior will not be tolerated in the City and County of San Francisco.”
KGMZ interview here.
Ralph:
the drive home is not the same. We miss your refreshing point of views and rambling with Tom. Eric is just another ESPN want-a-be with a droning voice. We need you on the game.
You want to know a bit about Ralph ~
How many folks get to listen to the kind of person who calls in, to his own station, on a Sunday afternoon, to talk to Shirley Maclaine. He eloquently expressed his appreciation for her opening up about many ideas and thoughts that were familiar to him also. Then go to work on Monday morning and put out the most intelligent sports talk I had ever listened too, fyi, I am 62, white, Santa Cruz living, women, retired professional? (for your demographics),,I also liked Pete Franklin, Gary i guess, Tom for sure, Eric i don’t think so,,Rod Brooks, yes etc. I had started listening to Ralph about six months or so earlier and after listening to that phone call, I became a very loyal listener 20 something years ago. Lastly, I was really enjoying the addition of Tom Tolbert in the last several years,,Great chemistry between those two.
AND THEN YOU BLEW IT ~ you FIRED A BELOVED TALK HOST,,I and so many more folks I know are still missing “the Razor”, we’re rooting for you Ralph,,, and Ms Alioto, Go Get cumulus!
Sincerely,
Roxane
What was once appointment radio is gone thanks to Cumulus. Ralph Barbieri was the thinking man’s sportstalk host. A Bon Vivant and great interviewer who was frequently unafraid to ask the difficult questions.
I liked ralph as a radio talk show host but NO radio talk show host compares to a real live pro basketball, football, baseball, or hockey game. I am addicted to the players and teams. Sports talk hosts like G. Radnich maybe give you one or two sound bites over 3 hours. When I was a kid and there was no sports talk I loved Lon Simmons and Bill King. I spent my time on baseball cards and reading sports mags. Didn’t need long winded and vacuous sports talk hosts. How many times can anyone obsess over the possible fate of the 49ers in the superbowl during a 2 week layoff?
Ralph was a perfect fit for the SF market. He was pompous, smug and annoying. Since most SF sports fans share the same traits, and are not the most knowledgable fans, so the marriage worked well I guess. But now that Ralph is off the air, real sports fans can listen again.