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Jamie Dukes Leaving 92.9 The Game

Jason Barrett

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Jamie Dukes, one of the most popular hosts on 92.9/The Game, is stepping down today after three years at the sports talk station.

Dukes, who has also worked at 680/The Fan and the now defunct 790/The Zone, lives in Braselton, which meant a commute that ate up more than three hours of his day every day. Over time, that wore him down. He took three weeks off recently to deal with shoulder, neck and back problems stemming in part from spending too much time in the automobile.

Dukes said the Game management was unwilling to allow him to do his mid-day show with Rick Kamla from his home even part of the week. Without that option, he couldn’t handle the commute anymore. “This is really about my health,” he said. “It’s not worth it if I can’t work smarter.”

Dukes, now 51, spent 10 years in the NFL including eight seasons with the Atlanta Falcons as a center from 1986 to 1995.

He will continue to contribute to the NFL Network and work with Sirius/XM on Saturdays. He could also podcast,like Doug Stewart on Spreaker. And though Dukes has a non-compete clause that will keep him off Atlanta AM/FM radio for six months, he is confident other radio opportunities will pop up.

“The sports fans have evolved,” said Dukes. “They want more than just stats and who’s going to win the game. I tried to be in tune with what fans wanted. They need more insight, more in-depth conversation. That’s the reason they liked what we did.”

His departure was low key. He didn’t want to turn his final show into the “Jamie Dukes farewell show.” He waited until his final segment at 1:40 p.m. to break the news to the fans. And go figure – Kamla wasn’t even in the studio to hug it out with Dukes.

“I got a heavy heart,” Kamla said on air at 1:44 p.m. “I love you. You’re a dear friend. I have learned so much of the craft of radio from you.”

Kamla said Dukes is not just a sports analyst but a true host and comic. “You have taught me the art of the spin and the art of radio… I’m going to miss you terribly.”

Dukes repeated what he told me about the commute issues that led to this unfortunate decision. “I wanted to thank all the listeners for being part of something that was very special,” he said. He said Kamla has “heart. You are a very passionate man. So I want to thank you being my friend.”

Dukes and Kamla’s mid-day show frequently drew the best ratings for the Game, which has generally under-performed  for most of its past three years in the ratings despite a vastly superior signal to 680/The Fan, which also simulcasts at 93.7 on the FM dial. In the latest monthly ratings, the ratings of the two stations are neck and neck.

Dukes gave the Game several weeks notice about his pending departure to give management a chance to rejigger its lineup, which I presume will be announced soon. (PD Terry Foxx said an official station response will be forthcoming.)

This follows the departure last month of morning host Marc James, who left after he sough autographs at Turner Field in the Mets locker room.

There are now four weekday on-air personalities who have been at the station its entire three-year run: Kamla,Randy Cross and Carl Dukes.

Credit to the AJC who originally published this article

Sports Radio News

Evan Roberts: NFL Would Never Let Roger Goodell Talk To Craig Carton

“It’s because you aren’t going to climb in his derriere and make sure you don’t push him on anything.”

Jordan Bondurant

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Craig Carton would love to interview NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, but the problem is that Carton isn’t going to play by the league’s rules for shaping the conversation.

On Monday’s edition of Carton & Roberts, Carton mentioned the fact that Goodell hadn’t appeared on WFAN airwaves in over a decade. Co-host Evan Roberts pointed out that the league usually limits what media appearances the commissioner makes.

“He doesn’t do a lot of interviews unless it’s NFL related, where you can kind of control what you’re being pushed on,” Roberts said.

Carton figured that Goodell typically will do a sit-down interview with each of the league’s media partners, but Roberts said the commissioner’s office wants to make sure Goodell is not caught off guard.

“There’s always gonna be restrictions on him. There just always is,” he said. “The league is partners with those networks. So they’re not gonna put Roger Goodell in a spot in which he’s getting pummeled with tough questions. He doesn’t put himself in that spot.”

Carton mentioned doing a commissioner’s summit with Gary Bettman, Adam Silver and Rob Manfred. He said he requested Goodell, and he was turned down because the preseason had already started and generally the NFL doesn’t want the commissioner in the spotlight when the focus should be on the games and the players.

Roberts responded that the league was just being protective of Goodell knowing full well that Carton would likely ask him some tough questions.

“It’s because you aren’t going to climb in his derriere and make sure you don’t push him on anything,” he said. “I’ve never seen Goodell pushed on anything. So when he does do these interviews, it’s usually like NFL Network’s putting him on.”

“Maybe if I start a podcast he’ll come on that,” Carton said.

Craig added that he wouldn’t agree to tipping his questions for the commissioner ahead of time or only sticking to certain topics. Evan said the unpredictability of a free-flowing interview wouldn’t be a good thing optically for Goodell.

“You also don’t know what it’s gonna lead to,” he said. “You don’t know what he says that’s gonna lead to a topic you never even thought that you’d talk about.”

Carton responded saying that’s why so many people are terrible at interviewing others, because they generate their list of questions and don’t actually listen to the conversation.

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Sports Radio News

Cameron Maybin Adds Radio to Tigers Broadcast Role

“Maybin will be behind the microphone for around 30 Tigers games on 97.1 The Ticket in 2023.”

Jordan Bondurant

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The Detroit Tigers have added another voice for their radio broadcasts this season in Cameron Maybin.

Maybin will be behind the microphone for around 30 Tigers games on 97.1 The Ticket in 2023.

Maybin is a former Tiger himself and will also do some TV work on team broadcasts on Bally Sports Detroit. Cameron has also contributed to Yankees broadcasts on YES Network and MLB Network.

Dan Dickerson will be on play-by-play for games on the radio this season.

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Sports Radio News

Phoenix Suns Radio Voice Al McCoy Retiring At Season’s End

“Well I don’t think it’s any big thing because I think everybody knew this was probably going to wrap it up for me obviously.”

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Longtime Phoenix Suns radio play-by-play announcer Al McCoy has announced that he will retire at the conclusion of the current NBA season.

The 89-year-old McCoy has been the voice of the Suns for the past 51 years.

After joining the team in 1972, McCoy called games on both television and radio for the franchise until the NBA outlawed the practice in the early 2000s.

He scaled back his schedule in 2010, and called road games from a remote studio in Phoenix during the 2020-2021 season. The club’s road contests are currently broadcast by Jon Bloom.

“Well I don’t think it’s any big thing because I think everybody knew this was probably going to wrap it up for me obviously,” McCoy told KTAR News’ Gaydos & Chad on Friday.

McCoy was honored with the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame’s Curt Gowdy Media Award in 2007.

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