big dog represents you
tim620 WDAE afternoon drive host Steve Duemig is popular in the Tampa area — tops in the male 25-54 demographic for years. He’s no stranger to controversy (you can blame him for the “The Bucs are moving to LA” hoax) and seems to take pride in his contrarian nature or his “Big Dog” persona.
I’ve been listening to Duemig’s program for about two and a half years. I’ve run into him in town from time to time, and I’ve generally found him to be ill-informed on any topics that don’t involve gambling or golf. Yet he’s very popular, and the vast majority of his callers support his viewpoints.
With that in mind, I’ve been listening to his program recently with an abhorred demeanor. The primary topic has been former NBA baller Tim Hardaway’s vocal hatred of gays. Duemig, for his part, is stunned to find himself the only member of the media defending Hardaway’s words and blasting John Amaechi (the former NBA player whose recent book about being gay prompted Hardaway’s “I hate gay people” statement) for being “too afraid” to admit his homosexuality during his playing career.
It’s one thing to tune in to a show where you know the host is a raving homophobe (Beck) but sports talk is something different. Or is it? You might tell me “turn off the radio if you don’t like what you’re hearing” but the options for solid local sports coverage are slim.
I’ve been transcribing Duemig’s comments Thursday and Friday (made easy by his long periods of dead air) and am curious to know if this is the prevailing attitude among folks here or if Duemig’s popularity originates in how much his audience disagrees with him. Here are some choice words from Duemig’s show 15 and 16 February, 2007, regarding columnists critical of Hardaway’s bigotry:
“There’s no way you can convince me that every columnist who wrote words today about Hardaway actually believe that. You can’t tell me that 90% of this country believes that. How hypocritical is that, to take Tim Hardaway to task. I find it amazing every stinkin’ columnist wrote against Tim Hardaway. Some of them think they’re God, which they are not.”
“There’s a lot of people that don’t understand [homosexuality]. What makes me uncomfortable is when they bring it out in public. PDA, etc. Since I’m not ‘that’ I don’t know. What I know is they hide a secret. Do you really still have to hide it? Are you afraid of repurcussions? I’m not gonna go around beatin’ ‘em up.”
“To me it’s extremely gross to imagine a gay relationship. I’m not afraid to say it. To me, it’s gross. They point to scientific evidence. I haven’t seen that evidence. They point to people being evolved and there’s a lot of different ways to think about it. All I know is God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. And where does that word come from? Right.”
If Duemig was just a local sports host, I wouldn’t be so worried. But Duemig has national programs on Fox and the Golf Channel. Is this really who we want representing Tampa Bay sports fans?
Tags: citizens, diversity, radio, sports, tampa
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February 19th, 2007 at 10:49 am
In Big Dog’s universe, everyone is wealthy and white (unless they play for the Bucs), all the hot chicks want to bang him and he can beat the PGA’s best any day of the week. His show is a vacuum of talk radio. Tune in Jim Rome if you want real sports talk.
February 19th, 2007 at 11:25 am
Tune in Jim Rome if you want real sports talk.
huh? Jim Rome? Please…The Jim Rome show is a pathetic joke with more dittoheads than a Rush show.
February 19th, 2007 at 11:57 am
The only time Duemig is tolerable is when the Bucs are playing poorly.
Rome has one thing over Duemig - he’s actually funny on occasion. Granted, his interviews are almost always slobbering lovefests with no real substance (unless you count that one where he got in a “fight” during his Fox Sports tenure).
Otherwise, Tampa sports talk is a vapid wasteland - actually, I could extend that to say that Tampa radio is a vapid wasteland. Which is why I love my satellite radio.
February 19th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
I dimly remember watching John Amaechi play basketball. After reading the Slate article, I want to go get his book. Tim Hardaway and Duemig just made a sale. Thanks guys.
February 19th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
The Big Dog has a kid who goes to Liberty University — you know, Jerry Falwell’s so-called college. That should say a lot right there.
It is bad enough when we had Dr. Laura and Glenn Beck bashing gay people, I really don’t need gaybashing mixed in with talk about the Lightning. I used to work in sports, but after seeing that my IQ of 35 was way too high (I was considered a genius), I moved on to other things, where now I’m just mentally retarded.
But I’d rather be considered mentally gone among people who have a brain cell or two, than be practically a doctor compared to dimwits like Steve Duemig.
February 19th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
Oh, and someone who thinks he knows so much about the Bible and such, Steve Duemig should realize that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of xenophobia, not homosexuality.
February 19th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Hey Tim, thank you so much for posting about this. I almost got riled up enough to post on this. I quit listening to that show on Thursday for a few reasons. One, football season is over and I don’t really care about any other sports. So I turned the channel. Seems the football talk is, at least for now, done. I also quit listening because of his anti-gay tirades. I know he causes a lot of ruckuses because it brings in callers. That said, it’s one thing to start up crap saying Jon Gruden hates Mike Alstott and has it in for him in some bizarre, fantastic fashion and another for him to have been going off like he has been.
The guy is a homophobe, and a bigot, and there’s no two ways about it. I don’t understand how any form of gay expression is “ramming it down his throat” (which I frankly find a poor choice of words). I don’t want to look at a majority of the hetero PDA I’m subjected to, and I dig girls. It’s just largely nasty and unnecessary. Why can’t everyone keep it behind closed doors?
He can be disgusted by whatever he wants and think whatever he wants is wrong based on the words he reads from the book allegedly from the mouth of an invisible man in the sky as dictated by men a long time ago. Again, people like Duemig pick and choose what they want out of the Bible as it suits their needs. He’s no different, and no more righteous.
I’m mostly shocked at Clear Channel allowing him to spout his bigotry on their airwaves. But, I can’t really hit them in their pocketbooks, so any threat I’d make would be largely empty. I was part of a boycott on WFLA when they still aired Dr. Laura, and I think it helped get her off the air here.
If you also look at the way Ron and Ian handled this news item, you’ll see not everyone in sports broadcasting is an idiot.
I just can’t believe we are still all talking about the gay thing like we’re living a century in the past. It’s absolutely stupefying.
February 19th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
I have long wondered why some sports writers are among the bet writers of any non-fiction while sports radio sinks ever lower. For those in need of a football fix, read Michael Lewis’s “The Blind Side” about the rise of the left tackle and ignore sports radio. You’ll be better for it.
February 19th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
I have to defend Rome. I don’t think his interviews are the best, but his takes on current issues in sports are usually dead on. I was listeneing to this Duemig guy, and I have to say, he’s a C-list radio guy at best. He uses words incorrectly, his logic is confusing and his dead air is a no-no in broadcasting. My favorite show was Tony Kornheiser, but now there’s only Colin Cowpat.
February 19th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Duemig is an idiot - period. I stopped listening to him years ago because I could not stand the way he berated his listeners when he disagreed with their point of view. It’s unfortunate that such a large professional sports market has such terribe sports talk radio.
February 19th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
PT - you’re right, radio does keep sinking. There also appears to be a direct parallel between how much of a redneck, right-wing nutter someone is and how much they hate Bob Costas.
Costas is the man.
February 19th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
Rome is just annoying with his monotone delivery and his need to constantly repeat himself like three times for everything he comes up with.
Dead air isn’t horrible, but it should be used effectively. Glenn Beck is known to use dead air, but he uses it as a way of emphasis. Duemig uses it because he’s waiting for Jerry Falwell to tell him what to say next.
February 19th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
wow. I hadn’t imagined I’d get this kind of response. Like him or not, Duemig is extremely popular. That says something about us.
February 19th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
I may be wrong here but I do not think Duemig is a religious zealot. Actually, I do not think he is religious at all. Again, I could be wrong…I do not know the man.
February 19th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Nah … he can’t be religious. We just send kids to Liberty University because the name is so patriotic. =P
February 19th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
According to his broadcasts last week, he is. He was saying how he was brought up to believe it’s wrong, and he thinks it’s wrong, and going on about what the Bible says and Christians this-and-that, so if he’s not religious, he could have fooled me.
February 19th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
David, great to know there is another Costas fan out there.
What I like about Costas, and Kornheiser, is the same thing you find in the greatest athletes. Franchise making players have an ability to see how things are taking shape on the field/floor long before mere mortals have a clue. Great sports broadcasters can pull the strands of a game, season, sport, the march of history even, into a coherent whole that transcends “we love ‘em cause they’re the local team.” Costas is just plain smart, and Kornheiser is a fabulously funny writer even when he’s not writing about sports.
February 19th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
Tim,
Props to you for writing about Mr. Duemig, but the reason Duemig is so “popular” is because there is little if no alternative for local sports fans in the Tampa Bay Area.
People who hail from other cities will agree that this region’s radio is piss poor.
I almost did a story on Duemig years ago when he and others said frankly racist comments about Latinos…This guy takes pride in being politically incorrect. Truly disgusting.
I agree with the other contributor who mentioned satellite radio, which I also subscribe to. But Tony Bruno is pretty humorous (if a tad conservative) on air between 9am and 1PM.
February 19th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Hey M, mental retardation isn’t a source of humor to anyone except maybe Howard Stern. Hope you aren’t the pot calling the kettle Big Dog.
February 19th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Duemig is good for a few homophobic rants per year. He views himself as the voice of “Everyman”, a proud conservative, the hero of those who feel lost in a politically correct world. If you really listen to his words though, he’s clearly a bigot. I was so disgusted by Thursday’s show, not only because of his ignorance, but some of his callers were just as bad. There’s no point in calling to argue with him either. He doesn’t understand reason, he can’t hold an intelligent conversation, and yells over you if you get the upper hand. Someone said there’s no way to voice displeasure with him to CC management or the 620 programming director. It’s true. He’ll always have his sponsors. Your only recourse is to not listen and hope/pray one day he does say something that gets him fired.
February 19th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Duemig has always been a racist bigot.
February 19th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
Well, Steve’s getting exactly what he wants … buzz.
XM Radio. Got it two years ago and have never looked back.
February 20th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Whether or not Dumig is religious can be question even if his daughter goes to Liberty (She may be, but that does not mean he is). If he is in fact religious, he may want to read what the Bible says about gambling, his favorite past time.
February 20th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
“Take a guess what it would take to buy me out of my contract.” He’s going on and on now about how much money he makes. That’s fantastic.
“Unless George Steinbrenner writes you a check you or anybody else could never afford it.”
Clear Channel ought to be proud of how much they’re paying this bigot.
November 1st, 2007 at 11:00 am
Duemig is an idiot! If you disagree with him, he’ll hang up on you and then rant and rave. He think’s he’s Mr. Know-it-all because he gets to rub elbows with sports figures. He is constantly putting people down who live in the Tampa Bay area if they do not support the Tampa teams, yet it is clear that he is more fond of Philedelphia sports teams than Tampa’s. He is obsessed with putting down John Gruden because Steve doesn’t agree with the way Steve’s so called friends were treated (Allstott, Keyshawn, etc). He always hides behind the excuse that he has inside knowledge. Thats a bunch of horse hockey…his inside knowledge is just his guests opinions regurgitated on air. What an idiot!
February 5th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
The big dog is a big joke. He clearly doesn’t prepare before he goes on air. He’s a small town guy with a small mentality. I listen to him by default. He’s abrasive and talks down to his callers. He should be fired and replace by someone who knows something about sports. He should just go caddy for some semi pro golfer. He raises my blood pressure. He’s a complete dufous.