The funniest thing I've heard in weeks....

[HairOnFire]

Paul Daugherty, best known for his habit of eating dick-shaped crackers and writing about things he admits he doesn't care about, has been laid off from his radio gig. And apparently so were a bunch of others guys I've never heard of and don't care about.

Hilarious.

[ThortonMelon]

Paul Daugherty, best known for his habit of eating dick-shaped crackers and writing about hings he admits he doesn't care about, has been laid off from his radio gig. And apparently so were a bunch of others guys I've never heard of and don't care about.

Hilarious.

Yep, people losing their jobs always makes me laugh.

[membengal]

Doc losing his radio gig is delightful.

The one loss was C. Trent losing his gig at 1530. His writing of all things Reds and Bengals was easily the best in town.

[HairOnFire]

Yep, people losing their jobs always makes me laugh.

Save the bleeding heart crap because I'm not talking about 5 million meaningful and productive jobs lost since January 1st. I'm talking about one of the most miserable and incompetent hacks who ever graced a sportspage.

I'm laughing.

[HoosierCat]

The one loss was C. Trent losing his gig at 1530. His writing of all things Reds and Bengals was easily the best in town.

No doubt. Trent's coverage of the Bengals was easily the best of any of the local media. That sucks.

He does have his own site here: http://ctrentrosecrans.com/

[Bearcat1975]

Yep, people losing their jobs always makes me laugh.

Save the bleeding heart crap because I'm not talking about 5 million meaningful and productive jobs lost since January 1st. I'm talking about one of the most miserable and incompetent hacks who ever graced a sportspage.

I'm laughing.

C Trent was easily one of the best in town. And we know you hate Doc because your tongue is up Mike Brown's ass.

But being happy about other people being laid off?

What a douche.

[HairOnFire]

But being happy about other people being laid off?

What a douche.

You and anyone else who wants to climb atop a soapbox and pretend I'm laughing for any other reason that Paul Daugherty being laid off can go f**k yourselves with much gusto.

[Bearcat1975]

But being happy about other people being laid off?

What a douche.

You and anyone else who wants to climb atop a soapbox and pretend I'm laughing for any other reason that Paul Daugherty being laid off can go f**k yourselves with much gusto.

Laughing because someone (in this case Daugherty) got laid off is a doucheable offense.

[HairOnFire]

First things first, I know we'd all miss Hoosier if he wandered off again.(sniff)

But now that there are multiple job opportunities suddenly available for people willing to share their unqualified opinions on all things sports? Well, I'm sure you can all guess where I'm going with this one.

Dave, I've seen your picture once and I can attest to the fact you have a face perfectly suited for radio. So get off the stick and let's make this one happen.

[HairOnFire]

Laughing because someone (in this case Daugherty) got laid off is a doucheable offense.

Still laughing.

[ArmyBengal]

So let me get this straight, it's ok to be happy when Mike Brown dies, but NOT when a piece of crap writer loses his job ??

And then call other people names as well ??

Unreal... Get over yourselves already and tell me you've never wished far worse than losing a job on another person at some point in time during your life. I've not only laughed at far worse, I've DONE far worse. Even after doing far worse, I still find myself laughing when I think back on it.

If that makes me an assh*le, so be it, but I'm not the one sitting in judgement of anyone else either...

[COB]

Laughing because someone (in this case Daugherty) got laid off is a doucheable offense.

I'm laughing, but it's ok because it's not a mean laugh. It's a laugh filled with hope. As in I hope Doc goes to work tomorrow and gets laid off from his fishwrap job.

Then I hope he falls down the elevator shaft on his way out of the building and breaks his face.

Then I hope the ambulance taking him to the hospital gets in a huge wreck and he dies.

I'll be laughing my ass off then. But you're no better because the ambulance smashed into a certain Lumina and caused a death you've openly pined for on this very board.

Then with Mike gone, you'll have nothing left to post about except the incredible depth of your respect and admiration for everything Steelers, thus turning you into... Paul Daugherty. It's the circle of life.

[HairOnFire]

So let me get this straight, it's ok to be happy when Mike Brown dies, but NOT when a piece of crap writer loses his job ??

Here's the kicker. Paul Daugherty still has his job as a hack sportswriter. So all of those crocodile tears being shed by the bleeding hearts are for a guy who probably still makes more than all of those dinks earn. Combined!

That said, I have absolutely zero hesitation admitting I'll laugh even harder if Paul Daugherty loses his primary employment.

[HairOnFire]

Then with Mike gone, you'll have nothing left to post about except the incredible depth of your respect and admiration for everything Steelers, thus turning you into... Paul Daugherty. It's the circle of life.

I think you're giving Bearcat too much credit. After all, he isn't smart enough to write his own sig.

[BengalPimp]

Hilarious.........Not the firings, but the comments, and replies.....Now THATS funny stuff.

[kingwilly]

Doc getting shatcanned from a lousy radio gig is funny. Not because it is funny to watch someone have their finances impacted negatively but because he is a douche and douchey things happen to douchey-bags. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

He is a hack-level writer who has one of the easiest jobs in "so-called" journalism: mocking Mike Brown and kicking dirt at the Reds.

Save your sympathy for those who merit it.

[vettespd20]

F DOC!!! This guy is far from being poor, SEE YA!!!!

[membengal]

For the record, as piss-poor and lazy as Doc's column is, he was a factor of at least one thousand worse on the radio. Truly a disagreeable experience if you ever had to listen to him.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

I have to admit, I haven't read Doc since 1995, not having lived in the area since that time. But I will say, he was decent then. And if what happened in the meantime is that writing about two putrid teams just broke his spirit, then in my opinion the guy deserves some pity.

Hell, I'm jaded as a *fan* of these clowns. If that's what I had to do with my actual life, I'd be bitter as hell too.

Then again, I haven't had to listen to the guy either.

[HairOnFire]

I've been waiting for this one, and our boy Daugherty didn't let me down.

According to P-Doc the reasons he was s**tcanned was his refusal to bite the heads off of chickens, being too prepared, and his unfortunate habit of thinking too much. Oh, and of course the people who fired him are just a bunch of stupid lying bastards that he never trusted from day one.

Sadly, not once during the following article does Paul Daugherty address his peculiar habit of eating dick-shaped crackers, but perhaps that will be the subject of an article to be written at a later date. One can only hope.

Enjoy.

Paul Daugherty

Longtime Enquirer sports columnist Paul Daugherty files news and observations on sports and more.

WLW

Posted 4/29/2009 9:05 AM EDT on Cincinnati.com

This is likely to be long and rambling, so if you're more interested in EE on the DL, feel free to check out early. Clear Channel put me on waivers Tuesday. Irrevocable, see you later, give us your card key, we'll walk you out release. There's really no word to describe it. Humiliating is good. Disappointing is better. Let's go with that.

WLW sought me more than two years ago for the Sports Talk job. I'd done a little radio previously, filling in for Furman, sitting in with Furman. Back in prehistory, I co-hosted a Friday show with, yes, Art Schlichter on the old WSAI. I never considered myself a talker. I didnt when LW came calling. I was shocked then, almost as shocked as I was Tuesday, when Chuck Frederick canned me.

I wasnt a radio guy. Radio is entertainment. It's an act. It's being "On'' when you don't feel like it. It's occasionally phony. I am lots of things, many of them unappealing. I am not phony. I didnt know if I could do it. Two years later, I still don't.

I'm 30 years into a writing career. Writing is a solitary act. It's sitting in front of a laptop in a home office, dog at your feet, trying in 700 words to make sense of the sports world. It is not yelling into a microphone about Dusty Baker's latest perceived screwup. Writing is rational. Radio, at least as defined locally, is biting the heads off live chickens.

But I worked at it. Not at the content so much. I've been here since '88. I know what I know when it comes to local sports. I'd guess that other than a few local sports media types -- DJ at CPO comes to mind -- my well of sports sources is the deepest in the city. There is not a topic around here that I couldnt get an insider's opinion on, just by opening the Rolodex. So content wasnt an issue. Changing who I was for 3 hours a night. That was the work.

By changing, I don't mean phony or deliberately controversial. I swore when I took the gig I would never do or say anything just to make the phone ring. I wouldnt "plant'' callers to enrage people, I wouldnt be contrarian for the hell of it. I wouldnt make stuff up, I wouldnt shovel race-baiting, right-wing demagoguery at an audience that apparently lapped it up. I wouldnt treat my listeners like idiots. If making a few extra bucks as "P-Doc'' meant chucking my principles, I'd chuck the headset by the end of the first week.

To his credit, WLW's program director Darryl Parks never said one word to me about how I did the show, beyond technical pointers that I needed badly. I was left to my own devices, for better or worse.

I will tell you this. It can be very, very difficult, unless you are naturally full of yourself. I worked my ass off. In fact, I was probably overprepared most nights. Good hosts know how to talk. I knew how to prepare to talk.

But I was getting better. I felt in the last 6 months or so, I'd found a groove. Listeners were warming to my style, I was slipping more easily into my radio skin. All the grinding I'd done the first 18 months was beginning to pay off. This notion was reaffirmed, mostly, by the several hundred e-mails I got and am still getting, since the news broke. People invite you into their homes and their cars. At first, it isn't easy. You are a stranger. Who is this guy? Where's Furman? But the relationship was growing.

Times are horrible in the media industry, exacerbated by the barons who run the shows. They make the GM twits seem like Andrew Carnegie. I was told my whacking was a corporate decision, made by Clear Channel bean counters, using some "formula.'' I don't know if I believe that. I never knew if I believed anything anyone told me at WLW, not from the very first day. Radio is not a pretty business, at least from my very limited perspective. Not that it matters.

At 10 AM Tuesday, I was handed a severance package and shown the door. Literally overnight, I went from being "the future of the radio station'' (Parks) to the parking lot. The whole transaction took 5 minutes. Since I'd never been "severed'' before, I don't know if that's the norm. And obviously, there is no "right'' way to do that sort of thing. Regardless, it was entirely classless and, from what I've heard from others within ClearChannel Cincinnati, not atypical.

So it's done. Here's what/who I will miss:

The players. Especially the Reds. LW has a far better relationship with the Reds than with the Bengals, so most of my positive radio experiences came with Reds. I got to know several guys a lot better because of their frequency on my show: Brandon Phillips, as sweet a guy as you will ever meet, someone who gets it when it comes to Giving Back, and wants more than anything to be remembered fondly as a lifetime Red; David Weathers, whose wisdom and down-home sensibilities helped me see inside the game, and who never took criticism personally; and Arthur Rhodes, a guy I've just grown to know and like immensely. I value these relationships highly. None would have been possible without SportsTalk.

I will miss a few people at the station: Seg Dennison. A bigger heart does not exist; Nick the WonderBoy Producer, whose enthusiasm and insight fueled some of those long, winter Friday night shows. Jeff Henderson, Jack Crumley, the kind words of Jim Scott. Good people, good at what they do.

It's too bad about my business now. It sucks for me, obviously, but also for you. The vigorous public debate we once had in all arenas is either entirely out of control or completely silenced. There is no room for rational discussion or thought. It's all about biting the heads off chickens. The great thing about writing is, it allows you the time to think while you're reacting. Thinking is old school. Radio is strictly a brain-to-mouth enterprise, and too often the brain is manipulative or dead.

Best wishes to Lance McAlister. He is a pro. He owns the passion for sports that I've never been able to summon on a daily basis. Lance knows what he knows. He'll do very well.

Meantime, thanks to those who listened and responded thoughtfully. My time is up, I thank you for yours.

[TJJackson]

err, not that I am a devotee of this writer or anything, but I am a sports fan and have lived in Cincinnati most of my life, and I have never heard any such reference to crackers, phallus-shaped or otherwise

Would you care to provide a link that details this?

[membengal]

daugherty, in a moment of refreshing honesty, wrote:

Best wishes to Lance McAlister. He is a pro. He owns the passion for sports that I've never been able to summon on a daily basis. Lance knows what he knows. He'll do very well.

And, that bolded part, right there? THAT is why his talk show sucked. And why his column sucks. And why he, in general, sucks. Pretty damn hard to write an effective and insightful column, much less host an interesting sports talk show, when you really don't care about the subject matter.

Problem is, the just (C. Trent) were caught up with the unjust (Daugherty) in this latest purge. But Daugherty's canning was uber-deserved.

[gregstephens]

According to P-Doc the reasons he was s**tcanned was his refusal to bite the heads off of chickens, being too prepared, and his unfortunate habit of thinking too much.

I'm sorry...at first blush I thought you said drinking too much.

My bad.

[HairOnFire]

Would you care to provide a link that details this?

I doubt such a link exists, but if you're interested you could drop by his blog and ask Doc about his cracker eating habits. Maybe something along the lines of.....

"Dear sir, it has recently come to my attention that you may prefer crackers that are dick-shaped. While this strikes me as being a tad peculiar I refuse to cast judgement upon you until more facts are known. Do you only eat dick-shaped crackers? Have you never tried a classic saltine or he buttery goodness of a Ritz? And most important, were I of a mind to try said cracker for myself where might I sample one of these edible dick-shaped treats? The reason I ask is due to my own fondness for any quality cracker product, as well as my years and years of experience with having things that are dick-shaped placed in the vicinity of my mouth. Thanks in advance, your biggest and perhaps only fan, TJ "Sweetie" Jackson"

[Bearcat1975]

daugherty, in a moment of refreshing honesty, wrote:

Best wishes to Lance McAlister. He is a pro. He owns the passion for sports that I've never been able to summon on a daily basis. Lance knows what he knows. He'll do very well.

And, that bolded part, right there? THAT is why his talk show sucked. And why his column sucks. And why he, in general, sucks. Pretty damn hard to write an effective and insightful column, much less host an interesting sports talk show, when you really don't care about the subject matter.

Problem is, the just (C. Trent) were caught up with the unjust (Daugherty) in this latest purge. But Daugherty's canning was uber-deserved.

I think Doc reflects the frustration and occasional apathy felt by any Cincinnati sports fan even remotely sober and paying attention.

Basically, I like the honesty. You people want a writer who will tell you its raining while Mike Brown pisses down your neck. That's fine, but you won't get that either. Yep, now we get to hear even more about the Yankees and Red Sox! That's much better...

Seriously though...the hatred some of you obviously have for PD. You need to direct that where it belongs. PD doesn't make the turds, he just writes about the turds.

I find him quite positive about the Reds, and quite apathetic about the Bengals. I can relate. I'm just glad they didn't replace him with some homer. Even though I'm sure that's what many here were hoping for. But hey, at least you'll know how the BoSox did last night.

Get used to this: