790 THE ZONE FIRES ITS CLOWNS

 

Good-bye, Steak Shapiro, and take Bozo and Baby Huey with you. 790 The Zone in Atlanta
turned the lights out and microphone off for the trio that delivered the worst attempt at humor
in the history of sports talk radio.

On Monday morning, Shapiro, Chris Dimino, and Nick Cellini thought it was a good idea to
mock a former NFL player dying with ALS. They didn't just say something off the cuff about
Steve Gleason, an inspirational hero who once played for the New Orleans Saints. Instead, they
planned and produced a skit that made Gleason appear that he was talking to them live via
telephone.

They actually thought about it and decided to try and get a cheap laugh by using a robotic voice
that many ALS victims employ after the disease ravages their motor skills, making it impossible
to speak on their own. In the annals of sports talk radio, this is about as low as it gets, even for
the talentless crew of 790 The Zone.

Management at the Atlanta-based station, quickly suspended the trio, then pulled the plug on
their act for good on Monday night. Shapiro, Cellini, and Domino were a big part of 790 The
Zone since its inception, but it wasn't because, obviously, of any discernible talent.

Shapiro helped found the station, thanks to the deep pockets of his father. He couldn't get a job
anywhere else, so daddy bought a place for him to work. He often battled with former Braves
pitcher John Rocker and became a celebrity in town, basically because of his longevity. After
all, when your father pulls many of the strings, you get pointed in the right direction and away
from the firing line.

That changed when Shapiro and his partner Andrew Saltzman sold their stake in the company.
When you don't have the money or the power anymore, the security, or lack of it, often follows.
Nobody could protect Shapiro and his sidekicks, Dimino and Cellini after they made a skit about
Gleason that was tasteless, classless, and indefensible. How these guys could actually think this
was going to go over well with anybody in Atlanta, much less the entire country, just illustrates
what mental midgets they are.

Shapiro and company got too arrogant and too fat. They believed they ruled Atlanta's sports
talk radio scene, which while in a big market, has the talent level that is below average at best.
Case in point, Sandra Golden. She was a former sports reporter at Fox Sports Net, who couldn't
tell you if a football is pumped or stuffed. She hooked on with Shapiro and 790 The Zone after
getting dumped by FSN and then moved over to rival 680 The Fan. Golden can't make it through
an update without fumbling all over herself and the only thing she knows about sports is what
she reads in USA Today or watches on ESPN. Yet, she is a staple of the Atlanta sports talk
radio scene.

Time's up, Steak, and you are well-done. You and your buddies made fun of a dying man with
ALS, and that is your legacy. You made fun of other people for years just to get a cheap laugh.

Now, it is all those people who are getting the last laugh. But the party is not over. In fact, it's
just getting started and Shapiro, Dimino, and Cellini are now on the wrong end of all the jokes.