Boomer and Carton

Boomer and Carton

Genre	Sports talk
Running time	4 hours (6:00 – 10:00 a.m. ET)
Country	United States
Language(s)	English
Home station	WFAN (2007-present)
TV adaptations	CBS Sports Network (2014–present) MSG Network (2010–2013)
Starring	Boomer Esiason Craig Carton
Recording studio	WFAN Studios in New York, NY
Air dates	since September 4, 2007
Website	Boomer and Carton Homepage

Boomer and Carton is a morning drive sports radio program on WFAN-AM and WFAN-FM in New York City. It is hosted by Boomer Esiason (former National Football League quarterback) and Craig Carton (formerly of The Jersey Guys). The show debuted on September 4, 2007.^[1][2] The show was simulcast on MSG Network from September 14, 2010 through September 13, 2013, and began airing on CBS Sports Network on January 6, 2014.^[3]

History

In the wake of the shock jock Don Imus' controversial comments in early 2007, CBS Radio fired the long time radio personality. From that point on, the 6:00 to 10:00 a.m. time slot was filled by various hosts to help fill the void left by the Imus firing. Charles McCord and Chris Carlin remained on all the replacement shows as assistance and staff, in similar roles as they were on Imus's show, and the replacement shows continued to be syndicated via Westwood One. Mike Francesa and Chris Russo were the first to fill the spot, hosting for the two weeks (April 16–27) immediately after Imus' firing. Francesa and Russo also worked the shift separate from each other, as did fellow WFAN staffers Richard Neer, Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts, and Carlin, who worked both alone and with co-hosts, notably Kim Jones and Washington Post sports columnist John Feinstein.

WFAN and Westwood One also brought in outside personalities into the slot. Among them were Boomer Esiason, David Gregory, Patrick McEnroe, Geraldo Rivera, Lou Dobbs, and Chicago sports radio host Mike North.

On September 4, 2007, Esiason took over as the permanent host of the WFAN morning show, with veteran radio personality Craig Carton serving as co-host. The new program is not distributed nationally by Westwood One. During the 2009 spring and summer ratings periods the program has finished in first place among men ages 25–54.

A television simulcast debuted on MSG Network on September 14, 2010, giving the show more exposure in upstate New York.^[4] On December 2, 2013, CBS announced that it would present the show on CBS Sports Network beginning in January 2014.^[3]

On-air

Carton walks across the Brooklyn Bridge in a Speedo

On January 18, 2008 Carton was forced to walk the Brooklyn Bridge holding a sign reading "Any Given Sunday"^[5] and wearing only a Speedo and New York Giants All-Pro tight end Jeremy Shockey jersey.^[6] After a week of berating the local team, Carton guaranteed the Giants would lose to the despised division rival Dallas Cowboys.^[6][7] The following Sunday the Giants upset the Cowboys, 21–17.^[8][9]

After the stunt, Carton quipped, "It's an experience I will never do again".^[6]

On January 8, 2010, Carton repeated the stunt this time in the colors of the New York Jets, following Carton's earlier claim that the Jets would not make the playoffs. This stunt meant a lot more for Carton as he is a born and raised Jets fan.^[10]

Brett the Jet

On July 30, 2008 at 1pm, Carton went to the NY Jets training camp at Hofstra University in Uniondale, Long Island.^[11] Carton brought a megaphone and rallied a group of a few hundred Jets fans cheering "Let's Get Brett". The chant was a response to speculation that Green Bay Packers QB Brett Favre was looking to be traded upon coming out of a brief retirement. Carton had reasoned with the Jets organization over the air to put out a statement that the Jets were not pursuing Favre, if that was the case. If the Jets made this statement, he agreed to not show up at camp—but the Jets organization never came forward. Carton was chastised by the local media for this "stunt" and many local reporters felt the Jets stood no chance of getting Favre. On August 7, 2008, the Jets acquired Brett Favre for a conditional 4th round draft pick.^[12]

Carton's Super Bowl XLVI prediction

On October 3, 2011 Carton promised to quit the show if the New York Giants won Super Bowl XLVI. Despite the Giants winning the game 21-17 over the New England Patriots, Carton did not keep this promise.

Regular segments

• Ding Dong, Hellooo.
• Attention Grabber – A weekly segment where Carton selects an attractive random woman (usually from Maxim), with a soundbite consisting of Esiason saying "She's a hot box of rocks" used as a "seal of approval". Often, Carton precedes the segment by asking Al Dukes (the show's producer, affectionately known as "Al Hughes") what would he do if he saw the woman. Notable "Attention Grabbers" have included Caitlin Upton, Kelly Brook and Riyo Mori
• Gas Face Goat Horns – A segment that consists of Esiason and Carton placing the blame for a certain team's loss. A soundbite of Michelle Beadle saying "Gas Face Horns" will be played
• Do You Know More Sports Than... – A contest where an attractive woman in the studio answers sports related questions, with the caller (or in some occasions, a WFAN employee) trying to answer more of the questions correctly than the woman. In some occasions, Carton would (jokingly) recommend Dukes to the woman if she is single. Often, the woman in question would choose "Team Boomer" over "Team Cragie" due to Esiason's winning record against Carton. Recently, the rules of that contest were modified, where the woman must correctly answer five questions regarding her favorite local sports team, with the prize being tickets to a home game of that specific team
• Jerry's Updates – Jerry Recco (incorrectly spelled and pronounced "Rello" by Carton, in a joking reference to former Mets color commentator Wayne Hagin's on air mistake of referring to him as "Jerry Rello") provides periodic updates from the sports world. A recurrent gag during this segment had Recco provide inaccurate reports, only to be mocked by Carton, and the soundbite (My mistake, I apologize), will be played when Recco makes a mistake. During a Thanksgiving show, Carton had also criticized Recco's Pilgrim hat, stating that Recco looked like an "Orthodox Jew", leading to Carton, who is Jewish himself, singing "Hava Nagila", a Jewish folk song. A lot of the time soundbites will be played from managers or broadcasters ex (John Sterling,Suzyn Waldman,Howie Rose, etc.)
• Mets Fans For Yankees! – During the last month of the MLB regular season, Carton would attempt to "convert" New York Mets fans into New York Yankees fans in hopes of success for the latter team, much to Esiason's dismay.
• Moment of the Day – A specific moment during the show being regarded as the best one of the day
• Al (Hughes) Dukes Sings – Often, Dukes would sing a song relating to a local team
• Show & Tell – A weekly rotating segment where Recco, Esiason or Dukes would bring an item to show in-studio, only for it to be disposed of by Carton thereafter
• Morning Cup of Joe – A pre-recorded segment where Joe Benigno reveals five top stories in sports as well as in the news
• Boomer's Fantasy – fantasy football segment updated every Friday during the NFL regular season

Recurring gags

In addition, a recurrent gag on the show has Carton mocking various sportscasters, most frequently Jim Nantz, Jim Rome, John Sterling, Kevin Harlan, Marv Albert and Suzyn Waldman (He also mocks Albert's son Kenny, Orel Hershiser, Chris Russo and Mike Francesa) . Another gag on the show had Carton suggesting to use star 67 if the person he wants Al Dukes to call does not respond. Other gags have included Carton asking Esiason for an advance copy of the video game Call of Duty due to Esiason's association with an employee from Activision, as well as Carton's dislike of ice hockey, reflected in soundbites consisting of a little girl saying that "I don't really care about hockey" and another from B&C blog writer Bob Dwyer saying that "nobody cares about hockey, Boomer", the latter being played whenever Esiason brings up a topic or news regarding ice hockey.

In several occasions, Carton, alongside Dukes, would accompany Esiason to various cities where he is broadcasting a Monday Night Football game for Westwood One. As a result, the next day's show is remotely broadcast from that particular city.

• Also, when Kevin Harlan has broadcast a game from the previous night, the soundbite (Great point, Boomer) is played from a game where Esiason was his broadcast partner.
• Whenever Jim Nantz is mentioned, two soundbites of Nantz making an unintelligible noise and of Nantz saying his signature "Hello, friends!" introduction are played, often in excess, with Carton mocking him. Carton and Esiason will make fun of Nantz during The Masters golf tournament and during the NFL season.
• Whenever Westwood One Sports executive producer Howard Deneroff is mentioned or referred to, a soundbite taken from a Westwood One broadcast ("The executive producer is Howard Deneroff") is played.
• When referring to a bad team, Carton would play the soundbite from Mike Francesa's rant on the New York Mets (They Stink!!!) and will use it pretending to ask Francesa questions on what he thought on both the team in question and various topics, with the soundbite used as Francesa's "reply"
• Whenever a news topic involving Jordany Valdespin is mentioned, a soundbite of Valdespin saying "I'm the man right now" is played, with Carton mocking him at various intervals, including the use of a Russian accent to imitate him (despite the fact that Valdespin is actually Dominican). During a segment, Carton, as Valdespin, pretended to ask David Wright, Dukes, Francesa, Joe Benigno, Marc Malussis and even Russian president Vladimir Putin if they were "The Man" (in reference to Valdespin's catchphrase), with Carton repling "No, because I'm the man right now!"
• On some occasions, Carton and Esiason would imagine (and have fun at the expense of) how several news outlets, most often ESPN, would handle certain news stories (e.g., Ben Rothlisberger's rib injury and the end of the NHL lockout). In one show, Carton and Esiason poked fun at Cleveland-based radio show Bull & Fox (broadcast on WKRK-FM) by naming various fictional sports talk shows after farm animals

Former topics and gags

• Movie-oke (with Al Dukes and "the" Eddie Scozzare)
• Rat of the Week
• Boomer eBay item of the week
• Boomer & Carton's To Tell the Truth
• "Do you know more sports than a hot co-ed" gameshow. Formerly "Do you know more sports than a housewife"
• Al Dukes and Tony Paige Pre-Show
• Carton's Jeopardy
• Boom Jovi
• Boom-Cougar Mellencamp
• Boom Stewart
• Boom'd Up!
• Blog Shout-outs (Dec 11, 2009)
• Al Dukes Weekly Jets Song Parody

Controversies

On April 1, 2014 Boomer and Carton were discussing Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy taking paternity leave in order to be with his wife for the birth of his first child, and the fact that Murphy would be unable to attend opening day. In an otherwise out of character moment for the otherwise socially conscious Esiason, Boomer was critical of Murphy saying his wife should have scheduled "a C-section before the season starts" because he "needs to be at Opening Day." After getting blow back from groups like the March of Dimes and the majority of the program's listeners, Esiason later apologized to Murphy and his wife for "creating an intrusion into a very sacred and personal moment in their lives" and for making an "insensitive remark that I sincerely regret". Carton, as per his character, remained indifferent, referring to those who opposed them as "knuckleheads".^[13][14]

References

External links

• Boomer and Carton in the Morning Homepage