Go Away, WEEI

Three weeks have passed since WEEI held its annual Jimmy Fund telethon and I still can't get over how absurd it is. WEEI should not be applauded for sponsoring this, least of all because all of its talk show hosts can't stop congratulating themselves for doing it.

For the 363 days of the year it isn't raising money for the Jimmy Fund, WEEI is at best boorish and domineering. Most of the time it's a mean-spirited, insensitive, derogatory, and homophobic and racist station (while the last two sentiments are always latent in its commentary, they were never more overt than when "Dennis and Callahan," the morning drive-time hosts, compared inner-city, black teenagers trying to improve their futures to gorillas; yes, this actually happened). Yet, because they spend 48 hours raising money for cancer, we should all praise them?

Their hosts adopt these odd personas during the telethon, too. While on all other days they belittle anyone who disagrees with them (callers and other sports reporters) and athletes or anyone who make mistakes (in Boston and elsewhere), they become well-behaved, kind, articulate, deferential hosts who endlessly admire cancer patients, particularly pediatric ones during the telethon. Now, of course, who wouldn't behave that way while next to those courageously battling a deadly disease? They deserve that and heaps and heaps more. But if WEEI's hosts can comport themselves like this on these two days, why can't they do it on all others? (I realize my language is starting to sound like the Four Questions' here.)

It seems the implicit message is: "Some people's jobs require them to be jerks. Ours is one of them. But we're really nice guys (and yes, we're all guys, who have such deep yearnings to kiss a man that we endlessly deride everyone who does). Really, we only pretend to be jerks because that's what sells. But today, because of the content, we'll be true to ourselves and be nice." If so, again: Why not be kind everyday? Respectfulness and good sports analysis are not mutually exclusive. Or maybe the message is: "Look, even we can be nice to people have cancer! Everyone can rally around it!" If so, why give them the honor of hosting this?

Now, one of those morning hosts, if he were ever to read this, would probably use this post as proof that I hate people with cancer -- as he somehow extrapolated in another way with a recently dispatched, wayward Boston sports celebrity (unfortunately, much of the link is hidden behind the Herald's ill-conceived archive wall) -- but I think it's just proof that he and all his WEEI colleagues just hate everyone but people with cancer, and that's unfortunate.