KFAN Sleaze

The sports-talk radio station up here in Minnesota is KFAN (100.3 here where we listen). The station has a small network around Minnesota and in eastern North Dakota. After years of listening to the talkers on that station, I happened to visit its web site the other day; and that visit left me shaking my head and wondering what the hell all that sleaze was about.
by Charlie Leck

You go to a sports-talk web site and you expect to find lots of stuff about sports – baseball, football, hockey and basketball. I was surprised to find KFAN’s web site full of women’s bosoms and butts. I happened to leave the web site up on the computer while I went to fill my coffee cup. My wife walked by it and shouted out to me: “What are you looking at on the computer? These porn sites are supposed to be dangerous places to go!”

I came back to the computer and began looking at the monitor from her point of view. There was a story about the upcoming Vikings’ pre-season game against San Francisco. And a story by Dan Barreiro about “stroller terrorists” was the pages lead. But, to the right was a small photo of a couple of binkini-clad young woman (I guess they were volleyball players) but the photo’s attention was on their hips and asses. Immediately down the page was an article and photos of “Claudia Romani in a pink top and black bikini…”

If I was a woman sports fan I’d be furious. What the hell! I took a look at the photographs. Oh my goodness. Such junk belongs elsewhere on the World Wide Web.

Here’s a bunch of other photo spreads of buxom, barely covered women (“stories” they call the pages at KFAN)…

“PHOTOS: Miss Butt Brazil model Andressa Urach sizzles in new magazine spread…”

“PHOTOS: Nabilla Benattia shows off her curves and can’t stop adjusting her revealing bikini top on a beach in LA”

“PHOTOS: Charisma Carpenter shows off her amazing bikini body.”

What the hell is this all about? Why doesn’t the self-righteous Dan Barreiro go off on one of his rants about this kind of stuff being on his network’s web page? That instead of worrying about “Stroller Terrorists at Their Worst!” Come on, you self-righteous slug, speak up about this bit of childish, immature bit of crap at your radio station. What are you doing putting up with fecal matter like this? You, with the splendid wife and wonderful young daughter!

“Does it get any worse than this?” That’s the question Barreiro asks as he shows off a photograph of a tandem children’s stroller at the State Fair, with a large American flag attached to it – essentially, two children’s wagon attached, one behind the other.

Yes,
it does, Mr. Barreiro. It gets much worse! Just take a look at your own employer’s web site and you’ll see how much worse it can get. If you want to talk about “classless” and “tacky” and “poor taste,” your web site takes the prize for the scummiest of all the radio stations. What do all these photographs, which are designed to be sexually stimulating to men, have to do with what your job is at KFAN? How could you associate yourself with such cheapness?

Because of the way one of your fellow employees at the station, Paul Allen, always talks to and about women, I can see his relationship to such first-stage porn, but not you. This stuff makes a lot of your commentary and criticism pretty toothless. This stuff may be fitting for your tasteless early morning show, but it shouldn’t be part of what you do.

“If your business is trying to reach men,” KFAN tells potential advertisers, “you’ve come to the right place. KFAN speaks to more than 170,000 men each week.”

And, I might add, to teenage boys fascinated with professional sports and sports figures. What’s the message these photographs of barely clad women gives off?

The message from my wife?
"Get that stuff off our computer monitor!"

She’s correct, you know; and you ought to listen to her. She’s no prude! She’s a woman of the world, but she’s got taste and she knows about appropriateness!

KFAN is cheap, cheap, cheap, cheap! The station has really gotten down into the gutter! Advertisers should take notice. You may want to reach men, but is this the way you want to do it?

And, I want to ask:
Why have the Vikings associated themselves with this kind of classless behavior? And, I’ll ask the same about our National Hockey League team, the Wild, also! And the University of Minnesota! Why?

Sunday Sermon!
It would be a good topic for one of your Sunday sermons, Mr. Barreiro! Let’s hear what you’ve got to say about these babes instead of over-sized strollers. And preserve the sermon so your daughter can read it one day.

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