Tomorrow morning from 8-noon the Dari and Mel show debuts on ESPN Radio. The show promises to touch on all sports and feature interviews and general tomfoolery with hosts Dari Nowkhah and Mel Kiper. Kiper, the ESPN NFL draft expert since the 1940’s, seemingly has absolutely zero experience covering any other sport besides football. Nowkhah generally serves as one of the rotating anchors on SportsCenter. Having Mel Kiper talk about sports other than the NFL Draft will allow ESPN to continue its proud tradition of having people talk out of their ass about things they don’t know about for exorbitant lengths at a time.
It’s a shame, really, that ESPN is ready to waste such a good head of hair on the radio. I follow the NFL Draft, sort of, but Kiper being able to rattle off Middle Tennessee State’s backup linebackers actually kind of annoys me more than impresses me. It reminds me of that guy we all knew who would rattle off the numbers of pi and expect us to be impressed by such pointless knowledge. So, what I’m trying to say is that 85% of Kiper’s value to me derives from that dome of his and will obviously be absent with him on the radio.
Is this rookie Dari and Mel show ready to make the jump to the next level? I don’t know, Kiper on a show that doesn’t exclusively cover the NFL Draft seems like a reach pick here, he doesn’t grade out as someone who has knowledge of anything besides football . On the other hand, Nowkhah is a solid system guy who might have the intangibles to take D&M to the next level. Mel certainly is a high motor type of guy, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t blink once during the NFL Draft weekend. But, does he even know that the sport of basketball exists? The x-factor of this show is its timeslot. It seems like a reach that anyone wants to hear Mel Kiper ramble about the Houston Astros bullpen situation at 8 a.m on the clock on a Saturday. Personally, I will most likely not be up at 8 a.m. on a Saturday and this certainly might mean that I personally have some character issues that need to be fixed. In conclusion, the Dari and Mel show is a sleeper pick for me.
[ESPN]
