Jon “Stugotz” Weiner hasn’t been shy about his love for WFAN, but not everyone at WFAN appears to love Stugotz back.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz co-host has a nice job, but it’s not the job he wants. As Stugotz enters the home stretch of his career, he’s been clear about wanting an opportunity to be a full-time host at the station he grew up listening to. Those jobs already being full might present a problem, but it hasn’t stopped Stugotz from trying.
Stugotz filled in for Boomer Esiason on WFAN’s morning show alongside Gregg Giannotti this week. Throughout the week, Giannotti teased the scuttlebutt that midday co-host Brandon Tierney doesn’t like Stugotz. Friday morning, Tierney faced Stugotz and Giannotti to address the allegations.
Stugotz ruffled the wrong feather pic.twitter.com/NEkXDD1QI4
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“Do I love him coming in here all the time, talking about other people’s jobs? No. I don’t,” Tierney admitted after noting he respects Stugotz and his career. “I don’t. And that needs to be said. By the way, I appreciate your love for the station; I really do, because I was the same way growing up. And this is a twisted business and I’m not a radio beef guy I don’t play that nonsense, if somebody doesn’t like me, I don’t care. But coming on our turf and being so free with people’s jobs, somebodies gotta speak up and defend the station.”
Tierney noted it’s not going to be Giannotti defending the station, faulting the morning host for opting to stir the pot by inciting Stugotz in the name of content and entertainment. And with Gio now on the ropes, Stugotz quickly waved the white flag.
“Everything you’re saying is right. In fact, a caller called in and asked us about it, and I said, ‘I’m a horrible person.’ I went too far, and so, I apologize,” Stugotz told Tierney. “Now my show, Le Batard and the crew, they’re not gonna be happy, because they want to escalate the beef. I don’t want to escalate the beef because I’m intimidated by you and I’m scared.”
When Stugotz filled in for Esiason last summer, his interest in joining WFAN full-time seemed more like a bit. But after news broke that he was a serious candidate to replace Spike Eskin as WFAN’s program director, the bit began to feel too real for some of the station’s current hosts.
Friday morning, Stugotz attempted to clarify that he doesn’t necessarily want to replace any current WFAN host, but they are occupying real estate that he would ultimately like to own. Many people in the sports radio industry would like to own real estate; they’re just not as open about it as Stugotz has been.
“You don’t think I want Evan’s job?” Tierney admitted, speaking about afternoon show co-host Evan Roberts.
“There we go!” Stugotz said. “I have cultivated an environment where everyone is talking freely about everyone else’s job.”
“The only difference is you were a little too free,” Tierney added. “And by our standards, you’re an outsider.”
Shortly after hashing out their differences, Stugotz’s week at WFAN came to an end. Stugotz will now return to Miami, where he’s not an outsider. But his interest in WFAN still looms in New York.
[WFAN]
