Common Man & T-Bone Columbus Ohio State Screen grab: 97.1 The Fan
By Ben Axelrod on

Following Ohio State’s third consecutive loss to rival Michigan, Columbus radio hosts Mike Ricordati and Jonathan “T-Bone” Smith just wanted to wallow in their own self-pity. Unfortunately for the co-hosts of 97.1 The Fan’s Common Man & T-Bone, they also had a schedule to adhere to.

But as a commercial break during the first hour of Monday’s show approached, Ricordati decided he’d rather keep complaining about the Buckeyes’ inability to beat “That Team Up North.”

“I don’t want to take a break. As a matter of fact, I’m not going to take a break,” the “Common Man” said. “How much are all the ads in this commercial break if we tally them all up?”

“I’m sure thousands of dollars,” Smith responded.

“OK, I just bought ’em,” Ricordati said. “I’ll buy ’em.”

Ricordati and Smith continued to discuss to potential consequences of not taking a commercial break, at a time in which they presumably should have been in a commercial break. Eventually, new 97.1 The Fan program director and operations manager Matt Fishman entered the studio to confront his hosts about why they weren’t going to their commercial break.

“What’s happening?” an exasperated Fishman asked.

“I just don’t want to take the break,” Ricordati replied.

“OK. ‘I just don’t want to take my vegetables.’ Is that what this is now?” Fishman responded.

“I think we’d have a better show today if we just went the whole way through and didn’t take a break,” Ricordati said.

“The whole show?” Fishman asked.

“I think that’s where we are,” Ricordati said.

The back and forth continued, with Fishman reminding his hosts “we do have a business to run here” and Ricordati responding that he would take his boss’s request to go to commercial “under advisement.” Ricordati later said that he had received an email from “corporate” informing him that if the show didn’t take a commercial break and get back on schedule, it would be removed from the air.

Following some back and forth regarding whether that meant to take a commercial at that exact time or the commercial break that had been planned to occur in four minutes, Ricordati opted for the latter. When the show returned from break, 97.1 The Fan host Tim Hall was in Ricordati’s place as the “Common Man” discussed the matter with station higherups.

Minutes later, a dejected Ricordati returned, stating there was a chance he wouldn’t be on Tuesday’s show.

“I almost got fired,” Ricordati said.

Ultimately, 97.1 The Fan posted to X (formerly Twitter) that Ricordati and Smith would be on the air on Tuesday, while the latter joked about the matter on his own account.

Considering that this is a show known for its hijinks — and that Fishman comes from ESPN Cleveland 850, which is known for its bits — we’re not ruling out the possibility that this entire ordeal was orchestrated. Ultimately it’s hard to imagine that two veteran radio hosts would actually think that they could get away with not abiding by the sacred network clocks.

[Awful Announcing on X]

About Ben Axelrod

Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.

View all posts by Ben Axelrod