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Media Review: Harp on Sports

What’s the worst radio show in Alabama? Harp on Sports. And big surprise, it is in Huntsville. Why is Huntsville afflicted with pathetic newspaper reporting, and poor talk radio?

The morning show hosted by Seth Harp airing from 6 a.m.-9 a.m. on WUMP 730 AM in Huntsville was a disaster Friday. The show talked at length about women’s college basketball and University of Tennessee sports.

The only place you would here more about UT would be in Knoxville.

What talk radio listener cares that some basketball player from the Volunteers womens team can dunk a basketball? Big deal. And I really don’t care if she can dunk the ball when it is 6 a.m.

But the show engaged in an agonizing examination of UT women’s star Candace Parker. Harp and callers discussed if Parker should skip her senior season and bolt to the WNBA.

The WNBA.

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If that topic doesn’t yield sizzling ratings then what else would in basketball crazy Alabama?

Harp is obviously an intelligent sports host. He demonstrated a breadth of sports knowledge, and moved between topics with ease. However, it is critical a show cover important topics—there is no way anyone in their right mind would think UT sports in general, and women’s basketball in particular is good talk radio in Alabama.

By the time the Roundtable rolled around on WJOX, I was happy to hear Pauly Shore. Honestly, slamming my hand in the car door would’ve been a welcome relief from Harp on Sports.

The callers on Friday’s Harp on Sports were horrible. They made me pine for the inaudible callers showcased on the Opening Drive on WJOX. Part of the problem could be lack of callers. Harp was berating listeners for not participating on the show. Could the lack of participation come from a failure to discuss LOCAL SPORTS?

20 thoughts on “Media Review: Harp on Sports”

  1. Worst sports talk show in Alabama? Try the nation. Words can’t describe it. Dude takes down strawman arguments like a champ, though. It’s obvious he’s only here to get his feet wet in the business. But I don’t see him getting too far. It’s almost like he doesn’t talk Alabama or Auburn out of spite. How he has lasted as long as he has is a mystery to me.

  2. I would have to agree… I am a FORMER Ump listener who has switched over to news talk against my will. Harp is a complete idiot and from day one of his show, he made it clear that he was not interested in Bama, the Barn or the SEC. He wants to talk national sports, all the while berating Alabama and Auburn fans who call in to complain that he is not talking regional sports. Go figure. I hope they git rid of him soon. Bring back “The Sports Bugg,” please!!!!

  3. I would like to suggest that the “Opening Drive” is the worst Talk Show in these parts. The Load Limit is pushing nearly 30 minutes per hour. Sports Talk is getting in the way of making money on this show. What sports talk to be culled is taken off Sports Center or USA Today and read verbatim. Callers are allowed on only when necessary. The 3 Hosts are as personality challenged as an Iguana. The only real spark is when the News girl pops in with an Enquirer or the latest TMZ gossip. The Hosts then can hoot and chuckle like school girls.
    The real problem at this Citadel Radio Station (WJOX)is that Revenue is more important than Content. Of Course, you can make that argument at most Radio Stations nowadays – it’s just it has become an art form at WJOX.

  4. i hate seth hap. bring back the sports bugg and the sports beard. those guys are class acts and thye never said anything bad about bama. all this harp guy does is bash bama. he says all of our players are getting arrested and our basketbgall team sucks. none of that is true

  5. Harp contends that his show is “big-boy” radio, and that he tells the truth. He comes off however, like a premenstrual 14 year old girl. He is condescending, and although he claims to never call anyone stupid, he does in fact generalize and call a vast majority of audience dumb, especially with his mocking of how some sports fans might talk and what they would say, if they don’t agree with what he says.

    What is even worse, is 730 UMP has now added Steven A. Smith onto their afternoon lineup. This station has driven away so many listeners with their show choices it is unreal.

    Although Harp doesn’t concentrate on Alabama athletics, it wouldn’t matter if he wasn’t such an immature jackass.

    Hard to believe he has lasted this long. THE SCHWARTZ only last a couple of months, and he was 1000 times better than Harp. Bring back Dan Back and Doug Franz, or better yet, 1450 AM sports radio.

    PLEASE GO AWAY HARP!

  6. Indeed Harp is too hard on Bama. He needs to spend at least an hour a day on Bama Football because that’s what the people want. I know most of the UMP’s listeners & that’s what we’re craving. I’ve given him chance after chance & I’ve even talked to Thom about him. I’m about out of answers. Personally I think that’s what the UMP gets for bringing in someone from Nebraska.

  7. All I’m hearing is a bunch of women crying, bitching, and complaining about sports that they dont even understand. Sports talk is more than just Alabama football. Most of us do not care about the size of J.P Wilsons jock size or if the tide got that important verbal commitment from the outstanding 8th grader. I think he does a good job and I was a listener of the Sports Bugg. He brings new Ideas and concepts to radio. I know that most of the people from Alabama and the south are scared to death about new ideas and things but I enjoy it from time to time, because i have what you call an open mind. The Ump also added Steven A. and I think that was a great idea as well. He bring that hard core opinion like Rome and Seth. So for all you hicks who cant expand your mind unless you’re on that Sweet Alabama long grass or coming out your local meth lab, I want you to get a life and get real.

  8. Ironically, harp is from Auburn . . . Just not the one you wish. If you’re upset that he talks about national sports, find a local sports show. Someone else can gloss over the conditions of the Alabama football program or basketball or whatever.

  9. You gotta know where your bread is buttered. The UMP is a Bama station & therefore only Bama issues need be discussed.

  10. Good call. How many times a show does he say ‘Of Course’?

    We got rid of Harp now Franks is next. Bring back Bugg & Thom.

  11. I was afan of Harp on Sports… he basically told it like it was. He held nothing back and to be completely honest, it was the callers to the show that made for bad radio. Some of the ignorant freaks called in with their useless nonsense and it was like nails on a chalk board especially at 7am. The Sports Bugg was terrible. Brent Beeeeeeeaaaaarrrrd was absolutely a sideshow bob version of a Neil Vickers. I’m glad they are gone and hope they never return. Those that do like them, they have a cable show on ZTv if you live in the Huntsville area. AM730 UMP needs to revamp their programming, leave Mike and Mike on in place of the Harp on Sports show (he has left for another station) or if someone is brought in, he/she needs to be from the south, not a northerner like they have a history of hiring.
    …and Johnny Ballpark Franks is just as bad as his name sounds… its like these people cater to the morons that listen. Not all of us are ignoranT rednecks 730UMP

  12. … One more thing… just because AM730 UMP is a Bammer Affiliate doesn’t mean they have to cater to Alabama fans. Its ok to talk about the problems at that school or any other school. The Bammers on hear need to wake up and realize that they are no longer the Dominating team in this State… War Damn Eagle Bammers
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  13. I do not care if he was a Bama guy or an Auburn guy, he sucked! You can tell it “like it is” as some of you say but you have to admit when you are wrong and you don’t beat your callers up AFTER you hang up on them to prove your point. Harp was Chicken Sh!t. Sports Bugg was good they used to get John Clayton on and they would have folks from all over the country on like USC, Mich, and ND. I think harp had once said “David Beckham will change the way we look at soccer here in the south” Hey, Seth how is that working out?

  14. Exactly how many of you morons actually finished high school and married somebody outside your family tree? I may have not agreed with everything that Seth Harp said, but at least he stayed true to himself. People talk about how someone is fake and no one is real anymore. Here’s as real as it gets. Alabama players got arrested. ALABAMA LOST TO LOUISIANA MONROE and it wasn’t because of Mike Shula, the cursed goat, or you didn’t wear the right bama undies to the game. Don’t be frustrated because your team hasn’t met expectations. I ask this question. Would any of you fat, irrational, out of shape blowhards ever handle ever handle a Nick Saban practice. I’d think not. Sit back, Shut The Hell Up, and get a life!

  15. I am so glad Harp is gone! He was nothing but a rude, conceited and vain waste of space on this earth. The station is better with him gone.

  16. Thanks for getting rid of Seth……Now we are stuck with him in Savannah…….Good Gosh he himself is a booger eater….what a waste of time!!!

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