The Last Word

prunudo

griffin100 wrote: »

I listened to the Christmas sports books review a couple of night ago. Matt and two others reviewing sports books.

Joe Schmits book got lambasted, despite none of the three actually having read it. Then they got onto Matts own book about Jamie Heaslip. Matt used it as a platform to have a go at Paul Kimmage and the other two stuttered their way through the review with some meaningless sound bites - it was obvious they thought the book was sh1te.

That segment for me pretty much summed up how far the Last Word has fallen in quality.

Did Cooper and Kimmage have a falling out. He used to regularly have him on as a guest.

prunudo

prunudo wrote: »

Did Cooper and Kimmage have a falling out. He used to regularly have him on as a guest.

odd as he used to defend Kimmage on twitter when people complained on twitter about him

CatFromHue

Cooper didn't have a go at Kimmage but considering Kimmage did ask him and Heaslip for comment on the drug test story it wasn't right that Cooper didn't respond until now.

Maybe Heaslip told him not to I don't know but they had their chance when the story first broke and didn't do it then.

jay0109

Cooper has obviously taken the hump about Kimmage's reaction to his Heaslip book. Kimmage went hard after Heaslip when the book came out after the story of the failed drugs test. A few Kimmage articles later and Heaslip had to come clean (excuse the pun) and tell the whole story.

It came to a head in this article
https://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/other-rugby/paul-kimmage-jamie-heaslip-has-finally-spoken-but-forgive-me-if-i-was-expecting-more-38655646.html

In his statement Heaslip says: "I apologise for the unintentional error of detail in the book, on the timing and location of the tests and the date of my return from holiday back in 2006, and am happy to clarify the matter."

But he's supposed to be a member of the World Rugby Anti-Doping Advisory Committee. And the last time we checked, Matt Cooper was a great journalist.

So forgive me for expecting more.

All rather embarrassing for a great Journo like Cooper!

PhoneMain

jay0109 wrote: »

Cooper has obviously taken the hump about Kimmage's reaction to his Heaslip book. Kimmage went hard after Heaslip when the book came out after the story of the failed drugs test. A few Kimmage articles later and Heaslip had to come clean (excuse the pun) and tell the whole story.

It came to a head in this article
https://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/other-rugby/paul-kimmage-jamie-heaslip-has-finally-spoken-but-forgive-me-if-i-was-expecting-more-38655646.html


All rather embarrassing for a great Journo like Cooper!

Kimmage hasnt been on in months, well before heaslips book. Dunphy is flavour of the month now.

robo

prunudo wrote: »

Did Cooper and Kimmage have a falling out. He used to regularly have him on as a guest.

No Kimmage is taking a stand with the journos that aren't allowed on Communicorp stations - The Irish Time and any journos who wrote stories about Dinny O' Brien and not appearing on their stations, saw a tweet to back this up a few weeks ago from Kimmage. He used to be on for the full Sports hour on a Monday on TLW and nearly once a month on the Sunday newspaper discussion on Newstalk. I kinda miss him

BPKS

I decided I'd give the Last Word another try to see if there was any change.

They have an even more annoying contributor from some website or other on this Friday Forum thing than they used to have.

She cant finish a sentence without saying like and was like totally saying that the Pope should not have slapped that woman like.

She even forgot what she was trying to say half way through her first sentence!

giveitholly

BPKS wrote: »

I decided I'd give the Last Word another try to see if there was any change.

They have an even more annoying contributor from some website or other on this Friday Forum thing than they used to have.

She cant finish a sentence without saying like and was like totally saying that the Pope should not have slapped that woman like.

She even forgot what she was trying to say half way through her first sentence!

Came on here to see if anyone was listening to her,when talking about the Australian Bush fires she made out Kim Kardashian or one of those lot was doing more for climate change than the aussie prime minister,she had no research done on any of the topics they were talking about and just waffles through the segment

ButtersSuki

BPKS wrote: »

I decided I'd give the Last Word another try to see if there was any change.

They have an even more annoying contributor from some website or other on this Friday Forum thing than they used to have.

She cant finish a sentence without saying like and was like totally saying that the Pope should not have slapped that woman like.

She even forgot what she was trying to say half way through her first sentence!

giveitholly wrote: »

Came on here to see if anyone was listening to her,when talking about the Australian Bush fires she made out Kim Kardashian or one of those lot was doing more for climate change than the aussie prime minister,she had no research done on any of the topics they were talking about and just waffles through the segment

You're not allowed criticise her because:
1) she's a woman
2) she's more woke than you
3) you're men (probably)

hotmail.com

ButtersSuki wrote: »

You're not allowed criticise her because:
1) she's a woman
2) she's more woke than you
3) you're men (probably)

But the poster just criticised her.

ButtersSuki

hotmail.com wrote: »

But the poster just criticised her.

NIMAN

The one on now won't stop mentioning women.

BPKS

And just to annoy myself further I listened to Jennifer Gannon.

She commented on some poll about TV show on a website called Lad Bible (whatever that is) and said the words "Lad Bible" like it was a piece of dogsh1t in her mouth.

She didn't like their choices cos the TV shows (Peaky Blinders and Breaking Bad) have main characters who are "lads".

ButtersSuki

NIMAN wrote: »

The one on now won't stop mentioning women.

Is it the culture spot? Is Jennifer Gannon on?

ButtersSuki

NIMAN wrote: »

The one on now won't stop mentioning women.

BPKS wrote: »

And just to annoy myself further I listened to Jennifer Gannon.

She commented on some poll about TV show on a website called Lad Bible (whatever that is) and said the words "Lad Bible" like it was a piece of dogsh1t in her mouth.

She didn't like their choices cos the TV shows (Peaky Blinders and Breaking Bad) have main characters who are "lads".

I should have known.......obvious in hindsight.

BPKS

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Is it the culture spot? Is Jennifer Gannon on?

TV - see post above

NIMAN

I heard them call her Jennifer.

A dose.

ButtersSuki

NIMAN wrote: »

I heard them call her Jennifer.

A dose.

She's a loon. I've actually come around to feeling sorry for her.

ILikeBoats

Enjoyed Chris Hadfield, interesting man!

padd b1975

Very good performance from Eoghan Murphy this evening in an extended debate on housing.
It was for the most part a head to head between him and Jack Chambers (FF).

Poor Jack seemed to be a bit out of his depth and was regularly pulled up by both the minister and Sahurday for fairly basic inaccuracies.

jay0109

Eoghan Murphy can talk, there's no doubt about that. That's the least I'd expect from a privately educated Southsider.
Alas, his performance in office speaks much better of his capabilities in the area of housing than a 10 minute slot in front of the likes of Jack and Matt.

padd b1975

How old is Jennifer Gannon?
Not old enough to remember Spitting Image in any great detail I'd suspect.

Obviously that didn't stop her giving her opinion on the original when they were discussing the reboot.

jay0109

Dermot and Dave presented The Last Word for 1 day there last Wednesday or Thursday. We're in the final days

siblers

jay0109 wrote: »

Dermot and Dave presented The Last Word for 1 day there last Wednesday or Thursday. We're in the final days

That was a one off. They weren't covering him. Matt was on instead of Fergal Darcy

jay0109

siblers wrote: »

That was a one off. They weren't covering him. Matt was on instead of Fergal Darcy

I know that...some sort of corporate sponsored job switch for the day. But still...

pjohnson

Cal needs to retire. Its sad what he has become at this tage. Conspiracy hardline Trump nonsense everytime with no rationality that he used to have. Just constant agreement and repeating whatever Trump says and dodging questions.

Plus he seems to have repeatedly plugging his website. Did he loose a job in America or something?

dominatinMC

pjohnson wrote: »

Cal needs to retire. Its sad what he has become at this tage. Conspiracy hardline Trump nonsense everytime with no rationality that he used to have. Just constant agreement and repeating whatever Trump says and dodging questions.

Plus he seems to have repeatedly plugging his website. Did he loose a job in America or something?

Cal is one of the few reasons I tune in to TLW anymore. His arguments with Marion (and Matt - who should be impartial :rolleyes:) can make for great radio sometimes. Nobody wants an echo chamber. Although a Republican, I wouldn't consider him completely pro-Trump, and have often heard him criticise Trump in the past.

newcavanman

Cal does a superb job and demonstrates great grace under pressure, considering he's outnumbered, shouted down and interrupted at every turn.
If Trump cured AIDS, Marion and Matt would find something wrong with it

Tork

The way Matt behaves towards Cal in that weekly slot is nothing short of disgraceful. Is he not supposed to be the neutral(ish) one in the middle, facilitating the debate between the other two? I'm not sure why they bother bringing Cal on to offer his opinions as a counterpoint to theirs when they just shout him down. I don't agree with most of Cal's opinions but I want to hear them anyway. What is being rude to him going to achieve anyway? He's not going to turn into a Democrat or become a liberal at this stage of his life.

JoeA3

Agree with the last posts, I love Cal, again I wouldn’t necessarily agree with everything he says either, but I admire the no nonsense straight talker in him. I’m not quite sure why he doesn’t tell Matt to stick his mic where the sun doesn’t shine but apparently they are great friends behind it all. Strangely enough..

He’s a very rare gem on what has become an atrocious shadow of what was a very good current affairs programme.

BPKS

Mario Rosenstock is also a member of TLW echo chamber when it comes to Trump.

I usually don't tune into his Sunday show as its very poor but turned on after the 12 o clock last Sunday and he introduced a piece with Karl Dieter - saying that Dieter would be on to defend Trump to some extent.

It was brilliant - a breath of fresh air for Irish radio. We heard what Trump had done well, we heard acknowledged what Trump had done poorly. After Dieter's initial points Mario hit him with some "researched" points. Mario was put back in his box when he was told that whoever did his research for him didn't do a very good job.

Thereafter Mario was firmly in his box. He tried a different tact then, saying that he decided to give his guest the time to make his points without being interrupted. When what he actually meant is that he had no idea how to counteract the arguments of the guest when he had run out joking about disinfectant etc.

It well worth seeking out the piece for a listen back.

ButtersSuki

Haven't been here in quite some time - but by the looks of it neither has anyone else 26 posts (incl. this one) since the 13th of December last, 6 of which were comments on last night's show - it also went a full 2 months without a single comment. I wonder is this reflective of an audience shift of a certain age cohort replaced by a younger, more woke demographic, or is it reflective of an actual loss in listenership?

JoeA3

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Haven't been here inquite some time - but by the looks of it neither has anyone else 26 posts (incl. this one) since the 13th of December last, 6 of which were comments on last night's show - it also went a full 2 months without a single comment. I wonder is this reflective of an audience shift of a certain age cohort replaced by a younger, more woke demographic, or is it reflective of an actual loss in listenership?

I think the current "situation" probably has a lot to do with it. Lots of people have probably switched to talk/current affairs oriented stations, hungry for the latest news. Mairead Ronan seems more irrelevant than ever.

NIMAN

I think the reason is that TLW is simply an irrelevance now as a show.

It offers very little. So not much to debate about it.

Re: Cal. I do feel sorry for him too. But if anyone says he is a Trump defender all the way, they aren't regular listeners. I have often heard him slag Trump off or say he was wrong. He is definitely not a cheerleader for him.

Tork

Cal would be the first to say Trump is a jerk but he has been consistent in saying he likes a lot of his policies. We tend to concentrate too much on "Trump's Base" who by and large seem to be ill-educated, bigoted hicks. They alone didn't get Trump elected though. What about the section of the electorate who held their noses but put the tick beside Trump's name anyway? They were tuning out from all the "noise" that surrounds Trump and looked at their growing pay packets, the economy booming and the other stuff they liked. Maybe Covid-19 will make them think twice about who they vote for in November but it's too early to say. Cal falls into that bracket and he's just as entitled to air his opinions as the people who think Trump is an antichrist.

I think it's safe to assume that most Irish people think Trump is an appalling human being and scratch their heads as to how somebody like him got to be President. So to what audience is Matt trying to play to? We've all made up our own minds what we think of Trump. Talking over Cal just makes for poor radio, nothing more. As I said earlier, I don't agree with many of Cal's opinions but I think the least Matt and Marion could do is give him the opportunity to air them. We're all grown-ups and we can decide for ourselves what to think. How Cal keeps his cool and doesn't slam down the phone I'll never know. Their friendship behind the scenes must be a very strong one, given the way he is treated on air.

EverythingGood

Tork wrote: »

Cal would be the first to say Trump is a jerk but he has been consistent in saying he likes a lot of his policies. We tend to concentrate too much on "Trump's Base" who by and large seem to be ill-educated, bigoted hicks. They alone didn't get Trump elected though. What about the section of the electorate who held their noses but put the tick beside Trump's name anyway? They were tuning out from all the "noise" that surrounds Trump and looked at their growing pay packets, the economy booming and the other stuff they liked. Maybe Covid-19 will make them think twice about who they vote for in November but it's too early to say. Cal falls into that bracket and he's just as entitled to air his opinions as the people who think Trump is an antichrist.

I think it's safe to assume that most Irish people think Trump is an appalling human being and scratch their heads as to how somebody like him got to be President. So to what audience is Matt trying to play to? We've all made up our own minds what we think of Trump. Talking over Cal just makes for poor radio, nothing more. As I said earlier, I don't agree with many of Cal's opinions but I think the least Matt and Marion could do is give him the opportunity to air them. We're all grown-ups and we can decide for ourselves what to think. How Cal keeps his cool and doesn't slam down the phone I'll never know. Their friendship behind the scenes must be a very strong one, given the way he is treated on air.

I met Cal at the Kennedy Summer School last year in New Ross and he was very complimentary of Matt and the show. I suspect a lot of this is Matt being a ****ing eejit.

technocrat

The show has gone really downmarket in the last 2yrs to cater for the liberal offended types.

Just earlier he was interviewing someone that interviewed Matt Damon.. Ffs!

Funny thing at the end he tried to claim it was international news.. So much for been a serious topical debate show.

NIMAN

People have to remember that in America if you are a republican, you tend to stay that way and have to defend the party and its leader.

It just so happens to be Trump. It must be hard for many republicans to defend him, but they probably feel they have to.

dominatinMC

technocrat wrote: »

The show has gone really downmarket in the last 2yrs to cater for the liberal offended types.

Just earlier he was interviewing someone that interviewed Matt Damon.. Ffs!

Funny thing at the end he tried to claim it was international news.. So much for been a serious topical debate show.

Couldn't agree more, pandering to the perpetually-offended who see themselves as arbiters of all that is good and evil. I used to be an ardent listener, but now only tune in occasionally in the hope of hearing Cal, or someone with any semblance of an alternative viewpoint.
I think the demise can be summarised succinctly be comparing the quality of contributor. TLW has gone from the likes of Robert Fisk to the likes of Roe McDermott. Enough said.

technocrat

dominatinMC wrote: »

Couldn't agree more, pandering to the perpetually-offended who see themselves as arbiters of all that is good and evil. I used to be an ardent listener, but now only tune in occasionally in the hope of hearing Cal, or someone with any semblance of an alternative viewpoint.
I think the demise can be summarised succinctly be comparing the quality of contributor. TLW has gone from the likes of Robert Fisk to the likes of Roe McDermott. Enough said.

Karl Deeter does a much job when Matt is away.

He does the U.S slot particularly well been justifiably critical of both Dems & Reps.

The current host is well past the 'use by' date!

All that fandango

technocrat wrote:

The current host is well past the 'use by' date!

Absolutely. Matt is a complete pain in the hole to listen to now. I roll my eyes everytime I hear him mention Trump. Yes Matt we know you hate Trump, must you remind us every chance you get? A bit cringe and pathetic for a grown man to be so bitter. Are the likes of him not supposed to be impartial? Why does he get a free pass?

technocrat

All that fandango wrote: »

Absolutely. Matt is a complete pain in the hole to listen to now. I roll my eyes everytime I hear him mention Trump. Yes Matt we know you hate Trump, must you remind us every chance you get? A bit cringe and pathetic for a grown man to be so bitter. Are the likes of him not supposed to be impartial? Why does he get a free pass?

Matt's hate list include:

Trump
Boris
Banks
Successful RICH business people
Builders
Catholics
The Goverment - unless it's far left.

pjohnson

Christ I forgot what this thread was like re. Echo chamber :pac:

dominatinMC

pjohnson wrote: »

Christ I forgot what this thread was like re. Echo chamber :pac:

You may not conform to the general sentiment on here, but at least you are free to express your view on that - which is more than can be said for the actual show, ironically enough.

yosser hughes

I think a lot of the content and direction this show and others have taken, is producer driven and the likes of Matt or Pat Kenny on Newstalk, don't give as much of a shyte as they used to, to bother changing direction.
I listened to TLW in the past but haven't in a few years now. Life's too short and with internet radio, there's no reason to confine yourself to the domestic choices.

newcavanman

I remember when TLW originally began. There are plenty of times, i absolutely cannot stand Dunphy and his hypocritical attitudes to things, but, boy oh boy, it was a cracking show. If the debate was good, then everything, news, ads, the lot went out the door. I remember one evening, the 6 O'Clock news was broadcast at 6.20.
One evening he interviewed Andrew Morton, who hadwritten a book about Diana. When the book was published, months before, he decried the author as a muck raker, but when he had him on the show he gave him a soft interview complimenting the so called brilliant book. I texted in, as did quite a few listeners, and Dunphy did a full Mea Culpa, acknowledging his mistake.
You certainly wouldnt get the like of that from the current host

djemba djemba

newcavanman wrote: »

I remember when TLW originally began. There are plenty of times, i absolutely cannot stand Dunphy and his hypocritical attitudes to things, but, boy oh boy, it was a cracking show. If the debate was good, then everything, news, ads, the lot went out the door. I remember one evening, the 6 O'Clock news was broadcast at 6.20.
One evening he interviewed Andrew Morton, who hadwritten a book about Diana. When the book was published, months before, he decried the author as a muck raker, but when he had him on the show he gave him a soft interview complimenting the so called brilliant book. I texted in, as did quite a few listeners, and Dunphy did a full Mea Culpa, acknowledging his mistake.
You certainly wouldnt get the like of that from the current host

Funny now the news or whatever they call it lasts 20 minutes

BPKS

newcavanman wrote: »

I remember when TLW originally began. There are plenty of times, i absolutely cannot stand Dunphy and his hypocritical attitudes to things, but, boy oh boy, it was a cracking show. If the debate was good, then everything, news, ads, the lot went out the door. I remember one evening, the 6 O'Clock news was broadcast at 6.20.
One evening he interviewed Andrew Morton, who hadwritten a book about Diana. When the book was published, months before, he decried the author as a muck raker, but when he had him on the show he gave him a soft interview complimenting the so called brilliant book. I texted in, as did quite a few listeners, and Dunphy did a full Mea Culpa, acknowledging his mistake.
You certainly wouldnt get the like of that from the current host

In the early 00s you had Dunphy (with Navan Man, Drunken Politician and Fr Wishy Washy) on The Last Word.

You had Sam Smyth on the Sunday morning show.

Now you have Matt Cooper (with the 5 at 5 and 6 at 6) on The Last Word.

You have Mario Rosenstock on the Sunday morning show.

And on Newstalk you have Ciara Kelly instead of George Hook.

Sums it up really.

djemba djemba

BPKS wrote: »

In the early 00s you had Dunphy (with Navan Man, Drunken Politician and Fr Wishy Washy) on The Last Word.

You had Sam Smyth on the Sunday morning show.

Now you have Matt Cooper (with the 5 at 5 and 6 at 6) on The Last Word.

You have Mario Rosenstock on the Sunday morning show.

And on Newstalk you have Ciara Kelly instead of George Hook.

Sums it up really.

Just to add to Sam Smyth, you had contributions from Ed Hayes also. Now we have someone from the journal.

Maybe we are wrong and that is what people want. If that is the case I don't want to be right.

dominatinMC

djemba djemba wrote: »

Just to add to Sam Smyth, you had contributions from Ed Hayes also. Now we have someone from the journal.

Maybe we are wrong and that is what people want. If that is the case I don't want to be right.