Rah rah

Uh-oh … don’t look now but the draw play that started with 1270 WXYT-AM’s recent takeover of Detroit Tigers and Red Wings broadcasts is about to move that station into the red zone. Already broadcasting Detroit Lions games and surrounding the various pro contests with pre- and post-game shows, WXYT (“TalkRadio”) now plans to expand its sports-talk offerings with “The Locker Room,” a daily radio version of the Sunday night WDIV-TV 4 broadcast by local jock-celebs Kirk Gibson, Gary Danielson and Eli Zaret. “The Locker Room” leaves the starting blocks on Jan. 5 (airing 3-6 p.m., Monday-Friday) and sends three of this town’s most knowledgeable sports minds up against the Laurel and Hardy duo over at 1130 WDFN-AM (“The Fan”), Mike Stone and Bob Wojnowski (“Stoney and Wojo,” 3-7 p.m., Monday-Friday), who liberally mix overeating jokes, pseudo-tournaments (e.g. top-seeded Milky Way vs. 16th seed Zagnut) and other inanities into their more sports-related patter. Will Gibby & Co. stoop to “The Fan”’s shtick menu in order to compete — trying out Art Regner’s rabble-rousing, Gregg Henson’s penis paranoia or Wojo’s fat-dummy routines? Don’t lay money on it, considering that Gibson’s baseball savvy, Danielson’s football expertise and Zaret’s all-around sports journalism are a widely respected, much-needed commodity in these parts. If anything, the discussion that Detroit-area sports fans have been starving for seems available at last.

George Tysh is the Metro Times arts editor. E-mail him at [email protected]