Petros and Money Have The Best Show On Radio!

I'm gonna come clean right now. I spend waaay too much time listening to sports talk radio. So much so that I've considered going to a 12-step program to get over my addiction.

It's not entirely my fault. I live in Los Angeles where a 10 mile jaunt down the Interstate can easily turn into a day trip and going to the store for a quart of milk needs to be planned out based on time considerations.

Still I often listen to my favorite shows in the house and I could voice identify many national talking heads if they ever committed a crime in my neighborhood.

I know the difference between JT the Brick and Vic the Brick, and I can tell you which Fox Sports personalities are ESPN retreads and which ones are not.

Recently though, I've been listening to a lot more music and a lot more NPR. Because recently I feel like I've heard it all before. 

That's why I love the pair of knuckleheads that air on Fox Sports every afternoon that go by the name of Petros and Money. 

Petros is Petros Papadakis. Papadakis was a tailback at USC and as he likes to say "captain of the worst football team in USC history." 

Money is Matt "Money" Smith. While Petros was playing at USC, Smith was the Music Director at LA alt rock station KROQ.  

Both men had been fixtures on the LA radio scene throughout the early part of the decade but neither seemed to be top line personalities. 

Until they joined forces in January of 2007. That's when something clicked.

Some listeners might bristle at their irreverent take on sports. 

With features like the love line inspired Lance Romance, the Wednesday Night Film Fight where the hosts debate the merits of films like Red Dawn and Pretty In Pink, and a Vance Finance segment where Money mixes legitimate financial advice with gambling tips, the Petros and Money Show (or PMS as it is lovingly referred to by the hosts) can often seem much closer to Howard Stern in his heyday than a traditional sports talk show.

But sports remains the bedrock. 

Both men are more than knowledgeable when it comes to sports. Papadakis is one of the premier college football analysts in the country and Smith who used to travel with the Lakers can break down basketball with the best of them.

They also have a number of regular guests who can discuss any sport they don't know as well. People like football analysts Dennis Green and Darryl "Moose" Johnson, college and pro basketball analyst Don MacLean or baseball announcer and former pitcher Mark Gubiza all appear regularly along with Jay Glazer, Pete Carroll and a host of others. 

The real fun comes when they have special guests like Jerry West who came to the studio a full hour recently, Lakers exec. Jeanie Buss or Adam Carolla of the Man Show fame. Carolla often shows up and does an hour or two of crazed improv. 

It's times like that when the show really takes off.

The best part of the show though is the music. Ronnie Facio is flat out the best music disc jockey in a city full of them. 

Better than Anne Litt and Chris Douridas on KCRW. Better even than Steve Jones (now sadly relegated to the Internet) and Henry Rollins. 

From obscure wonders like the Trinidad Tobago Steel Band to the latest songs from Pitchfork favs like Atlas Sounds and everything in between, Facio's drops give airtime to some of the best music ever made. From James Brown to Warren Zevon to Bob Dylan or Lou Reed who's Satellite of Love is playing the background as I write this.

The show is national on Fox Sports Radio from 7 PM to 10 PM EST.

If you haven't heard it yet. Check it out on-line.

http://www.am570radio.com/pages/pc/