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The Idaho Statesman, Boise, Michael Deeds column
[October 21, 2011]

The Idaho Statesman, Boise, Michael Deeds column


Oct 21, 2011 (The Idaho Statesman - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- One word comes to mind while listening to satellite-radio hosts "Opie and Anthony" eviscerate "Randy and Alana" from KAWO 104.3 FM last week, inciting a cockroach-like listener assault that forced them to shut down their Facebook page.



WOW. As in the country station's name. Wow. Wow. Wow. The vulgar, 48-minute annihilation is beyond mean and crude. (You can listen to it on my blog, but be warned: It's pretty repugnant.) It's also one of the craziest things that has ever happened to the morning duo.

While doing their own show, Randy and Alana simultaneously had to stave off an online attack from hordes of Opie and Anthony listeners out for blood on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.


"It was hard," Alana says. "There were a couple of times I was bawling my eyes out, because, I mean, it just hurt. I would be bawling and then we'd have to quick go on the air, and I'd, like, quick blow my nose, dry my tears and suck it up and get on the air!" Remember, she's the one on the billboard with the devil horns, too.

The bizarre beatdown was part of an "Opie and Anthony Show" segment known as "Jocktober." It's supposedly "a celebration of craptastic radio from around this great nation of ours." Opie and Anthony -- who are heard across the United States and Canada -- basically spend an hour ripping a local-market show to shreds with the elegance of a honey badger.

Oct. 11 was Randy Scott and Alana Lynn day. By the time a supposed SiriusXM listener (probably a radio producer) phoned the Boise station to alert it of the surprise attention, the "Randy and Alana" Facebook page was being ravaged with comments.

"Initially, we started just blocking users and taking some down," Randy says.

Then it became too much to keep up with the stupidity and vulgarity, which hit jaw-dropping proportions.

"It was unlike anything I've ever seen or experienced in my life," Alana says.

That's what's irresponsible and cruel about Opie and Anthony's otherwise potentially humorous gag. Sure, these profane clowns can sit around in a New York studio hammering universally cheesy morning radio. But Opie and Anthony are nothing compared to their listeners. And they know it.

Once encouraged, the online denizens will feast on any targeted morning show's online presence like hissing roaches on a carcass.

"It's not the bit that I think either one of us were bothered by," Randy says. "It's like, 'OK, that's kind of funny.' I could pick any morning show in America and make fun of it for an hour. That's not what bothered us. It was the cyber attacks from their fans. They call themselves pests." For Randy and Alana, lines of decency got crossed.

"My youngest daughter has Down Syndrome," Randy says. "And one of their fans said, 'Your retarded kid is the reason I support Planned Parenthood.' " Alana felt the brunt of the brutality. Opie and Anthony picked on her weight. Their listeners made awful sexual comments.

"I am still getting some emails," she says. "Like, I'll open it, and it will say, 'Alana, I want to rape you.' Or, sometimes, it says, 'Hey, c-word, I want to rape you!' There's lots of raping going on in the email." Exhausted and reeling, Randy and Alana managed to turn the experience into a positive the next day. They focused their show on cyber bullying's effects on kids.

"The thing I come away with from this," Randy says, "is the fact that if a couple of aging shock jocks in New York don't like our show, then we're doing something right. Because they're not the target demo." Adds Alana: "Now you just have to laugh it off. Because if you let it get to you, you'll just curl up in a ball at your house, with maybe your two cats and your dog surrounding you and ... cry?" She laughs. It's a radio guffaw -- that familiar, often over-the-top expression of hilarity that fills morning shows in cities everywhere.

It's good to hear she's still able to do it.

ENTERTAINMENT NOTES MCDONALD: Fans at this summer's Eagle River Pavilion Michael McDonald show -- the one where he didn't sing -- are still trading in their stubs for tickets to two make-up concerts Nov. 21 at the Egyptian Theatre in Boise. After that, organizers expect about 400 tickets to be available for $29 at ICTickets beginning at 10 a.m. Oct. 25.

NO KIDDING: The upcoming Kid Rock concert Dec. 4 at the Knitting Factory sold out in about 90 minutes. Check Craiglist for "deals" now.

Michael Deeds co-hosts "The Other Studio" at 9 p.m. Sundays on 94.9 FM "The River"; he appears Thursdays on Channel 6 News. Twitter: @IDS_Deeds ___ (c)2011 The Idaho Statesman (Boise, Idaho) Visit The Idaho Statesman (Boise, Idaho) at www.idahostatesman.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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