Howard Stern ...

Is there anything I can say about Howard Stern that hasn't already been said? No. He's a jerk, he's controversial, he's always complaining, he's extremely popular, etc, etc. All of these things have been said, and they have all been written about. Probably, each of these statments is true. That's why it is hard to write anything new or creative about Howard. Just trying to write something interesting in this blog reminds me of an article by my favorite writer, Bill Simmons of ESPN.com. The article was called "Tiger's great ... what can you say?" He was writing about why he had never written an article on Tiger Woods. He came up with five reasons why he had trouble writing about Tiger. So why not look at his list and see how it relates too Howard Stern.

Reason No. 1: Overkill
Bill Simmons explained how there were so many articles about Tiger that were essentially the same. "How many times can we rehash the story about a kid who was raised to succeed at one thing -- golf -- and ended up doing just that?". This one definitely fits Howard. We hear about him on the news, in the paper, in magazines, on various TV shows, and on his own radio and TV show. Basically all you hear is how he is controversial, rude, and from his fans how he is funny.

Reason No. 2: His interviews aren't exactly electric
Because golf is a sport of tradition, mostly played by rich/upper class people Tiger Woods does his best to avoid controversy. Howard Stern does the opposite. Though most people like him or not would say Howard Stern gives interesting interviews. It seems like it's always the same thing. He's always pushing girls to take their clothes off, or pushing celebrities to reveal something secret about their love life. It starts to feel like he is just being controversial for the sake of being controversial. Maybe he is just trying to be controversial so he can get more attention, because he knows it will give him more viewers, and that will mean more money.

Reason No. 3: His "competition" hasn't shown up yet
Though he does have many rivals: the media, his old radio stations, celebrities he doesn't like, most recently his fans that haven't subscribed to Sirius. But as far as competition with other radio hosts, there isn't any. As his nickname "the king of all media" suggests, he is the most well known, and most powerful person in the media world. The only person with similar fame and power might be Oprah Winfrey, but they are so different, and their audiences are so different that they really don't compete with each other.

Reason No. 4: He's a little too slick
This is where Simmons criticized Tiger for his reputation as a walking Nike billboard. "Part of Michael Jordan's magic was that he played the business side of sports better than anyone, yet still managed to remain likable." The obvious comparison would be how Stern left so-called Terrestrial Radio for Sirius. Not only did he make hundreds of millions of dollars in the deal. That's enough to make lots of his "common man" fans envious. But he also forced his fans to pay so they could hear a show that had been free for so many years.