OK, the title is a bit misleading, but after you read this I think you'll get its spirit.
Whether it was on WFBQ, HANK FM, or whatever, for years people have listened to 'The Bill Polian Show' via the Internet. Just log onto the radio station's web site, click on their live feed, and presto! You're hearing words like 'Pay-Tree-Ots' and 'Prog-Nost-I-Cators' come from the speakers, courtesy of Colts president Bill Polian and his weekly radio show.
However, since Polian was involved in a much publicized tirade against the fans on his show last year following the benching of starters during a Week Sixteen regular season game against the Jets, 'The Bill Polian Show' has not been made available via the Internet feed.
For months, we've called and emailed 1070 The Fan and asked for answers why. Today, we finally got an answer, in the form of an automatic 'Radio Guy' voice that plays on the Internet stream during the 'Bill Polian Show' time slot:
The play-by-play current airing is subject to blackout rules, and cannot be heard on this stream. Regular programming will resume after the game.
Um, what?
First off, 'The Bill Polian Show' isn't a game and doesn't have a play-by-play. Last I checked, ii probably not subject to 'league blackout rules.' I'll call the league tomorrow to confirm that. Second, if this show were subject to such rules, why the hell was it aired for fifteen weeks last season and for a numbers of years prior to that?
I'll continue in my efforts to get some kind of answer from the 1070 big whigs, but that fact that this show has been cut off from the Internet stream since our little blog made Bill Polian's rant against fans national news suggests, to me, that there is something more going on here than 'league blackout rules.'