Ricky Bottalico had a terrible answer to “Kobe or Steph?” on 97.5 this morning
Former Phillies reliever and current miserab Ricky Bottalico appeared on 97.5 The Fanatic’s John Kincade Show this morning. During what I assume was an otherwise innocuous episode, co-host Bob Cooney asked Bottalico if he’d choose to start an NBA team with Kobe Bryant or Steph Curry. Can’t go wrong either way, right?
Well… not quite.
Bottalico’s response was cringeworthy at best:
I’m not going to do some fake outrage about how this is a totally gross and unacceptable response because it’s not. My main issue is that the joke isn’t very funny, and the guy who told it is even less funny.
The problem with Bottalico’s sense of humor is that he’s so ham-fisted with his jokes. This latest clip clarifies that NBCS Philly hired him to be the most miserable man in baseball, not make the people laugh.
The exchange was tough to watch, but do you want to know the worst part? The bones of a funny joke are there.
There was a setup, a punchline, and a couple of tags at the end – joke writing 101. Even so, the execution left a lot to be desired.
I’m not saying people should be letting Kobe jokes fly on morning radio whenever they see fit, but I believe that you can joke about anything IF you’re funny enough. Sadly, neither Bottalico nor his quip itself falls into that category.
Kincade’s face says it all. He has the perfect look of “yeah, that was kinda funny but not funny enough to outweigh how messed up the joke was.”
The joke was definitely in poor taste, but it’s even more disappointing because I expect more from fellow paisan. We’re born as natural storytellers, and being able to riff a good joke is almost a cultural requirement. Instead, Bottalico opted for an artless joke about a Philly-area legend.
Pretty lame.
