PARTY TIME

Gow Media's listener appreciation party was an event to remember

Loyal listeners were treated to an evening of food fun and up close conversation with some of their favorite ESPN 97.5 personalities Thursday evening as part of a Listener appreciation event put on by the station.

The station opened their doors at 6 p.m. to a line of excited fans who were ushered up an elevator to the Gow Media lobby where they were treated to catered food, an open bar, and an opportunity to sit in on a live broadcast of The Blitz with Fred Faour and AJ Hoffman.

“I was great to see them talk in person because you don’t ever get to see it,” Michael Chan explained. “Seeing it in person, like some of the arguments and when they go back and forth, it’s a lot of fun.”

On top of the food and drink, listeners had the opportunity to meet and speak with many of the station’s on air personalities including Faour, Charlie Pallilo, Raheel Ramzanali, and Lance Zierlein.

“Whenever I first started getting into media I knew fairly early on that radio is the closest to the one-to-one medium.” Pallilo remarked. “When done well it feels more like interaction from the host or hosts to the individual listener.”

Pallilo entertained guests on one end of the Gow Media lobby by successfully fielding guest-submitted sports trivia questions in an attempt to stump the daytime show host for prizes. Across the same lobby, Faour and Hoffman mingled with fans in familiar territory: a poker table.

The entire station was fair game, and guests were encouraged to weave their way in and out of the production side of the building, giving listeners the opportunity to see just where and how their favorite shows are made.

“No business can have 100 percent customer satisfaction, no sports opinion I have is going to have 100 percent agreement; I wouldn’t want that,” Pallilo added.”But this event, I think got close to--if not--100 percent satisfaction.”

 

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Kyle Tucker returns to Houston this weekend. Composite Getty Image.

Two first-place teams, identical records, and a weekend set with serious measuring-stick energy.

The Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs open a three-game series Friday night at Daikin Park, in what could quietly be one of the more telling matchups of the summer. Both teams enter at 48-33, each atop their respective divisions — but trending in slightly different directions.

The Astros have been red-hot, going 7-3 over their last 10 while outscoring opponents by 11 runs. They've done it behind one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, with a collective 3.41 ERA that ranks second in the American League. Houston has also been dominant at home, where they’ve compiled a 30-13 record — a stat that looms large heading into this weekend.

On the other side, the Cubs have held their ground in the NL Central but have shown some recent shakiness. They're 5-5 over their last 10 games and have given up 5.66 runs per game over that stretch. Still, the offense remains dangerous, ranking fifth in on-base percentage across the majors. Kyle Tucker leads the way with a .287 average, 16 homers, and 49 RBIs, while Michael Busch has been hot of late, collecting 12 hits in his last 37 at-bats.

Friday’s pitching matchup features Houston’s Brandon Walter (0-1, 3.80 ERA, 1.10 WHIP) and Chicago’s Cade Horton (3-1, 3.73 ERA, 1.29 WHIP), a promising young arm making one of his biggest starts of the season on the road. Horton will have his hands full with Isaac Paredes, who’s slugged 16 homers on the year, and Mauricio Dubón, who’s found a groove with four home runs over his last 10 games.

It’s the first meeting of the season between these two clubs — and if the trends continue, it may not be the last time they cross paths when it really counts.

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -112, Cubs -107; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

Here's a preview of Joe Espada's Game 1 lineup.

The first thing that stands out is rookie Cam Smith is hitting cleanup, followed by Jake Meyers. Victor Caratini is the DH and is hitting sixth. Christian Walker is all the way down at seventh, followed by Yainer Diaz, and Taylor Trammell who is playing left field.

How the mighty have fallen.

Pretty wild to see Walker and Diaz hitting this low in the lineup. However, it's justified, based on performance. Walker is hitting a pathetic .214 and Diaz is slightly better sporting a .238 batting average.

Screenshot via: MLB.com



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