VANESSA AND GALLANT
ESPN Houston's highly anticipated new midmorning show debuts Monday
Feb 10, 2022, 2:49 pm
Get ready for Vanessa and Gallant! Photo by Brandon Strange.
Vanessa Richardson and Paul Gallant are joining forces as the new 10 a.m. to noon team on ESPN 97.5 and 92.5 FM. Both are no strangers to Houston fans. Richardson joins the station from Channel 2 where she worked as a sports reporter and anchor. Gallant returns to Houston from 710 ESPN in Seattle where he co-hosted the morning drive time show.
The Vanessa and Gallant show starts Monday. They will follow The Bench with John Granato and Lance Zierlein, Houston’s longest-running sports radio duo airing 7-10 a.m., and provide the lead-in to The Killer B’s with Joel Blank and Jeremy Branham from noon-3 p.m. The Wheelhouse with Jake Asman, Cody Stoots and Brad Kellner follows from 3-7 p.m. Late Hits with Patrick Creighton wraps up the daily local programming from 7-9 p.m.
SportsMap Houston put Richardson and Gallant on the firing line, she-said he- said, to introduce themselves and their show.
SportsMap: Vanessa, you'll be the only woman with a Mon-Fri sports talk platform in Houston. Is that important? Does gender matter anymore in sports journalism?
Richardson: I think it’s important to a certain extent. We’ve come a long way in how we view women in sports media. There are a lot of female sideline reporters and TV hosts, but not a lot of women driving radio shows, probably because it’s not a visual medium. So it’s cool that I’m a woman. It’s not the most important thing, but it’s something I hope becomes more common.
SportsMap: Paul, you developed a few offbeat characters during your time on Houston radio. How important is humor in sports talk?
Gallant: Humor is certainly important. If you can't make fun of yourself in this game, you're doomed. It’s more important that you don’t take things too seriously. There are far too many folks in this industry that talk down to their audiences. Always remember, you aren't important. You cover sports. So talk about sports the same way you talk with a friend. Always keep that fan perspective.
SportsMap: Vanessa, you're used to being on TV where you had maybe 60 seconds to deliver a story. Now you'll have two hours. How will the shift to radio impact the way you present your thoughts?
Richardson: That’s actually one of the reasons I wanted to switch to a different medium. Having more than 60 seconds will allow me to go more in-depth with thoughts and commentary, and more importantly, interviews. I love long-form interviews. I’m also going to focus on some multi-platform NFL work, including articles, podcasts and videos.
SportsMap: Paul, gambling and fantasy leagues are big parts of sports talk now. Is that a good thing or bad thing? Do you partake of the wagering arts?
Gallant: In some ways it's good. Listeners may be looking for insight so they can win an extra buck or two. But in some ways it’s not so good. No one wants to hear about somebody else’s fantasy football team. We’ve got to evolve and adopt. If people are looking for it, we have to give it to them. At my last job I had to stay away from all public mentions of gambling. Same with alcohol. Now I’m back in a place where I can be a proper degen. I plan on giving myself a crash course in gambling by partaking. But only a little. I think I’ll be too pissed when the house wins.
SportsMap: Vanessa, after you left Channel 2, how important was it for you to stay in Houston?
Richardson: I love Houston. The people are kind, the sports fans are loyal, and it’s a huge sports market. It doesn’t get much better! Luckily, I feel like sports fans have been receptive to me here, so I wasn’t looking to leave Houston.
SportsMap: Paul, guests or no guests? Callers or no callers? Describe the show that you and Vanessa will bring to ESPN 97.5 and 92.5.
Gallant: If you're bringing on a guest, it better be a big name. We'll certainly be hunting for them. Callers are another story. I love them! Listeners deserve to be a part of the show. Sports talk has the ability to be interactive through texts, tweets, twitch and, of course, old-school calls. Vanessa and I did a couple of practice shows and found we had a pretty natural chemistry. We’ll be busting each other’s chops while focusing on all things NFL, the Astros and whatever nonsense the Texans stumble into. I can’t wait for Monday.
SportsMap: Vanessa, rank your five favorite sports and explain why No. 1.
Richardson: Football, basketball, auto racing, baseball, hockey. Being from Indiana, basketball was king. But I’ve covered way more football. Football and basketball are tied in my book, but I’m well aware of what’s more important in Texas; and nothing beats postseason baseball.
SportsMap: Paul, after your time in Seattle, how much are you looking forward to having an NBA team in your hometown?
Gallant: You have no idea. Much like it's a crime that Tennessee stole the Oilers away (and rub it in our faces with those throwbacks, the bastards), it's ridiculous that a city in Oklahoma has a basketball team and Seattle doesn't. While the Rockets are pretty dreadful right now, I don’t feel gross rooting for them like when James Harden was here. Harden played basketball without honor. I’m glad I won’t have to rant about all the ways – flops, no defense, way too many 3-point attempts for a shooter who’s got the 262nd best 3-point percentage of all time. His game disgusts me.
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.