Courtesy the Miami Herald

(March 18, 2011) More than seven months after becoming one of the few franchises in pro sports with their own two-hour weekday radio show, the Dolphins and WINZ 940 have created a program that is superior to what the Dolphins used to give us on WQAM, where listeners either slept or suffered through former team executive Joe Bailey’s ponderous diatribes on stadium parking and maintenance.

But the Dolphins still have work to do. The team is making a mistake by not taking listener calls on the WINZ show because that eliminates any chance of spirited back-and-forth banter between the callers and hosts. The routine of reading listener comments (from e-mails, Facebook, Twitter and online chats), then having the analysts opine for several minutes can be tedious and restrictive.

And despite a seemingly limitless appetite for Dolphins news, WINZ’s Finsiders ranks last in the most recent monthly ratings among the four sports shows that air in Miami-Dade/Broward between 5 and 7 p.m. In the key male 25-to-54 demographic, WINZ’s Dolphins show had a 0.4 average share for December and January, compared with a 2.9 for The Ticket’s Dan Le Batard, a 2.7 for WQAM’s Sid Rosenberg and a 0.6 for WMEN 640’s Orlando Alzugaray (who, despite a weak signal in Dade, has built an audience from nothing; Ed Kaplan had a 0.0 share when Alzugaray replaced him in October).

Among ex-players (we’re not reviewing the show’s sportswriters), Finsiders has some capable analysts: Kim Bokamper, Keith Sims and Troy Stradford are the best of the group, and the dialogue is liveliest when two of those three are paired with host Jesse Agler. Regrettably, Sam Madison struggles to articulate points clearly or concisely.

The program does good work covering NFL news beyond the Dolphins. But Finsiders has been handicapped by the lockout because there aren’t player signings to discuss and because interviews with current Dolphins aren’t permitted.

What Finsiders could use is another dynamic, opinionated former player with more pizzazz than competent but colorless John Congemi. But the three best choices are unavailable: Joe Rose works for WQAM; Jim Mandich is battling bile duct cancer; and Zach Thomas shows no inclination to do radio.

Another issue is the perception that some of the hosts are less inclined to criticize the Dolphins because they’re paid by the team. Bokamper, not one to sugarcoat, is among the exceptions. One person on the WINZ Dolphins draft show last year was told to stay positive. Dolphins executive Jim Rushton said the commentators can criticize but must “be fair and don’t get personal, which some talk shows tend to do.’’

Our suggestion: Reiterate to the hosts that they can criticize without worrying about job security. Then hire always-candid O.J. McDuffie and Danny Kanell. So why no listener calls? Rushton said, “We can have hundreds of people responding to each other’’ in cyberspace after comments are read on the air. But the Dolphins could still achieve that, even with calls.

The biggest obstacle for the Dolphins’ show is the formidable competition, with Le Batard and Rosenberg (who have significant followings), and Alzugaray (who takes some listeners from WINZ because of his strong Dolphins knowledge and his cutting candor).

But the Dolphins will keep trying, and WINZ’s show (simulcast on the team’s second website, thefinsiders.com) is a decent option for listeners who want mostly NFL talk.

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