So it appears 105.7 the Point’s morning show duo weren’t on the air Monday morning. We know that because we got a lot of traffic from people Googling for “Woody and Rizzuto suspended” and messages from all over that went just like this one we got on Facebook:

Any idea what Woody and Rizz said on the Point last week that got their show pulled this morning?

Well our readers are apparently Point fans and if they want to know what’s going down over at Emmis Radio, we’re happy to oblige! We tucked our suspensions away, pulled out our oversized magnifying glass and and started to sleuth around.

The Point’s site only had this to say on the morning show’s page:

FOLKS -
NO WOODY AND RIZZUTO SHOW TODAY.
MORE INFORMATION TO COME WHEN I GET IT.
PLEASE KEEP CHECKING THE BLOG FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.

- PATRICO

Not really helpful…almost purposefully vague you might say. Hmm.

Nothing on their Twitter page, nothing on any of the St. Louis media internet haunts. Nothing from our sources. Nothing!

We got nothing.

…but in this case, nothing is something. Seriously.

Here’s how this works: No one gets suspended without people talking about it. Not the midnight guy on the Arch, and especially not the morning show on the Point. Chances are good that they simply took a day off and figured they’d steal some promotion out of it while they did it.

It’s actually not even the first time they’ve done this: Almost exactly a year ago, the same thing happened. Woody and Rizzuto weren’t on the air one morning and since there was no notice, people assumed they had been suspended. Nope, they just took the day off for reasons that had little to do with their on the air antics. I’m sure they were really bummed that people lit up their Facebook page all day last year though, just like today.

Chances are high they’ll be back on this morning talking in vague terms about their absence, letting you fill in the blanks to their once-a-year off day Mad Lib.

Sorry for ruining your shtick guys.

Ah semantics.  A boss tells an employee or two to not come in to work the next day.  What would you call that?  Some would say “suspension” others say…well…”not a suspension”

The later is what 105.7 The Point’s Woody told STLMedia’s Mike Anderson happened on Friday, not a suspension like what we reported.

Now I know this is gonna really bum you out……but we’re not suspended. We’re back on the air Monday. Anyone who’s been listening to the show knows that we’ve been organizing a counter protest, to the protest of Northwest High School by the Westboro Baptist Church (a.k.a. the godhatesfags.com idiots). They were there to protest the diversity programs the school offers as well as to damn the school for hosting a memorial service for Sgt. Brian Wood’s…..a local soldier who died in the line of duty.

Because this counter protest SNOWBALLED due to our promotion, the size and scope of the event worried the Emmis lawyers…..worried that despite our promoting this as a peaceful and non-violent protest that someone would do something stupid, and then we (Rizzuto and I), the station, and Emmis could potentially be on the hook if something went sideways. So after interviewing the director of the Southern Illinois/Missouri Anti-Defamation League, talking to local authorities, and others who had a hand in the planning of this counter protest…..Emmis decided that the best course of action for today (the day of the protest) would be to NOT have us on the air. We did nothing wrong, we’re not in trouble, and we’ll be back on Monday. There you have it. Don’t believe me? Listen Monday and everyone will get the full story.

Whatever.  The fact is that they were told not to come in to work Friday, but clearly the ruckus at the Facebook page wasn’t the issue, it was the interview with the lovely godhatesfags.com people.  So in that regard we were wrong.

Hey look at that!  We correct our mistakes right here on page 1, not on page E56 under the obituaries.  Who’s the stand-up journalist now newspaper guys?!  Huh?  No response?  Oh yeah, we have to wait until tomorrow to hear your response.

Apparently 105.7 The Point’s new-ish morning show “Woody and Rizzuto” have been suspended for the rest of the week because they made jokes about the frontman of the band 360Smile’s suicide.  Well not really, they were really suspended because of the movement to boycott the show.  Here’s some info from their Facebook Group page:

After the death of 360Smile front man Josh Herr, his friends family and fans flooded the phone lines with requests for 360Smile songs….Woody & Rizzuto the morning show douchebags went on live air, calling josh a coward among other things, and refused to play the songs THEIR FANS requested.

Woody & Rizzuto not on IGNORANTLY SPECULATED about Josh’s death, they did so ON AIR. They have NO RESPECT for Josh…or ANY of us who loved him.

Who knows, this may all just be a stunt, but if its not allow me to defend the guys making fun of a man’s suicide.

1. They aren’t required to play songs from a band just because you like them or because some dude offed himself.  In fact, more than likely, they can’t.  Yup.  They can’t.  Why?  Because it’s radio morons and the songs they play at a certain time were scheduled about 3 weeks ago.

2. This one is a big one for me.  Just because someone died, it doesn’t mean I have to like them.  Its amazing that most people go around hating everyone, but if someone dies you apparently have to crawl up their ass as pretend you were always a big fan.  You don’t.  Chill.

3. Is it nice to show disrespect of a man’s death?  No, probably not, but respect is a subjective thing and you don’t have to listen to them.  If this group wants to boycott the show, fine, who cares?  But this current trend of removing people off the air just because 13 people that have nothing better to do are offended is getting a little insane.

4. Who says suicide can’t be funny?  …what if a clown did it?  Or Chevy Chase?  Yeah…think about that.

Updated!  See below original post…

We hear Emmis, the radio company that operates 105.7 the Point, 97.1, KSHE, and KHITS, has stopped paying for their employee’s parking passes at their Union Station office.

What does this mean? Yup. Emmis’ poor underpaid jocks now have to pay to park at work.

Lame and sad.

Well, at least they have all those fabulous shops in Union Station to hang out at…oh wait.

Update: 

Dana, from the comments and Emmis checks in with this:

They cover parking. Parking prices have increased and they are merely selective as to whom is issued a swipe pass as opposed to paper passes.

Thanks for the update.  Good to hear things haven’t gotten that bad yet.