Business & Tech

Rick Venturi Leaving Co-Host Role at 101 ESPN Radio

The longtime defensive coach-turned-sports talk show host will still be involved in the Creve Coeur FM Sports Talk station's NFL coverage.

UPDATED 11:07 a.m.

An emotional Rick Venturi said goodbye to 101 ESPN listeners and his colleagues Friday morning.

"This is my last day," a choked up Venturi said during a live remote of the 9-11 a.m. broadcast of Zach & The Coach.

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Venturi said the plan had been to finish out the current football season before making the change, until trouble with a hip which he said left him in "mortal pain" recently, forced the immediate move. Venturi said he and his family will relocate to Indianapolis to have hip replacement surgery.

He said he wanted to step away to spend time with his grandchildren as well as to spend time at a Florida home.

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Venturi said he is not retiring, and that he plans to remain involved in the station's NFL coverage in the future, beginning with next April's NFL Draft.

 

Original Story

Listeners to 101 ESPN Radio in the morning will need to get ready for a new voice.

The station posted on social media outlets that a "major programming announcement" was coming Friday morning at 10:45 a.m., but station officials told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Rick Venturi, who co-hosts Zach and The Coach with Zach McCrite on the Creve Coeur-based Hubbard Broadcasting station, is retiring and moving back to Indianapolis.

Station officials told the paper that in the interim, fill-in co-hosts will be auditioning for the spot alongside McCrite in the 9 a.m.-11 a.m. timeslot until a replacement is announced.

Meanwhile, former Cardinals pitcher Brad Thompson has been well-received while filling in for Chris Duncan in the afternoon while the former Cardinals outfielder recovers from brain surgery. Duncan's recovery was the subject of a Joe Strauss column in Friday's Post-Dispatch.

Who would you like to hear in the new morning slot? Tell us in the comments section.


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