O&A obsesses with Howard because it's vice versa! When O&A were actually beating Stern's ratings during their peak in 2002, Stern made it a very personal battle. He really showed his paranoid and hypocritical side by forbidding O&A to even mention his name on the radio again. Since he was Infinity's bread & butter, the powers that be granted his request.
Stern wasted no time in ripping O&A for getting fired, talking about how stupid they were and how they copied "all of his ideas including WOW which he developed in Washington" (something that even his most hardcore fans couldn't verify). O&A had no opportunity to fire back because they didn't have an outlet to defend themselves. In fact, Opie actually defended Howard during his constant battles with the FCC in 2004.
O&A also felt that Stern used his clout to get them removed because he saw them as such a threat. They were being groomed as his morning drive successor after his eventual retirement and he was deadset against that ever happening. Whether or not that was true also remains to be seen.
So for O&A, it's a lot of pent up frustration to lash out at Howard. His constant claims that he invented everything. The fact that he can pick on anyone for any reason but that he and his family were off limits was downright laughable. And his inane claims that Sirius leaves XM in the dust (XM has double the subscribers, has more deals with automakers to factory-install systems, and is closer to profitability than Sirius will be for a long time) just give O&A tons of material to work with. Some of the material falls right into their laps when idiots like High Pitch Eric or Cabbie open up their mouths about O&A.
Neither side is innocent and this growing feud makes for great radio. There's a reason Howard can't organize a "funeral" for O&A like he did for that guy in Philly years ago (DeBalla?) He knows he'd never get that kind of widespread support. O&A are incredibly popular and Stern faces far too much backlash because they are also national and their fans wouldn't stand for it.
I became a big fan of O&A while they were on WNEW. Their show is a lot different than Howards. While some of their stunts (Wiffle bat challenge, 55-gallon drum, sex for sam) were funny, some of the slow days weren't very good. Anthony really is funny as hell and Norton helped keep things at a good pace.
That said, I had no intention of buying XM when they signed on. I was hoping Stern would go to XM so I could hear both shows. Howard going to Sirius was enough for me to buy the system. I've already filled all 30 pre-sets with station. It's that good.
Hard Attack, Octane and Buzzsaw are all great.
Anyway, I'm not sure what O&A and their fans obsession with Howard is though. I could see it for O&A themselves somewhat because it's gets their fans riled up, but who cares really? Where was the O&A army today? They're two different shows with plenty of fans that enjoy both.
and I thought Howards speech sucked. I cringed every time he said "last of a dying breed"
any estimates on how big the crowd was?