Mike Valenti is an American talk radio

Talk radio

Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...

 show host based in Detroit, Michigan

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

. He is one half of The Valenti and Foster Show (formerly The Sports Inferno). His show can be heard weekday afternoons from 2 p.m. - 6 p.m. on WXYT-FM  97.1/WXYT-AM 1270. His co-host is Terry Foster

Terry Foster

Terry Foster is an American sports columnist and radio personality in Detroit. He co-hosts Valenti & Foster on WXYT-FM The Ticket, a sports radio station, with Mike Valenti...

. Valenti can also be seen on The Ford Lions Report Sunday mornings during the NFL regular season doing pro football fantasy team reports and the Lions game preview.

Education and early career

Valenti graduated from Michigan State University

Michigan State University

Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...

 in 2002 with a degree in journalism. He first stepped into radio as a producer of Mad Dog & Company and also co-hosted the Spartan Tailgate Show at WVFN

WVFN

WVFN is a radio station licensed to East Lansing, Michigan, broadcasting a sports radio format. It broadcasts on AM frequency 730 kHz and is under the ownership of Cumulus Media....

 730 AM in Lansing, Michigan

Lansing, Michigan

Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan...

. In 2002, Valenti was hired as producer of SportsPage with Jack and Tom on 92.7 WQTX

WQTX

WQTX is a radio station broadcasting a country music radio format to Lansing, Michigan. Licensed to St. Johns, Michigan, it first began broadcasting in 1972 and has been through a number of different calls and formats during its history....

. Valenti would then be hired as co-host of The Sports Inferno alongside Terry Foster, middays on 1270 WXYT in Detroit.

The Rant

On Monday, September 25, 2006, following a Michigan State University football loss against Notre Dame

Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...

—a game in which his alma mater blew a sixteen point fourth-quarter lead—Valenti went off on a twelve-minute on-air tirade ripping into his beloved Spartans

Michigan State Spartans

The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic team that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 25 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and white...

 for their poor showing. Highlights of the rant included Valenti saying the Spartans "choked on applesauce", Valenti's plea to then-head coach John L. Smith

John L. Smith

John L. Smith is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the special teams coach at the University of Arkansas, under head coach Bobby Petrino...

 to recognize that "timeouts are not like cell phone minutes — they don't carry over," scathing criticism of offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin's decision to have Drew Stanton

Drew Stanton

Drew Emeric Stanton is a quarterback for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League. He played collegiately for the Michigan State Spartans.-Early life:...

 "run the option in Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

," and a desire for defensive coordinator Chris Smeland to be replaced by H.R. Pufnstuf

H.R. Pufnstuf

H.R. Pufnstuf was a children's television series produced by Sid and Marty Krofft in the United States. It was the first Krofft live-action, life-size puppet program. The seventeen episodes were originally broadcast September 6, 1969 to September 4, 1971...

 with Teddy Ruxpin

Teddy Ruxpin

Teddy Ruxpin is a children's toy talking bear. The bear would move his mouth and eyes while 'reading' stories which were played on an audio tape cassette deck built into his back. It was created by Ken Forsse with later assistance by Larry Larsen and John Davies. Later versions would use a digital...

 as his assistant.

The meltdown was famously covered in an article in Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...

 where it was deemed "the single finest rant ever heard on sports talk radio".

Valenti and Foster

The Sports Inferno was moved from middays to afternoon drive upon WXYT switching channels from 1270 AM to 97.1 FM. The show was subsequently retitled Valenti and Foster. In the slot it grew to become the top rated show in its time slot becoming one of the only sports talk shows to ever achieve such a feat. A large reason for this success is that it was the first sports show to air in Detroit on an FM frequency in that time slot. Considered one of the most popular sports talk shows in Michigan, Valenti and Foster have stated the reason for their success is their willingness to talk any subject, including those outside of sports. Their on-air routine regularly includes the two hosts insulting each other playfully. Valenti regularly hangs up on callers he deems "stupid". It should be noted that many of his listeners view his thoughts on the local sports teams as constantly negative and he has a deep desire for them to lose.

External links

• Valenti's Bio