BOSTON—The airwaves are set to rumble with a new voice in the AM as Rob "Hardy" Poole takes the co-host chair alongside Fred Toucher on 98.5 The Sports Hub's morning show, stepping in for the departed Rich Shertenlieb, who bade adieu to the mic in early November.

In a musical chairs scenario that would give any reality show a run for its money, the announcement of this high-profile switcheroo came slamming down on Tuesday's broadcast, and the buzz doesn’t seem to be dying down. Toucher himself spilled the beans, declaring on air that the moment Shertenlieb’s seat turned cold, Hardy was the one and only contender he had his bets on, according to Boston.com.

The now-former midday voice was a natural pick, with a resume chock-full of chops from his time as third chair on “Zolak and Bertrand,” along with a legacy tied to the rock station WBCN before it flipped to an all-sports format, giving him the Sports Hub as an inaugural platform to echo his tonality since 2009, according to a CBS News Boston report.

But let's face it, the grapevine had already been dropping hints, with Toucher and Hardy accounts throwing breadcrumbs leading to the big reveal. Poole had his fingers crossed, calling it “a lifelong radio guy” dream turned real in his statement on the Beasley Media Group announcement made public earlier this week, even though Jim Murray was completely uninterested in the gig and Kendra Middleton, despite the chatter, simply didn't make the final cut as detailed by the Boston Herald.

As for Shertenlieb, since bowing out, the former co-host has been zipped tight on his next play. Though a domain name lingering in cyberspace hints at a possible comeback, the dynamics remain cloaked in mystery, and in the meantime, Hardy and Toucher seem poised to cement a new chapter of morning radio rants come January 4th, according to the same boob tube oracle, CBS News Boston.