Warning: long statement.
Is there anyone that can see where both sides are coming from, at least in principle?
I honestly don't blame Opie for not quitting when Ant was fired. To go from SiriusXM to a podcast would have been a huge gamble financially. Opie may have enough money to retire, but it really doesn't make sense for anyone to quit a job with a great paycheck and exposure and leave for a mostly unproven venture. I don't blame Opie for even not threatening to quit because it seems everyone at SiriusXM is expendable (even Howard if he doesn't take a reduced salary for the next contract) and it would not carry much weight. SiriusXM would have happily done away with the show entirely to cut salaries. One study (which I tend to believe, even without having the ability to look at their methodology) says that only 5% would cancel if Howard left. How many would leave if Opie, Anthony, and Jim all were fired and the show was completely gone? Maybe 1% or less? Opie doesn't have that kind of pull at SiriusXM (although he may pretend he does). Opie has threatened to quit when the show was intact with Opie and Anthony as hosts, but with just Opie there, those threats probably don't carry as much weight.
I don't blame Anthony for being upset that Opie didn't do more to save his job. They were together for 20 years on one of the most successful and influential comedy shows of all time. Anthony should not have been fired in the first place, in my honest opinion. Yes, his twitter rant was downright racist, violent, and unacceptable. I don't agree with anything he said, even though he was assaulted. If anyone didn't like it, they could have changed the channel (I doubt many [if any] O&A fans would have stopped listening). Sponsors could have dropped their support for the show. In a year the incident would be completely forgotten. Look at how many storms Rush Limbaugh has weathered (for much worse things) -- and he's still one of the most listened to broadcasters in the world.
I do blame them both for taking it out on each other on the air and social media over fairly petty things. After listening to both broadcasts, I do lay more blame on Opie for this. The "human garbage" tweet was ridiculous. I wish they could have gotten together and talked about their problems long ago. If they really both disclosed their problems on the air early last week, yes, those instances would surely anger or upset the other person. It could have been talked out. Instead, they let it bottle up inside and explode. It made for great radio, as evidenced by the influx of messages on this sub in the last week. However, it was not conducive to what we all wanted, a reunion of the Opie and Anthony Show at some point.
Opie and Jim is fine. The Anthony Cumia Show, although admittedly I don't subscribe and have listened to only a few shows, is fine. No, Opie is not funny. He does serve a comedic purpose as somewhat of a straight man and a hateable figure. Ant provided the perfect foil, and that's why the show worked for so many years. Add Jimmy and it's a great show that we all loved to listen to. The three voices blended together, especially with the comic guests. It really picked up where Howard left off in the mid 2000s. This was the comedy show we wanted to listen to. Instead, now we have two shows that are OK and will do OK, but it's not the epic show we were used to.
TL:DR; The fighting ultimately sucks between hosts and fans and I want an Opie & Anthony reunion. Or: Wishful thinking. Or: This is all a stunt to get more publicity for an eventual reunion.