The chit-chat about Steve Olken reminded me of the old Sports Huddle show with (am I right?) Olken, Peggy Kucinski, and this dude Brian Davis.

Didn't the guy wig out one night, berating a caller who disagreed with him? I seem to recall he decided to "retire" soon thereafter.

Please...help me stumble down memory lane.

No,I worked with Brian at the original WMVP from 1993-96,and what happened was,he was Hosting an Evening show,just before my Overnight program. Then the 'geniuses'(NOT)who were running the place,decided to first put the so called 'Fabulous Sports Babe' on Mid-Days in the slot I was hosting.Then a few Months later they put on 'Ferrell On The Bench' and trimmed Brian's show from 4 to 2 hours. The ratings went right down the toilet,just as I told GM Larry Wert they would! I ended up doing Overnights after I Co-Hosted with Jay Marriotti for about 6 Months late Mornings.
One night,Ferrell on his Syndicated show went off big time on WMVP saying stuff like "I'm the only decent thing that otherwise awful Station has,the rest is garbage! They should expand me from 2 to 4 hours!" (Fact is Ferrell was horrible,and the ONLY reason he wasn't the worst piece of crap on WMVP was because the Fabulous Sports Babe was likely the worst show of ALL TIME anywhere!).
Brian came on right after Ferrell that night,replayed the tape of his diatribe,and then proceeded to respond with comments such as "Scott Ferrell is nothing but a bad fad,and if he's so hot,then why did his Home Town Station(in SF)just cancel the show?"
The next day,the GM Doug Stern,who was from SF himself,and likely a Pal of Ferrell's,was asked by Brian if he was going to discipline him,and instead he was told,no that HE(Brian)WAS BEING SUSPENDED for ripping Ferrell. Never mind that Ferrell trashed the Station on Network Radio(not that anyone was listening).
Brian got the hell out of there shortly thereafter!
He was simply screwed! In June 1996,a 50,000 watt station that was getting it's ass kicked by a Daytime only signal(THE SCORE 820),dropped the All Sports format. Brian moved to Seattle where he called Seahawks games for a few years,and now is part of the Sonics Broadcasts.
I of course joined the Score in April 1997(Norm Van Lier and myself were the only two WMVP people the Score hired). Everyone who worked with Brian Davis liked him--he's a great guy!
Hope this fills you in on what happened to Brian. Sorry it was so long winded,but there were elements of this story that few are aware of--but you are now!

Olekn did host the Sports Huddle. But, not with Peggy and Brian. He hosted with Tom Greene and Chris Cross (who was from somewhere in the northeast). Cross left for MVP and then Greene and Olken did it solo for a while. At some point, WMAQ decided to go another direction. I always like that show. I am sure if it was on today, I would say it sucked, but as a freshman in high school, I loved it. I have asked this question before and never got an answer...Les, maybe you know.....
What became of Tom Greene and Chris Cross? I never heard them again after the Huddle was cancelled. Greene worked in Chicago for a while and I was always curious as to why he never resurfaced. ANY ONE KNOW? I know it sounds stupid, but I have been wondering this for years.

_________________
"YOU GOTTA BE BLEEPING ME"

grobber,

what were the most ridiculous calls you've taken ? Anything stand out ?
I used to be a regular listener to your overnight show, and I remember the one time there was a horrible Scottie Pippen trade proposal (can't remember all the names, but I think Jeff Malone ???? was involved), and you were pretty upset....do you remember that one ? Any others stand out ?

I remember Olken hosting "Sports Line" on WMVP, probably around 1996 and 1997. In '96, Olken and Wills hosted it together for about 5 hours a night. It was great. Then Wills vanished and Olken did SportsLine solo and did Bulls and Sox pre and post games. In '97, AM-1000 (pre ESPN Radio), cut Olken's Sports Line from 6p-8p, so they could run four hours of GameNight (cause Disnley had bought 'MVP at that point) until midnight, leading to Sport's Overnight American with David Brody. Gosh, I loved that show. I was only in sixth or seventh grade then.

During those SportsLine days, I remember one of the update guys was someone named Mark Pimpski (sp?) and of course, Dave Juday.

Chris Cross! That was the name I couldn't remember for the "worst host" thread a while back. Boy, was he irritating. One of those guys who would just talk over everybody. "Nay, nay! Nay, nay!"

_________________
You cannot make me care about the WNBA.

Thanks Les...typical radio biz BS. The more it changes, the more it stays the same. Your stories are always welcome. Keep 'em coming

I do recall a coupla shows where Davis had gotten so flustered and enraged that he mused on-air that maybe he wasn't totally cut out for dealing with crappy calls/callers.

Ferrell to me is like Rome - you either like him or hate him.

Grob, thanks for bringing up Ferrell. I forgot how awful that guy was. He thought he was Jim Rome but he was just a Danny Bonaduce sound-alike who knew nothing about sports.

Also Les, I listened to your shows off and on for years and I always wondered why you refused to say the name "Shaq." I used to laugh when people would call to talk about Shaq and you'd correct them on his name. I don't remember you ever explaining it though.

_________________
Kid Cairo's Boers & Bernstein YouTube Channel

Kid Cairo: 2013 March Madness Tournament Winner!

"Cowabunga? Cowa fucking piece of dog shit! This game is diarrhea coming out of my dick!"

I'll try to answer all three above questions...

I have'nt talked with Tom Greene for at least 8 1/2 years-I'm told he moved back East(he's from New Jersey). I worked with him at Sportsphone 1977-79 before I went to WLS. Greene,Ron Gleason,Pat Benkowski.Fred Huebner,George Ofman,David Schuster,and others are among those that I worked with there.

Chris Cross left WMAQ and joined WMVP when I worked there,but that was brief in 1997. He didn't stay there very long,and I'm told he went back to his native Boston. Otherwise,I have no idea.

We had MANY strange callers both at WMVP and the Score. A couple of which have since passed on(sadly),but Tom from Hanover Park(I called him 'Tom from Hangover Park' in good fun,which he always took well)was a piece of work! He did come up with many wierd trade proposals,mostly about the Cubs! We also had a guy who called me on both Stations, named Dick from Rogers Park whom I called 'Midnight Dick',and a very nice guy,but very strange yet entertaining calls! He passed on around 1999 or so. Then there were so many 'regulars' like any program has,and they were mostly great people,many of whom still stay in touch via email or my web site. Marty from Highland Park used to hate anything I said nice about the Cubs,since he's a Sox Fan,and he left some angry voice mails,some that I played on the air,yet we also has some good converstaions,and is actually a nice guy. There was also one very nasty guy from NW Indiana who always left very nasty angry voice mails,and he definatly hated me among others! He left his name and what he claimed was his phone # if I 'dared to call him'. Of ourse I didn't waste my time with this clown. When I was let go in 2001,he was the only person of the 1300 or so emails and voice mails I got in the first 36 hours after it happened,who was celebrating. I dont miss a jerk like that,but the good thing is,he was an exception.

Lastly,as for the 'Shaq' thing,I never had anything personaly against him-always got along with him fine in person-still do. It was more of my own 'thing' against the NBA publicity machine ramming him down our throats early on before he did anything! Besides,I didn't call him anything other than 'Shaquille' or 'Mr. O'Neal' which ARE his names. I have also gained new respect for the man since A)He became a Police Officer whch I think is quite neat, and B)What he did when George Mikan passed away,he picked up the enitre tab for the Funeral which his Family could not afford! You cant argue the class he showed there,and I'm told by people who know him better than any of us ever will,that he's done many other neat things to help people WITHOUT looking for pub.
The donkey sound I played when people used to utter the S.H.A.Q. word on the air,was nothing more than a 'bit' and if I were ever to get back on with my own show either full or part time(big qestion at this time !),,that 'donkey' sound would be retired and I would no longer 'ban' the use of that nickname.

Glad to have this Saturday off after 4 NCAA games at the UC yesterday--just like 4 last Fri during the Big Ten Tourney. THAT'S ALOT OF HOOPS!!!

grobber!

Thanks for answering our questions!

Regarding my question, was that your show with the Jeff Malone for Scottie Pippen call ? I thought it was, and could have sworn you threw something in the studio....Don't know why I remember that...

Anyways, who do you work for now ? I see you were down in Arizona covering the baseball scene, but don't actually know who you work for...

Sure hope not! Guys like Rafael in Berwyn and others also have 'gone to a better place',and he called many shows on the Score during the 1160 days. Besides,many of my old 'callers' are still ALIVE AND WELL!

[quote="grobber33"] There was also one very nasty guy from NW Indiana who always left very nasty angry voice mails,and he definatly hated me among others! He left his name and what he claimed was his phone # if I 'dared to call him'. Of ourse I didn't waste my time with this clown. When I was let go in 2001,he was the only person of the 1300 or so emails and voice mails I got in the first 36 hours after it happened,who was celebrating. I dont miss a jerk like that,but the good thing is,he was an exception.

Danny Mac?

NO,NO!! Not a chance. Mac and I get along great,,he'd NEVER do something like that!

I was lucky enough to frequently be able to sit in one of the side press boxes at Soldier Field back when Davis was around. A couple of times Davis sat in the box with me. He didn't seem like a bad guy, just very needy of attention. Like Hub, he was in that club of douchebag guys who decided to get their ears pierced in their 40's. It's the jewlery equivalent of a comb over.

The Sports Huddle was like listening to 3 of your dad's slightly effeminate friends discuss sports. It was a horrible show but it was all we had back in those days...like the guy who snorted snow to get high in One Crazy Summer.

I was one of those guys who liked Ferrall. It was not great and I would not listen for long, but I was entertained.

Fabulous Sports Babe and Chris Cross both deserve a place on the wall of Worst Sportstalk Hosts in Chicago.

[quote="grobber33"]I'll try to answer all three above questions...

I have'nt talked with Tom Greene for at least 8 1/2 years-I'm told he moved back East(he's from New Jersey). I worked with him at Sportsphone 1977-79 before I went to WLS. Greene,Ron Gleason,Pat Benkowski.Fred Huebner,George Ofman,David Schuster,and others are among those that I worked with there.

Chris Cross left WMAQ and joined WMVP when I worked there,but that was brief in 1997. He didn't stay there very long,and I'm told he went back to his native Boston. Otherwise,I have no idea.

Thanks for the info Les.

_________________
"YOU GOTTA BE BLEEPING ME"

"More Music, Les Grobstein."

Greenberg just dropped Les' name on this morning's Mike & Mike show.

Tom from Hangover Park
Les, didn't you play a trainwreck soundbite when he called the show?

_________________
President of Blake Shetlon fan club

Here's what I really liked about Brian Davis. He was able to get an on air interview with Michael Andretti a couple of days after Ayrton Senna was killed. (Senna was killed in early 94. When he lost control of his vehicle in Bolgona. As T-Dud told us. Senna and Andretti were team mates at McLaren in 93)

I gave him credit for covering the story.


Formula One Boy

_________________
"The Early Worm Gets Caught By The Bird"

Yeah, that was big for me, too.

_________________

I remember coming home from playing hockey at nights listening to Ferrell..he would always talk hockey..Ferrell on the bench 29...loved when Les ripped on him...moment of silence for the old Grobber show..I would then switch over to the Tom THayer and Keith Van Horne..