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Before the specific questions... a couple comments.
I haven't been here much lately, but the Tiny firing made me curious.
This place is at its best when there's news and there's more of it
coming this summer. I enjoyed much of this group's analysis. So NO...
the board isn't "dead" as some fool suggested it was a couple years ago.
To the couple of you who took issue with me on the Len Kasper thing...
really? I'm not concerned enough to listen to the air check and I know
Len didn't give a shit about it either. It was a friendly snap at a
friend of the show, who also is a PAID contributor. He wears big boy
pants, not that they were required in that instance. #pickingnits
Harry to the Score? You'd have to ask Mitch. I was "poking the bear"
Friday because I know some of our guys would have a big problem with it
and I'm enough of a shit-stirrer to look for reactions. When Tiny's
ESPN
checks stop coming, Finfer and I will invite him into the studio for a
show when Ben is filling in. There are no plans for any changes in the
9-1 shift. If Mitch wants to make him a weekend or fill-in guy, that'd
be fine with me. I like Harry, on and off the air.
I want to recommend, for those of you who have HD radio in your cars,
to check out FM 104.3-2. That's the Score's FM signal. Sounds so much
better than AM. I hope we stay on that frequency.
SomeGuy wants to know if I still want to do afternoons. Sure I do...but
I'm not fighting the midday shift anymore. It took me more than a
couple years to get used to it. Quitting bitching about it helped. My
lifestyle change has made it easier too, but I still
would prefer doing PM drive. As for what ESPN should do.... why would I
give that up?!?
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater asks if I'd be open-minded to a change in
co-host(s). I like working with Spiegs, but I don't rule out anything.
Spiegel is strong where I'm weak -- hoops and national baseball. When
he's in a good mood, I have as much fun working with him as I have any of my
previous gang of bandits.
Darkside suspects my shotgunning of Zaidman resulted in his recorded
Bears thoughts back in the fall. No... they're sponsored. As for ZZ,
I'll put him on when there's a breaking Bears angle, but not for weekly
benchmarked hits. He's on M&H
and B&B regularly.
conns7901 is curious if I'd ever work with Harry again. An MJH reunion
probably isn't retro enough for WGN.
denisdman wonders what I think of Barry Rozner's newspaper work. I
don't read the Daily Herald. I like him as a fill-in on the Score,
however.
schmitty1121 wrestles with Spiegel's "work ethic." Matt was up front
about taking some time off for his music career when we did our first
contract at the Score. I endorsed
it wholeheartedly and my feelings haven't changed. Factually, he
doesn't take off as much as he should! A day to recover from singing
until midnight isn't as restful as taking a week at a time. Besides,
who am I to question how much time somebody takes off? In a non-rehab
year, I get five weeks off (paid) and am quite content to take off more
time (unpaid). We have a deep bench and I enjoy the variety of partners. Finfer has grown
enormously and is always in a good mood. More than any partner I've
had, Ben doesn't sweat the small shit. He relaxes me more than anybody
who's ever been co-pilot.
Peoria Matt asks what I'd do to fix WGN. I'd hire a guy with a proven
record of posting big numbers in the adult male demo in afternoon
drive, wrapped around Cubs and as a table setter to Blackhawks. Know
anybody?
sjboyd0137: Rush "2112" or Alice Cooper "Welcome To My Nightmare?"
Gotta go Alice on this one. "Fly By Night" probably is my favorite Rush
album. I also like their first effort, which they insist on ignoring,
like most of their pre-80s stuff.
Elmhurst Steve (and a few others ) suggests Spiegs has an "always
seeking approval" issue. Maybe. I think he knows he belongs. A key for my
improving mental health is not worrying about or attempting to change what
troubles others. He works harder on his "issues" than 95 percent of the
population.
Dallas Winston, along the same lines, asks about the Jack O'Callahan
interview. It didn't come out the way Matt intended. O'Callahan gave a
great reaction to it so the misspeak was well worth it.
Beardown: Did you order the Code Red (on Goff)? No. I never told
Spiegs he couldn't use Jason as a co-host when I'm not there. I went another
direction when Matt isn't there. Finfer's weekend work sold me... and
he's already on staff so it made it an easy call. Goff did get under my
skin about a few things, but I make business decisions about
business. My business is ratings and revenue. Finji helps me facilitate
both and he's drama-free.
Zippy-The-Pinhead wonders whose contracts are up. I'm not allowed to
divulge. There are several (not just at the Score) that expire by the
end of the summer. As for "the occasional manhattan".... yeah, there
are times I'd like to enjoy one. Especially since I never was a
white-knuckled, "typical" drunk/alcoholic. But...cravings wane quickly.
Alcohol wasn't my favorite buzz. BTW... today is my one-year
anniversary. Ice down the O'Doul's!
Keyser Soze asks if Bernsie dominating transitions bothers me. No. I
really couldn't care less. And I'm not so sure it's accurate to say he
dominates them. I don't think about "tranny" for one minute before it
happens and, with few exceptions, forget it as soon as it ends. The
only time transition bugs me is when Spiegs and I try to engage B&B in
a few different things but they don't bite and don't attempt to take it
another direction. That doesn't happen often, but when it does, my want
is to take the headphones off and go home. The midday show doesn't get
a bonus after 1:00. It's not my show...I'm just on that show.
bosco asks if Tom Waddle is the highest paid sports talker in the city.
I don't think so. If he does, I'm holding out and demanding a new deal
immediately.
pittmike wonders if Chet is married to Liza Minelli. Actually, that's
Chet ex-wife, Anna Marie. Love that painting. Who the hell dug that up
for whichever of you posted it?
big fan asks about what I'd like to do to improve the show. Continue
to dream up new shit, like the recent additions of "the show pot" and
Mike Caplan as a regular when weather is a story. I don't ever want the
show to sound exactly as it did a year ago. Some of that is
unavoidable, but there always should be new bits and contributors
joining the party. Getting the producers more involved on-air has made
it more fun. And that's another goal: more fun. The Score is very
serious most of the time. I like my radio more entertaining, which is
why there always is room for a village idiot on an entertainment
station.
donspiracy is curious about the CBS sports fingerprints on the station
and the possibility of a third sports station. It wouldn't surprise me
if they changed one of the CBS FM stations to carry the national CBS
sports
programming. I hope it's not the Score's FM signal. The annoying
"sports minutes" are a better
alternative than corporate shoving national programming down our
throats on the flagship, 670. At least we're not carrying full shows
like Preppy and Pot Roast.
badrogue17 observes that my Facebook comments are littered with ALSers.
Not always... but the exchanges on Facebook are decidedly less evil
than in other social media. I like the decorum on Facebook. I'm a
positive dude (most of the time) and the incessant swearing at people
and flat out hatred I see expressed here sometimes and on Twitter turns
me off.
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