Mackey, after reading Jay rip on Bernstein in the Sun-Times today about how he handles callers it made me think of why you don't have a little more patience with your callers when they are slow to get out of the box with their questions? I recall in your early days at the Score you had a rep of being a red-ass to callers and now your buddy Bernstein has that title.

Im in no way comparing you to Bernstein and his doucheness but you seem to hang up on guys if they have a mouth full of marbles or seem a little scared about being on the radio.

Your thoughts sir?

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"NEED a friend...Buy a dog"..

The only time Mac has hung up on a caller recently, from what I've heard, is on guys who sound dead on the air.

But he should hang up on bad callers. When I hear a caller that sucks, and whoever the hosts are keep talking to him, I press the button. Cutting them off and moving on is great. When you acknowledge the caller and either engage him to keep him sounding dumb or hang up and then rip him for a minute, a la Bernstein, I'm listening to MJH. Hang up, move on, take the next caller. Admittedly there are some callers that are amusingly bad, but more often than not it's just bad radio.

This happened yesterday I think. The dude was pretty slow and didn't have much life in him. Mac told him to pick it up a bit, so after a second or 2 of silence....he gone.

I think it should be on the call screeners to decide who is going to be engaging on the air. If the guy has a good point, but no pulse, then send the comment in via text and don't make the guy sit on hold forever to be embarrased. If he just got cold feet on the air, maybe some patience should be granted.

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Paws Up

Where did Jay Mariotti mention Dan Bernstein in today's article?

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It was yesterday's article:
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/mariottiweb/564479,mariottiweb091907.article

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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!"

It is on the call screener to weed out the bad callers. I talk to a lot of callers that make good points but stumble to get those points across. If that's the case, I say "good point, I'll pass it on to the guys."

Sometime you get a caller that is solid...until he gets on the air. Maybe he/she gets nervous. Maybe they forgot their original though while on hold. Maybe they were sober when they called and buzzed by the time they get on. When that happens there is nothing you can do. I check in with the callers every few minutes, but I don’t have them restate their thoughts.

It is tough to blame Mac, Bernstein, or any other host for the way they handle that situation. If the show is flowing and the conversation is strong, a bad caller is just a speed bump that can slow everything down.

Now, there are some hosts that are just dicks…I’ll leave that take five list up to you.

first time I called MJ&H was about 2 years ago, and I was super confident with my point talking about the Bears and the defense...I was on hold for about 35 minutes.

By the time they got to me, I was totally caught off guard, and I just started babbling...I probably sounded like an idiot. Especially when I errantly mentioned that Aaron Glenn was great for them back in 2000, when I meant to say Mike Brown...I don't know why the 2000 Jets were on my mind. But I distinctly remember Mac saying, "Well I got what you're saying, Aaron Glenn never played for the Bears..."

It wasn't a total call but I could just imagine people listening going, "Moron."

Some callers are duds and some get hung up on because the hosts seem grumpy that day. Overall, I think they are pretty good about giving the callers a chance.

Would "Caller Anne" fit into this category?

Or "Wild Bill"??

The reason-I believe that Bernstein feels it necessary to rip callers, is his own insecurity. I think he feels the need to belittle callers, just so he can try to show his "superiority" to the callers. Yes-callers, not just THAT caller, or any particular caller. He has to try to prove whenever possible, that he knows better than anyone that professes an opinion that does not match his. You will never hear him say " well, okay-I guess we will just have to agree to disagree". He will instead, try to prove he is right and thus smarter than the caller. It did get real old quick and thank goodness Mac got his show on ESPN, so I was able to listen to a superior show.

this is why i email.
that and being on hold for 35 minutes.

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@audioidkid

+1.
I know Mac sometimes asks for more caller input to liven up the show, but the wait you guys and others have mentioned, unless you're Jason from Chatham, wouldn't work for me.

Email is my preferred method too

That's why I wouldn't call. Well, that and I usually don't have any coherent thoughts...

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The last time I called MJH, it was May of 2006, to give an immediate thumbs down for espn 1000 to hire Salisbury.

Mac playing the company man said "how can you give it a thumbs down when you haven't heard the show yet".

I explained to Mac that Seanny Cakes wasn't a "Chicago kind of guy".


I wonder what Mac is thinking now..."Damn that Spmack knew what he was talking about".......probably not.

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I have a couple of points to make:

1. I don't blame Mac for dropping bad callers because they are difficult to listen to. It's like what Rome says, "Have a take, do not suck." They have to think of the listening audience first.

2. It should be pointed out that making callers wait forever isn't cool either. They have to do a lot better at their job (there's Rome again) and get to callers in a more timely manner.

Rack me, I'm out!

Somebody should start a section of the worse calls we've heard.

i agree with both points UGA, but i also believe that most people who call a sports radio show, especially if its at say2:05, know they're going to hold for a little while

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