No Clever Moniker wrote:
WSCR celebrated their Silver anniversary Monday. As a former listener who had tuned in faithfully/religiously/manically from that first day, Monday passed without WSCR having any significant relevance for me. What had been a game changer in regards to presenting sports information, entertainment, and lucid opinions had now become something that I wouldn't have spent more than a few passing hours cumulatively listening 25 years ago, and haven't actively listened to in over a month.
In the vein of "never say never", I won't profess to never again allowing my ears to hear the station (they carry Cubs games, and yet I'm a Sox fan). But I can say that what had begun some time ago, my diminished desire to listen, has grown to the point that I've tuned in less and less frequently. The hosts/shows are no longer as entertaining as they once were, with their being a sense of complacency in both the entertainment and information provided. Some hosts feel the need to express their opinions while others are either conflicted or unable to articulate whatever their vacillating position might be.
For example, while "Who You Crappin'" may be a staple of the station, it not only has grown stale in its content and presentation (those e-craps from the same small circle of contributors a big factor). But there hasn't been anything remotely constructed with any consistency to keep the entertainment level high. Having a "Tournament of Bad" only works when it isn't competing against several iterations of the same, and the content isn't being regurgitated.
In their beginning it wasn't one single voice, but voices and thoughts and opinions about sports. Now, I'm being force fed the equivalent of what WSCR disrupted 25 years ago, only the names have changed. Shilling for management, injecting peripheral aspects of sports, and the insistence of quoting anonymous sources without any credible guests leaves the station a modern form of the crap WSCR was able to shove aside in their popular ascent.
This board, a board that I've been a member of for 10 years now, was not the first board about this radio station. Unfortunately, it will probably be my last as I don't listen to the station as much. While the anonymity has always allowed a certain leeway in the posting and acceptance of opinion, in too many ways that has also come to suffer. The post count for some people, particular those who've joined more recently but feel compelled to get their count up to five-figures, has had its impact as I've come to realize that there is too much content to digest and too many people content with seeking quantity over quality in their postings.
I stopped posting some time ago, and then quit reading as frequently. The board's relevance can continue, despite recent changes and the fact that it was better not just 2 years ago, but the 2 years before that too (& so on). My time available to read has diminished, and my desire to read even more so. Some of you I've met and know, I'll see you in the future (i hope). A few others I wanted to meet, but such is life.
I'm posting this in this particular forum because it wasn't always the most popular forum, but in so many ways like WSCR, it has come to both symbolize this board and at the same time illustrate why I'm walking away.
Life is short, death is unfortunately inevitable. This station, and this board, lasted a lot longer than many--if not most--expected. I had hoped that WSCR would be something that would outlast me, but it has become an empty compartment of a corporate entity that instead of remaining singularly unique has become just another skewed outlet who's identity has become not just stale, but boring. I won't put the same tag on this board (that would be unfair), but WSCR lost whatever it had to keep me tuned in, and no longer has anything for me to tune in (I'll still listen to a Cubs game, because I love Chicago and can appreciate a Chicago winner).
25 years is a good run, a great run, but for this listener/fan/aficionado the station has lost its last remaining appeal. Thus this board by extension has also lost some of its luster. Those that know me, I'll be around. Those who may want to know me, I'm always going to be around and try to be that same person that I am now (which I hope is a smidgen better than 25 years ago). The list of people/friends/events through WSCR is long and will always be cherished. Like this board.
I'll see you when I see you, I hope its soon.
No Clever Moniker
Mason from Hyde Park
Please come back.
Seacrest was forced upon us by bigfan.
Sincerely,
Management