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Laurence Holmes goes from a solo act to a ‘powerhouse’ radio pairing with Dan Bernstein on the Score
By Chris Boghossian
Chicago Tribune Jul 20, 2022 at 6:00 am
Seven minutes.
That’s how long it took for Laurence Holmes to take a playful jab at Dan Bernstein during the premiere of the “Bernstein and Holmes Show” on WSCR-AM 670.
The Score hosts were discussing parking and transportation issues downtown when Bernstein took a right turn.
“And you hear what’s going on in Rome?” Bernstein asked. “People are getting pancaked right and left. Ooh, there’s a Fiat! Oops, I’m dead. And if you’ve ever walked around Rome, it is hard enough to not die.”
Holmes pounced.
“Not all of us can relate to walking around Rome,” he said.
Countered Bernstein: “Walking around those streets, it is like a leap of faith, man. You just walk and you hope the cars stop. They ain’t stoppin’ for you.”
Holmes then polled Adam Studzinski and Rey Diaz, who along with Mike Rankin produced the show that day.
“Studs, Rey, pay attention: How many of you, show of hands, have walked around Rome?” Holmes asked. “I don’t see Rey with his hand up, I don’t see Studs with his hand up and I don’t have my hand up. Therefore …”
“Therefore you can all go screw yourselves and consider yourselves warned,” Bernstein said.
“Mr. Relatable, Dan Bernstein!” Holmes chanted.
“That didn’t take long,” Bernstein said with a chuckle before running through the show itinerary.
So began the on-air marriage of Bernstein and Holmes, two Score veterans who have succeeded solo and with partners, survived the industry’s cutthroat cutbacks and thrived in the competitive world of Chicago sports-talk radio.
The show, which debuted June 20, will be a month old Wednesday when the station celebrates its 30th birthday with a 6 a.m.-6 p.m. open house for listeners to visit with Score hosts and contributors past and present during a live broadcast at Real Time Sports in Elk Grove Village.
And in the Score’s 30-year history, perhaps no duo has had the swagger that Holmes and Bernstein bring to the station’s new midday show.
A ‘powerhouse’ pairing
Shortly after Score operations director Mitch Rosen announced the Bernstein-Holmes partnership in a June 16 news release, the station began airing promotions, labeling it a “powerhouse” pairing.
And in the world of sports-talk radio, it is.
Holmes was 22 when the Score hired him in May 1998 as a part-time producer. Five years later he took over covering the Chicago Bears for the station and eventually became a host.
Bernstein started working at the Score in May 1995 as a Bears reporter before getting his own weeknight show in May 1999. Three months later he teamed with Terry Boers, a pairing that lasted more than 17 years until Boers’ retirement in December 2016.
That’s a combined 51-plus years at the station.
Holmes spent the last 13 years as a solo act, hosting a weeknight show from 6-10 p.m. for nine years and from noon to 2 p.m. the last four. He hadn’t had a co-host since Bears Hall of Famer Dan Hampton in 2009.
And while Holmes, 47, and Bernstein, 53, had plenty of interaction during show transitions and fill-in appearances over the years, sharing mic time for four hours daily would be a new challenge — which is exactly what Holmes wanted.
“I think Dan’s really smart,” Holmes said in an interview before their first show. “So when you’re used to, like I am, doing a solo show, I hope that my scope is not limited, but it still is usually from my perspective, and I think Dan is really good at offering up a different perspective and saying, ‘Well, have you thought about it like this?’ or ‘This is the way that I’m seeing it.’ That’s the way I think we can challenge each other and vice versa.
“I know where a lot of (the perspectives) mesh. I don’t know where a lot of them come to a head, and that’s the fun part of doing a show every day with a partner — figuring out where those things are.”
Bernstein concurred.
“That is an important aspect of every show with more than one host,” he said. “Both of us are experienced and confident and look forward to that open exchange of thoughts and ideas.
“The concept of being challenged every time you turn the mic on is fundamental to what we do. Even if it’s a solo show. Even if it’s a producer jumping on with a thought or dealing with callers or guests. If someone doesn’t feel properly challenged, you’re not getting the joy and invigoration that this medium can bring.”
The Rahimi effect
The “Bernstein and Holmes Show” wouldn’t have been a show without Leila Rahimi taking over as the lead sports anchor at NBC-5 in April. She had been co-hosting with Bernstein at the Score since January 2021.
Bernstein kept the 9 a.m.-noon slot after Rahimi left until Rosen approached Holmes with the idea of doing a show with Bernstein for one afternoon, and Holmes was game. “It was really a lot of fun,” Holmes said.
A few weeks later, Rosen asked Holmes if he would consider partnering with Bernstein long term.
“And I said, ‘Yeah, that would definitely be something I’d be interested in,’ ” Holmes said.
Bernstein didn’t need any convincing.
“The first thing I said was, ‘That show’s going to be great,’” Bernstein said. “It’s in large part due to Laurence’s ideal combination of a reporter’s mentality with an entertainer’s sensibility. He — and I think this is really important for what we do at the Score that may be different than a typical sports radio station — is understanding there’s a time and a place to have fun and have it be fun, and there’s a time and a place for it to be serious. And understanding those differences on those days is critical. Big, important stories are going to get the biggest, most important, most significant serious coverage.
“But it’s ultimately entertainment, and he and I share — we’re of similar age, so I think we have some similar cultural touchstones in our lives. And he’s extremely well-read, he is a well-rounded intellect above and beyond sports, which I think is so critical in what we do.”
Thus the “Bernstein and Holmes Show.”
Rahimi, 39, hasn’t abandoned the Score. She is a part-time host every Wednesday on the “Bernstein and Holmes Show” — Leila Wednesdays, they call it — and Holmes and Bernstein couldn’t be happier.
“She’s awesome, and what she brings to the table as a broadcaster, there’s depth of knowledge and experience and the fun — she brings fun,” Holmes said. “She’s got the receipts now. She reads transcripts. … She brings a television mentality to radio, meaning, like, the concept of logging a game. She’s not just watching it, she’s logging it. And you can tell what type of difference that makes in coverage. So her perspective is unique, No. 1, but then when you add in the work ethic that she has and the dynamic approach of wanting to do this job, well, I think you can hear it when she’s on the air.
“I’m glad that there were a lot of early adopters of Leila — she comes in and you’re like, man, she’s dope. I’m also glad that there are people that, when they gave her a chance, they found out they were listening to someone who’s really special.”
Added Bernstein: “She’s a total star in her own right. Her perspective, her sense of humor and her approach to understanding how to prioritize news is unparalleled. She’s funny as hell and a joy to be around, and it just comes through on the air.
“People don’t realize how broad-based her professional background is, the number of major-league dugouts she’s been in, the number of big-time college football sidelines she’s walked and arenas she’s been in for NBA games. It’s immeasurably valuable to have somebody who is experienced on high levels. In hockey — my God, international hockey — she knows people and has done stuff on a big-time level for every sport. That matters.
“Keeping her as part of the show and of the station … we’re very, very lucky we’re able to do that.”
Will it last?
Bernstein was part of the longest-running program in Chicago sports-talk radio history with Boers. But neither he nor Holmes knows how long the partnership will last.
“To use a basketball metaphor, it’s making sure that the offense is running well by making sure who needs the ball where and how that best functions,” Bernstein said. “And until you host with someone every single day, you can’t predict how that’s going to be.
“And the fact that Laurence and I, to continue the tortured metaphor, we’re both multipositional players in that regard, and either one of us can play on the ball or off the ball. And over time, we’re just going to get comfortable. That becomes second nature. … That’s a feel thing, and we’re going to jump right in.”
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