I apologize if this topic has already been posted but I just wanted to share an email I sent to MJH and see if you guys though I was way off or not.

Mac,

To start I want to be clear that I usually enjoy listening to MJH much more than B&B's acerbic show down the dial and that I have followed you since your start at The Score all those years ago. Part of this is probably due to the fact that I'm happy to see a local guy do good (I grew up in the Hessville neighborhood of Hammond while you're from next door Highland) and part of it's due to the fact that the few times I've met you, you've always seemed like a down to earth, good guy. I also don’t post much on CSFMB as I usually prefer to just read the opinions of others, however, over the last several months, I've taken note of something that has simply gotten under my skin to no end - that being your (and to a somewhat lesser extent Jurko & Harry's) habit of shining a light on your fiscal well being.

As an example, I believe it was 2 days ago when you took up several minutes of the show to inform us that you were in need of an "impulse buy" and that you were going to forego the Bulls game that night to stop by the Boat Show at McCormick Place to drop 12 to 13 grand on a boat. Now, while I don't begrudge anyone in this country to take the bull by the horns and work their way up to realize the American dream, it just seems to me that now is not the time for this kind of self-aggrandizing. Everywhere you look these days factories are idle or closed completely, masses of workers of all professions are being laid off and families are losing their homes due to the hard economic environment. But instead of showing any semblance of sensitivity to this dark reality of his listeners, you decide to fill time on air with your "impulse buy" dilemma. As if that weren’t bad enough, then Harry had to honestly wonder why people weren’t filling the United Center for the Bulls this season. He truly could not understand why the seats weren’t packed even after Jurko tried to point out that, at 60 bucks a ticket for the cheap seats, the cost was somewhat prohibitive for the average family these days. Hello Harry? Watch the news much? There’s this thing called a recession that is kicking most everyone in the balls economically and we simply can’t afford such luxuries as Bulls tickets or ski/fishing boats. And while Harry can almost be excused from his ignorance of the plight of us commoners due to his well-to-do upbringing, your recurring need to shove your good fortune under the noses of the audience is simply uncalled-for. Remember where you came from Danny.

In the end Mac, you’re the Chicago radio powerhouse these days, it’s your show, and you can do with it what you will. But just keep in mind all that I’ve said as you ponder the recent ratings dip the Afternoon Saloon has suffered. After all, if the show really were a “neighborhood corner tavern”, do you truly believe that you wouldn’t lose customers during hard times for parking your new Porsche right out front and showing off your new Rolex to all the laid off average Joes that pull a seat up at the bar?

You’ve said many times on your show Mac, that you guys are trying to create a virtual refuge from the world, a place where your listeners can come on a daily basis, have a few laughs and forget about their troubles. Unfortunately, as your success has increased it seems you guys have forgotten that basic premise as you regularly point out the various aspects of the good life while many who listen worry about just staying out of bankruptcy.

Well, these are just my thoughts on the matter and I’ll be the first to admit that my opinion may be a bit severe. After talking it over with friends of mine who listen though, I don’t feel I’m that far off. I hope you take this as it is intended, simply the view of one loyal listener without any intended malice. Someone that does not wish to see MJH go the way of the likes of Mike North and fall off their pedestal because they forgot how it was they came to be there in the first place.

If nobody is buying boats, those people aren't going back to work any sooner.

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Paws Up

You're not far off at all, StreetDoc67....This was a good letter/post.....You should come on more often. Don't be a stranger.

Yeah, Mac's chirpiness (if that's a word) can weigh heavy on you from time to time, and it sort of reminds me of North telling the listeners that he only "worries about putting gas in his Jaguar".

Mac gives Harry a hard time about his wealthy background, but sometimes Mac has a little "Fatha" in him too....

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I'd rather have Mac be honest than to pretend to be something else. The guy worked hard to earn his money... I'm not offended by what he decides to purchase. I'm not trying to blow smoke up his ass, but I think you are waaaay off base to criticize him for this.

I don't know StreetDoc. I understand your point but I don't think I agree. Part of Mac's appeal is that he does let you in on his own life, most successful talk guys do that. That stuff is part of his personal experience. He can't pretend it isn't. He may want to present as a regular guy but he isn't. The guy is a millionaire with other concerns and interests than a regular guy might have. That doesn't make him good or bad, it's just a fact. I like Mac. The couple times I've met him he was a pretty down-to-Earth guy but he's living in different circles than most of the audience and a lot of people like to hear about the things he has and can do.

As to whether it's appropriate in these times, in the Depression some of the most popular movies were Fred Astaire dressed in a tux and trying to get into Ginger Rogers pants whilest they cruised back and forth from England on luxury cruiseliners. People are exposed to their own problems 24/7. Sometimes it is good to get away from it for a while.

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You know me like that.

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I have more of a problem with this than anything. I find myself listening to their competition more often due to the lack of real NBA talk.

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If you have the means and you have heard that "Boatshow" jingle
enough times, I could see how buying a boat might suddenly begin
to seem like a good idea.

Doc, nice costume change for your avatar. Not a huge NASCAR
guy but I always spend the day Daytona is on in the ski chalet up
in Wausau, WI. Hopefully Jr. has a better year this year.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Thanks for the feedback guys. Like I said in the letter/post, I wasn't trying to bash Mac as much as I was pointing out a concern. I myself am lucky enough to be employed and making enough to provide for my family, but I have friends and family members who have already been hit hard by the downturn. Maybe I'm just being hypersensitive because of that but I also would hate for Mac, a guy I truly like, let his success get in the way of a long future.

Right or wrong, it’s just my two cents.

Huh, I thought the inanimate carbon rod was melting his shirt.

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Paws Up

CoCo the Monkey

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Doc, I tend to agree with those here who say honesty is better than phoniness. I have no problem with a hard-working guy talking about buying a boat. i understand your discomfort but I prefer someone being real. Mac seems generally sensitive to what is happening in the lives of others and should be able to be open about his own situation. What I don't like is when he talks about what kind of TV gig he'd do etc. He, like North, is a generally average off the street guy who has been very lucky. He now is starting to believe his own BS that he is some sort of king of all media when he's lucky to have a high paid radio gig. It seems to me that he's a very average guy with very average talents who has been very lucky. This crap about him wanting North to be successful is phony too...why do that? Just stay real and if that means talking about buying a boat so be it...and thank the good Lord for your good fortune rather than thinking you deserve more.

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Dr. Van Nostren

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-"God is great. Beer is good. And People are crazy!"

Mully, that was one of your better posts...IMO...especially the last sentence...

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Thanks Jay.

spmack is Mariotti? I knew it.

Thanks Mully!!!!

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No he thinks I'm Jay Hood...

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I know. I was messing with him...

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You mac ass-lickers can be funny. Take a dollop off your nose and let me know what he had for dinner last night Ivan.

As I stated in another section - I think Mac was quite obviously boasting when he wrote in the Sun Times that North turned down a contract which would have made him the 2nd highest paid sports yacker in the city at $750K (sic).

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“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

Fixed

Funny every time!!!!

This preocupation with human fecal matter that you have would make a great bit for your program. Ironically, your show is already shit so it won't hurt anything...

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Hey Hey!

(Holding glass plate over face)..."It might be, it could be, it's out of there!"

I'm not asking anyone to be phony or to lie about their wealth. However, there is a huge difference between simply admitting to being well off when asked and pointing it out at every opportunity. Like I said above, I don't begrudge Mac at all and I actually applaud his success. It's just that I feel it's a bit crass to be advertising it at times like he does.

It would cost quite a few SawBucks to get T Bone an appointment with Dr Van Nostren Coco the talking monkey has a better shot appearing on the abortion that is the Mullyapricio and Hanley show.

Fair enough. Can't argue with that.

Could you argue for a couple of sawbucks?

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I've seen your hero do a lot worse for a few sawbucks Ivan. Hey do you lick the sack clean when you're done down there?