shakes wrote:
More time? Righhhht. You need more time for what? To work on your Coppick impersonation? To ease the transition for the 3 man booth between you, Spiegel and your new partner, Soddy?
The problem isn't Spiegel or the lack of time....the problem is you. You're really bad at what you do for a living and have been for a number of years. That's why your last job tossed you to the curb and that's why the Score will also when they figure out your tired act.
The only reason you've lasted as long as you have is because on some levels you appeal to the lowest common denominator, a segment of the local population that flourishes.
Lose the Chet Coppick crap.
No one cares about your classic rock.
No one cares about what you grilled last night.
Do those 3 things and you might have a shot at not getting fired....again.
and for the record I was happy you went on vacation...I wish you stayed there.
While I have been a fan of Mac's since his early days at the Score, I think shakes raises many valid points here:
1)Mac's running Coppock imitation, constant reference to film scenes, and perpetual discussion of what he's planning on talking about in the next segment or next week give the show an unwieldy and artificial level of self-consciousness that makes his show a difficult listen. This self-consciousness impedes conversational chemistry and gives the show a distant quality that makes it seem more like a sports talk show about sports talk rather than a conversation about sports.
2)The constant name-dropping about Allen Brothers Steaks and the comforts of Mackeyland is stale. I make this point not out of class envy, but out of boredom. Rich people can be fabulously interesting in their decadence, but Mac isn't decadent. His aspirations are purely suburban and thus he's pretty boring when he talks about his consumption habits. As I've said before, Mac thinks he's Keith Richards, but he comes off as Mike Brady.
3)The continued passionate defense of classic rock makes Mac seem increasingly out of touch time passes. He seems to be taking Pappy's place as a champion of a bygone era with decreasing appeal.
4)Perhaps because Mac's monologues are so crowded with the above detritus, he sometimes seems unprepared to talk about sports. He's gotten by with this "casual" approach in the past, but I'm not sure his luck will continue.
None of these problems are fatal, though. Mac is a very talented talker and can become entertaining again if he exercises a little commonsense and some broadcasting discipline. I'm more concerned about Spiegel, though, who faces a much more difficult task if he is to succeed alongside Mac:
1)Contrary to Mac's assertions, it's clear that Spiegel doesn't possess a highly evolved "sports brain." While Spiegel excels in a fact-driven, topical sports talk format, he flounders when he is forced to draw conclusions or offer opinions based on those facts. In a few short weeks on the air, he has uttered a year's worth of silly proclamations. His inability to succeed in a speculative conversational style doesn't bode well for him because it is precisely this kind of fluid, unstructured approach to radio that Mac seems to prefer.
2)Again, contrary to Mac's earlier posts on Meatpants, Spiegel's warmth appears to be a weakness rather than a strength. Rather than bringing out new dimensions to Mac's personality, Spiegel's various passions and enthusiasms have only succeeded in making him seem alternately disingenuous and naive. Further, in constantly trying to "bring out the love" for one thing or another, Spiegel strikes me as an anachronism, a broadcaster out of touch with the current state of the Chicago sports talk landscape. It's not his newness that's a problem, then, but his outdated approach to sports talk that makes him seem like he's out of his league.
Finally, if it is true that all the Danny Mac show requires for success is additional flight miles, why was the reaction here to Spiegel's pairing with several fill-in hosts this week so positive? Why did Spiegel succeed with "low flight-time hosts" while struggling alongside Mac, with whom he has an established relationship and radio partnership? Even if one discounts some or all of the problems I identify above, the consensus here seems to be that Spiegel sounds much better with other partners than he does with Mac. This fact points to a problem that is perhaps much bigger and more troubling than the lack of "flight time" Mac conveniently chooses to identify as the chief drawback in his current show.
_________________
Antonio Gramsci wrote:
The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.
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