How many times have you started talking about the Portland Trail Blazers and got a blank stare in return? If it hasn’t happened, it will. When it does, that’s the time you convert non-fan into new fan if you’re fan enough. That PBS loving radio listener in front of you is ready for a change.
Give them Dan Patrick, a 58-year-old golden boy with the radio voice and television face, a rare combo and easy listen for new people. His ego seems to adapt to all ages. When you’re the guy on stage handing out Lombardis, it would be easy to go the other way. Instead, he shares his radio show with his listeners and his on air production team. Calls them his Danettes. It could be worse, and they couldn’t be better.
Early in the year, a big radio star called out Dan’s style, said he had it easy. The onetime face of ESPN went away from sport talk when his work ethic took a hit from Colin Cowherd. Work ethic; we’re talking about work ethic? The dean of sport talk uses real life to show how to handle your business. You don’t need high heat when you’ve got a grip on cool. Check out his YouTube if you haven’t seen it. Chilling.
Or give them Jim Rome for a take that doesn’t suck. He’s the Michael Corleone of sports talk. Got the look, the edge, and it’s not going dull anytime soon. When members of the Rome mafia call the show, new listeners knock them hard. Rome stands up for his early callers every time. He’s teaching loyalty. He used to say, “Give me two weeks before you spin the dial.” Snagger knows his audience. They stay.
Radio celebrity on a world scale is one thing, but I like the local guys. My favorite expresses the entire range of sports-emotion from catchy up-talk to deep and somber. His sporty sport talk is clear and correct the way only an NFL insider can do, and he offers just enough extra to keep me locked in. The following two examples go beyond the letter of sport talk, but not the spirit. Here’s what I’ve learned so far:
How To Slow Cook Ribs In A Crock Pot.
Pick up two racks of ribs, each about two feet long. They’re pink and reptilian looking in the vacuum packed plastic. Don’t get frozen if you can avoid it.
Cut the ribs into three bone sections and push some rib rub into them.
Stack the ribs upright along the edge of the crock and fill toward the center. Put a second layer on top.
Set the slow cooker at 300. Come back in two hours and switch top ribs to bottom.
Come back two hours later and drain off the juices. Pour a bottle of barbeque sauce in a big bowl and dunk the ribs before stacking them back in the crock.
Two hours later? Dinner, and you’re a genius cook. You too can do this. So easy, so delicious. I’ve done it three times since learning how.
Dinner Out With Adult Kids.
Like every other sport talk radio fan, I expect to hear sports. It’s what goes beyond the topic that makes it universal.
My local favorite sports talker explained how he goes to dinner with his eighteen year old daughter. The guy’s been on the air for the last ten years and his audience has followed his family along the way. His little girl grew up and dinners together can get awkward.
Once they’re seated in a restaurant, he said, he lets the wait staff know who he’s with, “I know what I’ll have, but MY DAUGHTER will order first,” or something close.
I’m driving around listening and think, “The same thing happened to me, except I didn’t say anything. There I was, shunned in a restaurant because I didn’t say, “I know what I’ll have, but MY SON will order first.”” We got the cold shoulder, ordered late, didn’t get our food, and left. It took a while before I figured out the problem. Of course my kid disagrees with the creepy conclusion.
After hearing the restaurant story, all I could think to say was, “Thank you, Big Suke, you’re saving the world from bad cooking and over-parenting one listener at a time.”
The right sport talk does that for you, keeps you in the loop.
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