You got what it takes to be a sports talk radio host?

That'd be fun, but that's a hell of a process.

 

I say we fix this thing. Pick a person on this forum with a great radio voice. We have a thread brainstorming "original takes on sports" so S2 person has a lot of good material to use. Get them into the semi where fans can vote. We all vote for s2 person each week, maybe even call in with some softball or set up questions. Let's try throwing a wild card into this contest 1080 is running.

So who's in? Anyone what to step up and be the S2 person. I'll start the threads . . .

 

I interned at 1080 back in the early 2000's. Being on sports radio is not what it's cracked up to be.

Extremely competitive.

Doesn't pay well.

Sometimes you have to fill 6 hours with meaningless shit about why women and men are different.

 

Hmm. That requires a lot of work.

 

I do not see that job as being glamorous or anything remotely to that. Strange hours, demanding bosses, low budget and then sometimes hating the job because you got to talk for hours and don't want to or have nothing to talk about. Probably get a few benes for being a "celeb" like invites to golf tournaments and other events. But overall, it looks extremely competitive with only the best (non-athletes) making national or top market.

Close?

What do you think of my idea . . . we could fill someone's head with six hours of sports talk. Hell if I had a good radio presence, I would go for it as long as you all feed me a lot of unique sports takes. But I don't have the time or radio personality to pull it off.

 

I'm in. See some of you at BWW on 11/15 in Beaverton. Low wages and talking about sports seems like a good gig at this point, since most of us spend company time posting here for free.

 

Even worse, they can fire you at a moment's notice and you're just gone. Off to some other shitty small town to hopefully find work. Radio is not a fun job.

 

I know a former local sports radio host who worked around the Portland area for years. Unless you're syndicated you make jack shit. Like 30k a year.

I used to always want to be that guy though.

 

I think a lot of us did, mostly because you don't see the other side of it. Maybe you tune in for an hour or two of a show at a time. I was there answering phones for 4 to 6 hours sometimes, so those guys are sitting there trying to come up with shit for six hours. I also think people undervalue how difficult it is to speak clearly, speak intelligently, and get the information across without fucking up too much. It takes skill. These guys are gifted talkers. They're not DJ's who spend 10 seconds trying to sound cool on the radio in-between songs.

 

I worked for 750 with Canzano a lot. I didn't agree with a lot of his takes but he is good at interacting with fans and getting a discussion going. Sometimes the easiest thing to do is roll the ball out there and say something like the Blazers are really good and shouldn't change anything. Since so many people agree with that perspective it makes for really boring talk radio. You do have to find things that people may disagree with because they may not have thought about it from a certain angle. Talk radio is really about giving people something to think about and havin fun doing it.

Like Nate said the pay sucks and you can be fired at any time. But if you are passionate about it people will gravitate to that.

I will probably head down and audition or maybe we have the whole RipCityTwo Podcast Crew head down there.

 

The other problem is that I have no interest in learning about all the other sports that radio hosts generally have to know about. Listen to guys like Dan Patrick or Colin Cowherd. They can talk about anything. Doesn't matter what it is. Gold, NASCAR, tennis, the NFL, MLB, NBA, anything. They are generally well-rounded in their knowledge about all things sports. I couldn't care less about baseball, tennis, golf, etc. I generally just follow the NBA, college football, and the NFL. That's it.

 

I know many here don't like Cowherd, but I knew he was a talent in the first week I was listening to him. He made my commute to downtown actually enjoyable as he often had me laughing in the car. He really is witty and has a sense of humor. I know it rubs some the wrong way, but he can take a subject, talk about it and then give it a funny twist. There is a reason he has become successful in the industry.

So it sounds like a couple of posters might give it a shot. Should we start a thread with topic ideas for the posters who are going to try it or do you all feel like you have enough in the vault already?