Reflect And Respect

Monday May 26th, 2008 - Beloit, WI

If I’ve ever thought for a millisecond about acting cocky concerning my radio abilities it surely ended today. For the second straight year WLS put on ‘The Big Radio Rewind’ which brought back legends that made the station a blowtorch powerhouse in the ‘70s.

All day from 6am until midnight it was a throwback to the glory days of top 40 radio. It was a clinic to listen to people like Larry Lujack and Tommy Edwards followed by Fred Winston and also John Records Landecker at night. Those guys are radio Hall of Famers.

They make it all seem to effortless but anyone who knows anything knows it’s not. It’s actually very difficult but these guys are all pros and it was a pleasure to listen to them all back on the air. Everyone was still as sharp as ever and I was in awe of their major talent.

What made it even better was that every hour they gave away prize packs and tickets for our Jerry’s Kidders show at Zanies in June was part of the package. The jocks all plugged the show and us and it felt like I died and went to heaven to hear it over and over all day.

I sure hope we pack the joint that week if for no other reason than to make the station’s faith in us pay off. Kipper McGee did us a huge favor by including us in the mix of all the fun today and radio geeks nationwide heard about us all day long. We got big props. It is in fact probably the best push I’ve ever received from any media outlet for a show I’m on.

We won’t let them down either. If we can pack any place we will tear the roof off as far as the show goes. That’s never going to be the problem. The hard part is getting butts in a room and even though we had huge exposure there’s still no guarantee we’ll draw flies.

I talked to Jerry about it today and he said it won’t be one thing that puts us over and he is totally right. It’s a bunch of little things and eventually we’ll be a known entity. I agree. We’ve been on the air steadily for about six months now. That’s still not enough time for establishing a brand but every week we go in there it doesn’t hurt. This didn’t hurt either.

There would have been no way to buy that many mentions even if all of us pooled every dime we could come up with. The station is behind this project and that’s what I’ve been shooting for my entire life. Every other radio job I had was supposed to be exactly this. If it took all the other horrendous flops to get to this one winner then I guess it was worth it.

This is as big as it gets in radio. The Loop was big but this is bigger. I am so grateful for this chance I can’t put it into words. My friend Tom Orlando sent me an email today after he read my entry yesterday and told me I was stupid to even think twice about the guys up in Milwaukee who can’t stand me and he’s totally right. Dave Luczak or Larry Lujack?

There’s no comparison. Larry Lujack is a legend and a Hall of Famer. Enough said. I’m thankful to be able to be a part of the same station and sit in the same studio each Monday that those guys did today. I’m not in their league but at least I’m on the same air waves.

Mark Shilobrit called me today and was still giddy about the Rodney tie. He loves it and has already made a prominent place on the wall of his den for it and I knew he would. It’s going to get a lot of love and attention and if I can be a part of doing that it’s a no brainer.

Mark has season tickets to the Beloit Snappers minor league baseball team and he asked if I wanted to go to the game. I was going to hang out and get stuff done at home with the radio on so I could listen to the WLS shows but it was too nice a day to sit inside and rot.

Thankfully I have a radio in my car so I drove to Beloit and listened all the way there. It was a picture perfect day and that always puts me in a good mood and there were also lots of yard sales to stop and gawk. It was a laid back day doing a lot of things I really enjoy.

Beloit, WI will always have a special place in both Mark’s and my heart. It’s where we both went ‘on the road’ to do comedy for the first time. C. Cardell Willis was a mentor to both of us and he had a place in Beloit that was owned by a local cop that did comedy and Cardell would bring us down there once or twice a year to perform. We felt like big stars.

Mark and I relived some of those shows and it was wonderful. We both loved to work a show with Cardell just because he was such a good person. It was our education not only in comedy but learning how to perform ‘out of town’. It really was a big step for us then.

It was also great to watch the minor league baseball atmosphere from my perspective at this point in my life. Those kids are young and hungry and have dreams of grandeur. I bet they all think they’re going to make the majors but in reality only a few if any ever will.

I watched the kids running up with pens to get autographs and the young girls squeal for their favorite players and it was really a slice of Americana. I ate my hot dog and was glad to be an American on Memorial Day. The freedoms I enjoy are not forgotten for a second.

That’s still one thing I don’t joke about. Yes I’m a major whiner and complainer a lot of the time and some of my gripes are probably legit but today they are all out the window. It doesn’t mean a damn thing what I like or don’t like when soldiers lost their lives for me.

I hate war and the thought of war and I’d never be able to brave it out like so many have for so long to allow me to sit in a baseball stadium in the sun on a gorgeous day because I chose to do it. That feeling of freedom is precious and I’m glad I had gratitude about it so drilled into me by my grandfather when I was a kid. He taught me to appreciate America.

Do I ever. No, I’m not thrilled about gas prices but who is? I’m even less thrilled about our government and the potential people to become our president but I still would not live anywhere else. I am grateful for this country and all the freedoms that go with living here.

I wish wars would stop and we could all live in peace but that’s just not a reality. I have nothing but respect and empathy for all the families who have lost a brother or husband or father or anyone close to them. Today was a day to reflect and respect and I absolutely do.