Well, Danny, you clearly recognize the 25% of our fellow posters who are just here to stir the shit. I fully understand why you don't speak out about any of your former coworkers.

I also fall into the category of listeners who could get by without ever hearing another caller on air. There's a reason that content like Jackass was so successful- some people like watching/listening to idiots. I don't need to hear some drunk, damaged, or meatball caller ranting. Now, if there actually was some information, sure, but the host can't vet that much. Heck, the other day there was a text from Peoria Matt read on air, but our poster Peoria Matt, who we mostly agree has some decent thoughts and can be witty, said it was not actually him.

I may not be rapt by your discussion of your son on air, but I've been the new dad and can vaguely remember being the same way. I'd much rather you just be you and let the chips and ratings fall as they may then you try to be someone else (especially if that guy is Dan B). That is my major complaint with a host like Ms. DiCaro- she can be her, as long as she doesn't mandate that I have to agree or be doxxed or be considered subhuman. (Oh, wait, there's Dan, again.).

Also if you fuck someone like they are a millionaire they might go try to be one.

Also, I find this interesting... You guys often criticize us for veering off the sports page. Don't talk about Kaepernick. Don't talk about being a dad. Don't talk about music. Don't talk about movies. Don't talk about Penn State. Don't talk about ______. Yet when I look at this sports talk radio message board you talk about way more things than sports talk radio. In fact. during 2016, the Kaepernick thread was among the hottest on the board. Right now there are multiple coronavirus topics as "active" on the front page.

This board is nearing 20 years old. It's not really about the radio shows like it once was...

I think that's the point.

I rarely troll.

Don't let the activity in the coronavirus threads fool you, that's mostly a handful of posters being hilariously misguided about the finer points of exponential functions.

I never said Bernsteins approach to callers in the old B&B days didn't contribute to turning off callers. I agree, I wouldn't like being talked down to constantly. It was Mac who coined PTFB if you don't like something. Just that it's not the primary reason. I listen to sports radio all over the country and have friends who host in many cities. With the exception of a few Northeast markets, calls are WAY down as the medium has evolved beyond it. But again, I think it's just a product of the person who is able to hold for that long. You say why make them wait? It's not a punishment but trust me you don't want us just putting someone on as soon as they call and just having the show meander to each callers whims.

Also, I find this interesting... You guys often criticize us for veering off the sports page. Don't talk about Kaepernick. Don't talk about being a dad. Don't talk about music. Don't talk about movies. Don't talk about Penn State. Don't talk about ______. Yet when I look at this sports talk radio message board you talk about way more things than sports talk radio. In fact. during 2016, the Kaepernick thread was among the hottest on the board. Right now there are multiple coronavirus topics as "active" on the front page.

We have 4 hours a day, 5 days a week. What we're talking about every minute of every show is not going to be for every person. I had a boss once who said "talk about what people are talking about, your topics should be a reflection of your audience." It was pretty good advice. Right now a lot of people are talking about CoronaVirus, we're real people, sometimes we're going to talk about Coronavirus. I think that type of "real radio" is what differentiates the Score from some radio that just goes to a list or all-time generic sports debate.

But again, you can't be all things to all people and no one will ever be pleased by every programming decision we make every day. But one thing I think we've done a good job of on this show is we always keep it moving. We don't do 4 hours on one topic hardly ever so it's a pretty safe bet if you punch in and whatever we're talking about doesn't relate to you that if you hang with us or come back we'll be talking about something that does sooner than later.

Great point, Doug.

It's more fun to be a victim

There will never be an effective vaccine. I'll never get one anyway.

Also if you fuck someone like they are a millionaire they might go try to be one.

This isn't complicated....Spaulding hit it....run down the list of shows and ask which show is fun....which one makes you laugh.
1. Mully and Haugh - No. they're not fun. They're not interesting. They're not entertaining. It's a morning show and maybe that's ok for the time slot
2. Bernsteain - Nope....not fun.
3. L. Holmes - Nope...not fun. Add in he's just a weird dude.
4. Parkins and McNeil - You guys have your moments.

Now let's look at history of successful shows:
North / Jiggets: They were fun. They made you laugh
HFC: McNeil and Boers....yep...they were fun and you'd get a good laugh
Boers & Bernstein: Once upon a time...they were fun. Somewhere along the way....they stopped being fun.
Mac, Jurko, Harry: Harry wasn't funny, but overall the show had a great vibe. It was the afternoon salooon. They'd bust on each other. Take Calls. Jurko v Harry.

WSCR stopped being fun when Dan Bernstein decided Very serious radio was most importaint. Callers were stupid. Penn State mattered. Patrick Kane was a rapist. Again...callers were stupid, unless they were Gary from Evanston or Napolean Dynamite.
WSCR stopped being fun when they started carrying local teams and you can't be critical of their GMs and players or lose a bite of the apple.
WSCR stopped being fun when the criteria for being a host became who is someone that writes for one of the newspapers....great....they can write, it doesn't mean they're interesting or entertaining.

The best segment I can recall in the last 5 years.....it was YOUR show talking about the Rick Camp Super Bowl party mix-up. I hadn't laughed that hard from the radio in a long time. That was funny. That's the type of stuff you want on the show.

What they mean is dont condescend to your listener and act like anyone who has a different opinion on you on topics like Kaepernick is on the Wrong Side of History. You cannot seem to understand that crucial part of it, that whenever you or Bernstein veers onto these issues it becomes you bloviating about your neo-liberal righteousness. I dont know what's in your heart, whether you actually have this much contempt for normal working-class people, but I know how you sound on the radi. And you sound on the radio like someone who thinks there is only way one of looking at something and if that way is different than your way its wrong and that person needs to be made to feel ashamed.

Feel free to go off-topic, but if you do it without humility and populism it just makes you sound like a twat.

The dad stuff is a little different, nobody wants to hear you brag about your kid. Its lame and unprofessional.

I have MANY years of experience in trying to appreciate steaming piles of dogshit.

This

There is a difference between talking about something, and beating a dead horse OVER AND OVER. Penn State was probably 10x what you turned Kaepernick into.

For instance they were never taught that Columbus was a slave owner.

Agreed.

People talk about Kaepernick here because they can without be muted, called stupid and then hung up on. If I wanted to be preached to about righteousness and the way to properly think I would go to church. I don't need morality from Bernstein.

Also, I enjoyed Parkins take that coronavirus threads are active during a pandemic that canceled all sports. Why aren't you guys not talking sports?

Don't let the activity in the coronavirus threads fool you, that's mostly a handful of posters being hilariously misguided about the finer points of exponential functions.

Hello boys and Spaulding, I’m back. Not sure why my old login didn’t work anymore but alas, it’s me. If anyone wants to verify they can DM me on Twitter.

I’ve checked in occasionally since the CoronaVirus has made a drastic impact on our programming to see what you guys think and I want to address a few things. And I’m happy to answer questions in the comments.

1) The idea of fear mongering. I’m just going to tell you how I honestly feel. Whether that’s about the Bears draft or a pandemic. After having my first child in the hospital for 27 days after birth and being implored by his doctor to be careful, this shit scares me. Some days I’ve been optimistic, some pessimistic. That’s just how I feel.

2) Speaking of my son, some of you think I do that too often. Fair criticism. Becoming a father is a life changing experience and I come from the school of radio that the best personalities live their life on the air. Mac and Stern were the two hosts I listened to most when I fell in love with radio. Now obviously I’m not putting myself on their level but I think we could all agree we’d be worse off as a radio community if Mac hadn’t been so open about raising Patrick and dealing with autism. I’ve received 100’s if not 1000+ messages from listeners of parents of premature babies. NICU stays are hard and the community of people who have experienced it is real. If it’s not for you, I get it. Just try to remember there are no sports going on, it’s my first child, and he came into this world in unusual circumstances. When we depart from the sports page we try to be relatable and movies, music, parenting, fishing, whatever isn’t going to hit every person the same way. The only topic everyone cares about is The Bears.

3) Callers. Yes, I enjoy callers less than most of you seem to, but not for the reasons most seem to be outlining. We get way less than the old days. We get literally 1500+ text messages per show and depending on the topic and how much we push it we can get 10,000. Think of your life. Are you willing to wait on hold for 15-60 minutes to talk for at most 2-3 on the radio? Research back in the day showed 1% of your audience would call. It’s much much much smaller now because people have better things to do and other ways to interact with the station that take way less time. So the quality of the caller has plummeted. Also, we can filter the texts and tweets and read the funniest, smartest, dumbest, most helpful, etc as opposed to having to take 7 or 8 calls to get one good one.

Now, could we do better? Sure. We could do better at everything we do. But I’ll admit that I find caller driven shows to be mostly lazy. When I did my Sunday night CBS show it’s solo and the bosses are from NYC so they like callers. I’d do a monologue and people would call and react. It’s fine. It’s just not that challenging and so much gets repeated. As a listener I tune in for the hosts, producers, and guests. Hopefully they are all professional communicators. It doesn’t mean calls can’t be funny and good and provide unscripted gold, they can. And it is something that differentiates radio from podcasts, I just find the juice to not be worth the squeeze 9 out of 10 times we go to the phones.

That’s enough for now... I have thoughts on bits, the old days of the score, the laughable idea the score is dying, and plenty more. I know I’ll never win over some of you and that’s ok, I just appreciate your passion for the score and sports radio. It’s a good thing. Any questions?

Les Grobstein's huge hog is proof that God has a sense of humor, isn't it?

and the Bulls thread was about number 10 down the list..

Also if you fuck someone like they are a millionaire they might go try to be one.

We haven’t lost one ratings book since moving to PM drive btw despite the W&S page holding the “perennial ratings leader” description.

Les Grobstein's huge hog is proof that God has a sense of humor, isn't it?

Danny,

Appreciate you stopping by. It’s cool that you think enough of this place to make your self accessible and entertain the questions/feedback.

With that being said, for the most part, the perspectives of those who speak the loudest and most often here is worth a steaming pile of dog shit.

Bunch of fucking hypocrites would probably be the best way to describe them. Certainly not all, but most. As you’ve noted, the majority of posters here proudly don’t listen to any of the shows, but then can’t wait to patriot about every last thing.

Keep doing you and fuck the haters. Sometimes that really is the best advice.