the rest of their lives. (I think Phil Jackson nailed this one when he said: “If you want to be popular, don’t go into coaching.”)
I will never have to slog through hundreds of quizzes from radio wannabes and “sports experts” who can’t name the starting nine of the Orioles or the recite the depth chart of the Ravens and then deal with the fallout of them not being qualified to host sports radio on my airwaves.
I will never have a crank caller sit on hold for 45 minutes from a pay phone to tell me that he’s f**ked my **** in the ****. Or worse, have it happen to one of my employees.
I will never need a seven-second delay to keep my FCC license or my insurance.
I will never have a radio show with poor audio levels and sound from callers that is un-listenable to my ears.
I will never have to deal with cleaning up half eaten pizza, week-old trash, discharge of all sorts, urine and feces on walls of bathrooms, marijuana leftovers, missing beer, stolen CDs, stolen books, missing stuff, stolen bags of Post It notes, etc. at my facility.
I will never have angry neighbors at the doorstep of my business with the police.
I will never have angry spouses inside my place of business.
I will never have to go to the business of an enraged client at 10 p.m. after a beer-sponsored event and explain why an employee got drunk and disorderly at a WNST function.
I will never have to break up ugly disputes or fist fights amongst co-workers.
I will never have an employee sit at my company Christmas party and tell my sponsors what an awful person I am after the fifth beer.
I will never have to sit for hours on end in the basement of my business and explain to bewildered people who don’t like or respect me or my principles, how a little AM sports radio station in Towson makes money and the things that need to be done to help us all feed our families only to see blank stares, folks fiddling on mobile devices and employees in a hurry to leave.
I will never be unhappy again in regard to fulfilling my life’s work or my mission to lead a life of integrity, generosity and dignity.
I have personally given more people more career opportunities than anyone in the history of Baltimore radio.
That’s. A. Fact.
I’m proud of it even though, in the end, it was probably the worst decision I ever made while roaming this planet. It led to an incredible amount of unhappiness, sleepless nights and overwhelming despair over the years for me and last year I put an end to it. I wasn’t great at managing people who didn’t want to be managed, coaching effort or dealing with the consequences of foolish decisions of others. And, then I started lowering my bar for what my standards were and that led to the worst feeling of all: helplessness.
So, when it comes to writing the history of WNST or my biography, I’ll get my chance, too. And unlike some of the information I see come my way, I actually know the facts, paid the bills, saw the numbers, measured the results, felt the sting, walked the walk and lived “in the arena.”
I’ve lived my life in the public eye for three decades writing and talking and reporting and opining about sports in Baltimore. I’ve seen it all. I’ve heard it all.
Here’s the truth (and they all know it): I’ve worked
