I have to mention this great writeup in the Trib about my favorite sports radio show, WSCR's midday show hosted by Terry Boers and Dan Bernstein. For those who aren't in Chicago (the station sadly is not listenable online) there really isn't a great way to describe it, but to me it serves as a refreshing departure from the banality that encompasses most of sports talk (especially local programs). The article does a good job of capturing the tone behind the show, which can be summed up as: intelligent, hilarious, and slightly odd.
They are unique in another way as well since they actually follow and enjoy NBA basketball. In a Bears and Cubs town, its hard to get the knowledgeable and insightful Bulls discussion on the radio that these two provide. This strength comes from their backgrounds, as Boers used to cover the Bulls for the Sun-Times back in the Reggie Theus years, and Bernstein worked for several CBA teams and at a time called play-by-play for DePaul.
Nearing their 1500th show, its almost frightening(in a 'wow-I'm-a-dork' way) to look back on the past 6 years and think of how many hours I've spent 'with' them. They're not universally loved in Chicago, due to their outspokenness and inability to suffer fools gladly. To the latter point Bernstein lays out one of the show's main principles in the article: "The customer is not the caller, the customer is the listener, we're not going to indulge some caller who is a dope."
The customers are rewarding the hosts' philosophy, as they are the second-highest rated sports show in the market, and lead their 10-2 timeslot. And it's good to know that there are others like me who enjoy smart sports talk with some silliness replacing seriousness.
I'm not saying I always agree with them, but even when I don't I'm always entertained. Hopefully for 1500 more.
Disclaimer: I promise these types of fluff posts won't happen often. honest :-p