AG-
I wouldn't worry too much about feeling that way. I'd say many a radio personality has felt that way about following Mike. It has nothing to do with anyone's talent level or lack of talent. Mike is just that good. I'd bet a dollar to a doughnut that if he started a regular airshift tomorrow it might take him one stop-set to shake out the rust, if there was any rust at all!
Not only is Mike a true radio talent and pro, he is one of the true nice guys in this sometimes God forsaken business we choose. I know that when I still worked at HVB, I could ask Mike anything about radio and he would be more than happy to give me advice. That always meant a lot to me, especially when I was a teenager just looking for a break. I owe a great debt of gratitude to people like Mike Padgett, Dave Barnett, Steve Mann, Scott Onks, Elva Marie, Mark McKinney, George Carter and Steve Howard for taking me under their wings and showing me the ropes of radio when they didn't have to!
I truly enjoy working here at Citadel and I have great respect for the airstaff at WQUT, but those guys that I just mentioned are my roots and I will never be able to thank them properly for helping me connect to my first true-love! The only way I know how to even come close to repaying that debt is something that I did when I was the PD at WKPT. If I hired a board-op that showed signs of the "radio bug," I always tried to do what those people did for me. Give them what little experience I had to offer and give them a shot to prove themselves. More than anything else I've done in my 15 years of radio, that is what gives me the most pride and satisfaction: seeing someone who got their start with me doing well in whatever field of work they chose. Please don't take that as being cocky and thinking they couldn't have done it without my help. It's more a feeling of getting to give them their first chance and watching them thrive. And with the exception of one person, I can honestly say that I am proud of all the people who worked for me at WKPT. They may not all be in radio anymore, but they truly helped make me the person I am today. Truth be told that even the one who turned out to be a one-eyed jack shaped my life in his own way, too! Hell, I even met the love of my life there and we just celebrated our first wedding anniversary a little over a month ago.
Sorry if that is a bit too gushy and sentimental, to say nothing about being a little off-subject, but I don't say stuff like that unless I mean it. If I didn't, I would just keep my mouth shut!