I don't listen to the mornings on WSCR much anymore, as I live in PHX and listen to Ankarlo in the AM (I still need my daily dose of absurity in the afternoon with Bernstein & Boers- I never miss a beat), but now that it's official, how does that shake up the lineup? I'm not an insider by any means, so before anyone chides me about my lack of intuition regarding WSCR's upcoming moves I wanted to nip that in the bud.
On a personal note, it was Mike North who really made me want to get into the business. My first job was as an intern for Van Lier & Buffone back in '98 under Rick Gieser, and though I didn't work directly under North (Still on middays with Jiggetts), he was always extremely nice to the unpaid help. We were randomly talking at the WSCR Christmas party that year, and he asked where I went to school (Rock Valley in Rockford, IL), he asked if that was where I got my nickname "Rockford Freddie," and if I commuted to school all that way. It was quite the opposite; I was commuting into the old HQ on Belmont because I loved learning about the business, and he seemed genuinely impressed. He and BeBe then took me around that night and introduced me to all the people I had seen roaming the halls that hadn't had anything to do with me, plugging my efforts. He encouraged me to keep doing what I was doing, and that someday I might make it to a big-time gig.
After floating around Rockford radio for about 7 years I left the business, as I felt like I was in a rut, and perhaps I didn't have 'It'... I was blown out of the water in my only full time gig there, and didn't want to keep plugging away for what seemed like something that would never happen. I'd like to think that management just didn't know talent when they saw it
, but having flipflopped across the two enclaves in town, sandwiching a PD stint in the mighty Beloit, WI market, obviously I just wasn't getting it done. I'm not a radio success story by any stretch, but I wouldn't have lasted as long as I did without his initial encouragement. So before the mandatory Mike North flaming begins, I'd just like to offer a humble thank you to him for letting me believe I could do it, as I wouldn't have had the wonderful times and met the wonderful people I did had it not been for him.
Chris Worden
On a personal note, it was Mike North who really made me want to get into the business. My first job was as an intern for Van Lier & Buffone back in '98 under Rick Gieser, and though I didn't work directly under North (Still on middays with Jiggetts), he was always extremely nice to the unpaid help. We were randomly talking at the WSCR Christmas party that year, and he asked where I went to school (Rock Valley in Rockford, IL), he asked if that was where I got my nickname "Rockford Freddie," and if I commuted to school all that way. It was quite the opposite; I was commuting into the old HQ on Belmont because I loved learning about the business, and he seemed genuinely impressed. He and BeBe then took me around that night and introduced me to all the people I had seen roaming the halls that hadn't had anything to do with me, plugging my efforts. He encouraged me to keep doing what I was doing, and that someday I might make it to a big-time gig.
After floating around Rockford radio for about 7 years I left the business, as I felt like I was in a rut, and perhaps I didn't have 'It'... I was blown out of the water in my only full time gig there, and didn't want to keep plugging away for what seemed like something that would never happen. I'd like to think that management just didn't know talent when they saw it
, but having flipflopped across the two enclaves in town, sandwiching a PD stint in the mighty Beloit, WI market, obviously I just wasn't getting it done. I'm not a radio success story by any stretch, but I wouldn't have lasted as long as I did without his initial encouragement. So before the mandatory Mike North flaming begins, I'd just like to offer a humble thank you to him for letting me believe I could do it, as I wouldn't have had the wonderful times and met the wonderful people I did had it not been for him.Chris Worden
