No, I’m not turning gay, and God no, I’m not turning Republican, but as Michael has already reported on BlatherWatch, I’ll be filling in for Ken Schram on KOMO 1000’s The Commentators, Monday March 23 and Tuesday March 24th.
It’ll be a bittersweet moment for me, working for the competition. I got my start at 710-KIRO, when really, I didn’t deserve a shot at all. With zero radio hosting experience on my resume and a nasally tenor that makes Woody Allen sound like James Earl Jones, then PD Tom Clendening rolled the dice and plugged me in one evening as a last minute fill-in. A week later, I had my own Sunday night show, and six months after that they added Saturday night to my schedule.
It was great fun, and a tremendous honor, especially those days I got to fill in for the incomparable Dave Ross, and I would have been proud to have continued advancing my radio career at KIRO, but the station was sold, new management came in, and alas, they moved in a different direction. I was deeply disappointed when my show was canceled, but you can’t really ask for more in life than a chance to prove yourself, and that I had.
I hope Michael’s wrong when he writes that “there’s no going back to Bonneville to fill-in now that Goldy has gone to Fisher”—I figure, I’m not bitter, so why should they be?—but I’ve got to take the opportunities that come my way, and I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity to get back on the air than going toe to toe with John Carlson, arguably the preeminent conservative talker in the state. My first time in a radio studio was on John’s old show back on KVI, and both he and Kirby not only gave me tons of air time, they also provided a lot of off-air support when I decided to pursue a radio gig of my own.
So going up against John again, this time as a co-host, will be kinda like coming home for me. But don’t you worry about me getting all nostalgic like… I still plan to kick his ass.