First Time Long Time

I know I'm getting older. My body hurts more than it used to. I go to bed earlier than I used to(though not by that much). I like spending my weekend nights watching the Food Network. But the big thing that finally moved me into the "older" class actually occured a few years ago. I started listening to sports talk radio.

Now I had some motivation. My favorite radio station - a modern rock station - went off the air and was replaced by all rap all the time. So out of desperation, I started listening to sports talk radio. I am a huge Philadelphia sports fan (I just watched the Sixers upset the Pistons in Game 1 of the playoffs) and I thought it might be interesting to listen to. Now I listen to it all the time.

So I was on my way out to Harrisburg for a three day training for work and I was listening to Jody Mac on 950ESPN (http://sr950.com/Roster/JodyMac/Bio/tabid/70/Default.aspx). They were talking about the Eagles schedule and how many wins they would have this year. I, like any true Eagles fan, had an opinion on this and I, like any person driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, had nothing but time to kill and no great scenery to look at. So I called into the station.

Now, I have never really done this before. I have heard countless people call in and voice their opinions. Several (I think they are all old, retired and have nothing else to do with themselves) call in everyday. I didn't want to come off sounding like an idiot. I also didn't want to have my call drop which tends to happen if you have Verizon and are on the phone more than 3 minutes.

So I waited on hold. And waited and waited. Finally, Jody told "Mike and Ryan to hold on and he would get to them (us) after the break". So finally Mike gave his two cents on everything Philly sports and I heard Jody say, "Ryan, what'cha got?" and then a violent CLICK. And I was on the air; ready to share my opinions with everyone listening within a 75 mile radius of Philadelphia.

My key insight was that the Eagles ALWAYS lose their first game of the year AND the game before the bye week. I then shared my thoughts on whether I agreed with Jody's picks or not. Most of them I agreed with. We talked briefly about whether the Eagles would win back to back games against the Bengals and Ravens. (we both agreed that they would split). Then I said something about the Eagles ending 7-9 or 8-8 and that would be the end of the McNabb era and the beginning of the Kevin Kolb era. I then heard another loud CLICK and realized that my time speaking to the greater Philadelphia area was over.

I quickly turned up the radio and heard the last part of what I was saying -they ask that you keep your radio turned down so you don't kill the host with feedback and you are on a delay so they can bleep out any profanity that may come up- and then Jody said something about it being too early to talk about Kevin Kolb (I disagree) and that he wanted some OPTIMISTIC Eagles fans to call in. Personally, I think the term "optimistic Eagles fans" is an oxymoron but what do I know?

I'm just a caller.