I Don't Know What I'll Do on Monday

I was at the Blackhawks game last night, trying to enjoy what was a sloppy game mired in penalties.

Then I received this text message from my good friend and long time Chicago sports talk radio host Dan McNeil":

"Station fired me tonight."

My throat dropped into my stomach.

Twenty seconds later I barely notice Chris Drury's power play goal to beat the Blackhawks in overtime. I was still staring at the text message in my phone.

As the host of the "Mac, Jurko and Harry" show on ESPN Radio 1000, (weekdays from 2-7 p.m.) McNeil constantly brought in the big ratings. His show with John Jurkovic and Harry Teinowitz was the most popular on radio in the male demographic between 25-54 multiple times and a daily ritual for sports fans driving home from work. McNeil, who has been on Chicago sports radio for more than twenty years, appealed to listeners with his wit, his encyclopedia-like knowledge of movies and music, and his ability to both tell you like it is and still share your emotions as a sports fan in a city filled with diehard fans.

Since I started listening to sports talk radio, around the time I was thirteen years old, McNeil was still on the city's biggest sports station in town, 670 The Score. At the time, I was less aware of McNeil's work, but I listened to him as much as I could, intrigued by his style. I knew listeninging to him and others, even as a kid, that radio broadcasting might be something I wanted to do one day. When he joined ESPN 1000 in 2001, I fell in love with the "Mac, Jurko and Harry" show, despite the bumps and bruises it had along the way (be it escalating arguments on or off the air, or the suspensions that followed).

In the summers of 2005 and 2006 I was lucky enough to land internships at ESPN 1000, and as the promotions intern my first year I only met McNeil a couple of times. But interning in 2006 for the "Mac, Jurko and Harry" show, I had the incredible opportunity to work with Mac on a daily basis and watch how he hosts a radio show for four hours a day (the final hour is now a "post game show", where the highlights of the first four hours are replayed). It was a fantastic learning experience, as I was able to watch closely as the top dogs in sports talk radio went about their work. But the most gratifying part of that internship was getting to know Dan McNeil.

Mac was and still is very good to me. He has always treated me with the utmost respect and his work ethic raised the level of everyone else at the station. He was meticulous about everything he did, and as a former producer he expected nothing but the best from all aspects of the show.

He knew he was good, and he knew what it took to put a top flight radio program on the air every day. And he did, every afternoon, for almost eight years at A.M. 1000.

Even when I finished my internship at ESPN 1000, I made sure to stay in touch with the many people I worked with there who remain good friends today. But Mac always made me feel important. He always made me feel good about myself and my future in the media.

Last night was an emotional night for me, and for the many fans of sports talk radio in the Chicagoland area. Whether you liked him or hated him, you always respected Dan McNeil for his ability to host an interesting and entertaining sports talk radio show. Now the "Afternoon Saloon", as they called it, has closed up the shop for the final time with an unceremonious ending. Though, McNeil will no doubt land on his feet with another good gig to follow.

I'll miss the show greatly. Mac really made you feel like you had "pulled up a chair" at the afternoon saloon to have a drink and talk sports with your buddies. Without him, whatever fills his former time slot will never be the same.

Now, as I look towards Monday, I don't know what I'll do between 2-7 in the afternoon.