Next Caller

If you are like SoulSlam, you probably listen to a lot of sports radio. In the NYC area (of which North Jersey is the capital) - that station is WFAN. The first full-time sports talk station in history. (Well, except for the one they had on the lost continent of Atlantis but they were pretty advanced.)

So for those working below the Antarctic circle, the premise of these stations is this:

A bloviating (or not) host pontificates on the sports news of the day. Heavy on baseball and football, light on most anything else unless it's March Madness or something. They read the daily rags and wag tongue on a variety of topics. Then they go to the phones.

It is here that the magic actually happens. The callers drive the situation. They also intrigue me. Here's some of the basic caller types:

The Blatherer - this is the person who calls and just meanders about, makes little sense and generally brings things to a screeching halt

The "Stole my Thunder" Caller- always starts with the phrase intact as in "the last caller stole my thunder". Like they have anything even remotely original to say. This type of caller has an over-inflated sense of worth.

The Yes Man - Always agrees that the host is generally correct in all of their observations and analyses. Problem is the host is generally a dolt.

The Professional Call-in, Go To Caller - This caller probably speaks into his cereal spoon, perfecting his radio voice every day. These callers like to use BIG words with lots of syllables so they sound intelligent. A clue from SoulSlam - you don't.




So what to make of these peeps? They all contribute in some way, either positive or negative, to the great microphone universe we all know and love. Can't say if that's bad or good. Just is.