Radio, radio: A day listening to the city's sports talk yakkers -- and other semi-related thoughts

I listened to local sports talk from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday. I'm happy to report I survived.

I am the target audience for sports talk radio. I know this because I spent 11 hours, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday, listening to local sports talk radio, and all I heard were ads for hair replacement, weight-loss products and testosterone supplementation.

My hair is almost gone. Check.

I’m overweight. Check.

I have low T. Check.

And yet, I don’t listen to a lot of sports talk these days. If there’s a major local sports issue, I’ll tune in to hear the hosts’ take on things, but generally speaking, when I’m in the car, I’m listening to music. It’s not that the sports talk isn’t any good locally – not saying that at all – but as I’ve gotten older, my interest in sports talk has waned pretty significantly.

Maybe I’ve grown out of it. Or maybe I got burned out on it after spending two years doing my own show on The Fan with the lovely and talented Eddie White. Let’s be honest, you spend three hours a day, five days a week, talking about the same sets of sports issues, your brain turns to Silly Putty.

So I accessed the iHeart radio app, brewed a giant cup of coffee (the first of many) and listened in.

7 a.m. – I start my long day with The Wakeup Call with KB and Andy, the 7-10 a.m. show on The Fan featuring Kevin Bowen and Andy Sweeney.

This is going to be a good day for talk radio, just as it’s a good day to be writing a sports column in Indianapolis. The Colts had just lost to the worst team in football, the New York Giants, one day earlier and everybody – hosts and callers alike – is loaded for bear.

I hate to acknowledge this, but it’s true: When the Colts crap the bed, it’s good for the sports journalism business. Even when my Substack site is growing slowly or maybe treading water, a column or two about a gruesome performance always gooses the subscription rate. I wrote a game column and a Dopey Report Card off the loss to the Giants and added nine paid subscriptions in 48 hours.

That’s a lot.

When they win, I’ll get one or two subscriptions. Or none at all.

Chaos sells. Anger sells. Always has, always will.