Back in that era of the Northern Alliance Radio Network, there was a trio of two hours shows between 11:00 am and 5:00 pm every Saturday. On this day from 11:00-1:00, Brian "St Paul" Ward, one of the original NARN members to debut in March 2004, invited me to fill in for his colleague John Hinderaker of the world renown Powerline blog.
I had been waiting for this opportunity nearly everyday for the prior 2-1/2 years. You see it was at a MN State Fair broadcast in August of 2007 where Brian approached me in the audience and asked if I would ever be willing to host a show sometime. He was impressed with the poise I showed and the clarity with which I spoke when asking a question of one of their guests. Finally I got my chance! Granted I wasn't a complete novice, as I had been on Twin Cities airwaves back in 2005 on the old "Talk Station" AM 1500 KSTP. Nevertheless, I was jazzed to have the opportunity be on my favorite political radio station.
The venue for this broadcast was at the Sportsmen's Show at the RiverCentre in downtown St. Paul. While I'm not exactly an avid outdoors guy, this show offered up more to talk about than merely hunting, fishing, etc. Yes, one could say the plethora of guests was very diverse.
First, there was Lou Ann Best with her cohort Twiggy the water skiing squirrel.
We then chatted with Michael Cummins, who in 2008 opposed Congressman Jim Oberstar in Minnesota's 8th Congressional District. Cummins was planning on vying for the GOP endorsement again in 2010 but lost out to some guy named Chip Cravaack.
In the second hour we chatted via phone, with prolific Twin Cities author Ross Bernstein about his latest offering I Love Brett Favre, I Hate Brett Favre.
This was a mere 24 hours before Favre and the Vikings crushed the Dallas Cowboys in the divisional playoffs, earning a spot in the NFC title game against the New Orleans Saints.
We wrapped up the program in style by chatting with two lovely young ladies by the names of Crystal and Ashley.
These gals were members of The Bikini Ice Fishing Team (because this was a family atmosphere, however, the gals were not in uniform).
Over the next 16 months, I would fill in or guest co-host on several NARN shows. Then in May 2011 I received the unexpected opportunity to have my own weekly show. The rest, as they say, is history.
Whenever I've spoken of my foray into talk radio, I typically convey that I've gotten way more out of this venture than I have ever put in. That's as true today as it was on January 16, 2010.
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