Radio Call-in Post (Assignment 2)

I’ve listened to plenty of radio shows before. One of the most popular radio stations back where I’m from is WEEI station 850 around the Boston area. I started listening to WEEI when I was around 12 years old. I started out only listening to it when I went to sleep (usually Boston College basketball games) but as I’ve gotten older I’ve found myself listening to the programs it broadcasts throughout the day.

The one show I’ve always wanted to call into was The Big Show with Glenn Ordway. He’s always talking about sports headlines that pertain to the local teams (Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics, Patriots) that I follow. Did I mention Glenn Ordway is also my second cousin?

Yeah I had no idea until I was about 15 years old that he was related to me. Somehow it came up one day when I was talking to my father. I’ve never actually talked to the man before (my father has) but ever since learning that I’ve always wanted to call into the program and try to get on the air. This assignment gave me the perfect opportunity to try and do just that.

Monday’s show was of particular interest to me because Ordway was talking to Cedric Maxwell, former Boston Celtics basketball great and current color commentator for the Celtics on WEEI. Also on the show Monday was one of my favorite people to hate and disagree with Lou Merloni. This really was an opportunity I could not pass up.

The Big Show is on Monday-Friday from 2 pm to 6 pm. So after I got out of my 2:30 class I headed back to my dorm and began listening to the program on my laptop. Ordway was still talking to Maxwell about the Celtics when I began listening. They were talking about the emergence of Rondo and how he would soon break the Celtics single-season assists record which had been held by Bob Cousy for 50 years. It was at this point that I decided to call in and give my opinion on how I felt about Rondo.

So I called the number and reached the screening producer of the show. I was put on hold at this point for probably a solid 10 minutes before someone began talking to me again. It was at this point that I was asked to give my name and where I was calling from. So I gave them my information and was put on hold again. Thinking back at it now it probably didn’t help that I said I was calling in from Amherst because I never actually made it on the air. After about 15 minutes on hold someone then came on the line and told me I wouldn’t be able to make it onto the air.

Was I disappointed? Sure I was. It would have been kind of cool to get on air and let my opinion get heard. But what I realized during that time on hold is that topics move very quickly on talk radio, especially during a show that has so many people calling in. All in all it was an interesting experience. I wish I had been able to get on the air and say my piece (and the high grade on the assignment would have been nice) but either way it was still worthwhile to try and do.