Ed Sherman interviews Dan McNeil

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: McNeil's return sure to spice things up : Posted by Ed Sherman 6/29/2009 4:32AM on Chicago Business : Dan McNeil initially enjoyed his unplanned winter/spring vacation. He went on vacations with his wife. He has an autistic son who loves to go swimming, so he spent considerable time in the pool. : The time off allowed him to finish off the last entries in a book he's doing on Chicago sports. Full disclosure: I'm the co-author. : At some point, though, Mr. McNeil got worried. : "The first couple of months I didn't miss it," Mr. McNeil said. : Then the Bears traded for Jay Cutler. Then the Blackhawks made their run. Then there were the ups and downs for the Cubs and Sox. : At that point, Mr. McNeil realized he wanted to get back in the game. : "It had me itching to have a microphone and a headset again," Mr. McNeil said. : Mr. McNeil returned two weeks ago with the "Danny Mac Show" on WSCR-AM 670. After spending his entire career in afternoon drive, he now will ride the 9 a.m.-1 p.m. shift, teaming with Matt Spiegel. : It has been an interesting 2009 for Mr. McNeil. He was let go by WMVP-AM 1000 in January, a victim of mostly making too money. He was earning $700,000 per year. : He probably will get half of that from SCR. But nobody will be holding a tag day for Mr. McNeil. : Here's an interview I had with Mr. McNeil, or "Danny Mac": : How do you feel about returning to WSCR? When you left, you didn't leave on the best of terms. : Mr. McNeil: Does anybody leave on the best of terms? We had a handful of professional disagreements. We had a difference of opinion of where the station was going. : This is the radio station that basically brought me into the world. It gave me my first big chance. It means more to me than a place where you stop along the way. I was among the two or three people who laid the first bricks. I have an emotional connection here. : Will WSCR be a better fit for you than ESPN 1000? You sounded off at times about ESPN, and that got you in hot water. : I wouldn't say ESPN was a bad fit. They get to make the rulea. I got everything I wanted out of ESPN. I made great relationships with my co-workers. I made a ton of money. A plausible argument can be made that we had the most successful sports talk show in town. We won a lot of heavyweight belts. : CBS Radio (the owners of SCR) is not as conservative. It's locally driven and it is locally managed. I prefer my sports to be more local. The climate will be more comfortable for me. : You've worked afternoon drive your entire career as a host. How do you feel about your move to middays? : One thing the new ratings methodology is showing that midday radio usage is way up. I think that's surprised a few people. You have to assume people are listening on line at work. : It's going to be a different lifestyle for me getting downtown at 7:30 (a.m.). But I did afternoons for 17 years. This is an opportunity to do something different. It gives us a chance to have a firm grip on the entire sports day. When SCR was successful in the 90s, the midday show and afternoon complemented each other. I think we'll be a nice tonic for (Terry Boers and Dan Bernstein afternoon show). : How do you envision your show and working with new partner Matt Spiegel? : Matt was my first choice to be my partner. Matt's a successful singer in a rock tribute band. He's strong in areas I'm not. He loves the NBA and he's better with baseball minutia. He's going to bring out the warm side in me. : To be honest, Jurko and Harry were instrumental in taking my success to another level. Those guys had the ability to make me more likable. I expect Matt to do the same thing here. Beneath this tough exterior, I'm a likable guy. : I see the show being provocative and have a warm side. We'll have the best producers. I'll expect Matt will be able to push all my buttons. : You face some stiff competition at WMVP. Tom Waddle and Marc Silverman have posted strong ratings. Any predictions for how this battle will turn out? : There couldn't be a better match-up. I've enjoyed the Waddle and Silvy show. I would rather get in the ring with an opponent I respect than some tomato can. If their show is the best, that's who I want to be up against. We'll have some fun. : You've been doing this now for nearly 20 years. How does it feel to take on a new challenge at this point in your career? : Having been through it before, I can say anybody would benefit by having a nice break. It was overdue for me. It gives you the opportunity to try to reinvent yourself. I think we had become rote (WMVP). Rote, what a great word. The script needed to be freshened up for me.

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