From: Philip
To: BELLING, MARK C.
Subject: [EXTERNAL] A Listener List
Hi Mark,
I enjoyed listening to the 10 defining moments segment on your last terrestrial radio show. It was a fun reminder of the early days of your show. I’ve been a regular listener from almost the beginning and have many memories of standout moments from your show over the years. I suspect you would not approve of it, but some of us would really enjoy the ability to re-listen to some of those early shows that pre-date the existing podcast era. I thought I would share some moments not in your list that were memorable to me for various reasons as a listener:
- The “worst sports decision in Wisconsin history” – when the Brewers let Paul Molitor go the Blue Jays and your show covered this story like nowhere else in Milwaukee, having all the key players on for lengthy interviews (Molitor, Bando, Selig)
- Yount’s 3,000th hit – this was also the day Selig became Commissioner your coverage/retrospective was again just better than the competition
- The first two items above were only a few months apart in 1992 and even though the Brewers were not the main focus of your show, your coverage cemented your program for me as the place to really know what’s going on in Milwaukee as a young person at the time
- The blue shirt at the airport – which led to you hilariously hanging up your own blue shirt on the TV show
- The orange asterisk on the lakefront – this along with other art and architecture critiques (e.g. corporate names on tall buildings) were unique to your program
- The light rail battle – which was effective until they finally corralled that federal money for The Flop
- Coming back from your suspension to the music lyrics of I Get Knocked Down, But I Get Up Again … You’re Never Gonna Keep Me Down! – classic
- All of the segments where you didn’t reveal your opinion until after arguing both sides with callers – this was a good teaching tool at effective argument making
- The week in review with Todd Robert Murphy, JJ Blonien, and Walter Farrell – it didn’t last for the long haul but I liked that panel and format
- The crescendo peak – this term from a caller that you often referred back to for a while to remind us the futility of timing markets perfectly
- Incredible sex appeal – this one is obscure but sometime in the 90s a caller insulted your appearance and you immediately shot back at him about his failure to recognize your incredible sex appeal (a great comeback)
- Mark’s music club – short lived but I found the selection interesting
- Mark as a Brewers broadcaster – not from your show but that was a fun inning you did when the Brewers had guest broadcasters on
- Mark as the traffic reporter – after losing an on-air sports bet to Anne Catalane the two of you switched roles for the next show
- Chuck Chvala hosting – I think this was another lost bet but somehow he got to host your show for a day
- Rationalization is the second strongest human drive – probably the most famous recurring theme of the show
I was kind of expecting your last radio show to once and for all reveal what you rank as the first strongest human drive. I assume survival is first. Guess I’ll have to listen to the new podcast to find out. Anyway, Happy New Year and enjoy Florida.
Thanks,
Phil
