OVER TALKING? WHO DRAWS THE LINE

Over talking is not an illness that needs a diagnosis and a treatment.

More like a habit; for some a vocation.

After all, every radio personality is an over talker by definition since we can’t see their faces.

Not any more. Now everyone’s on a screen, ready or not.

But I’m still a radio fan. Sports talk radio.

Where else but sports talk radio can you hear a string of ads beginning with how to make easy and convenient sports bets, to an alcohol ad with a reminder to ‘Drink Responsibly’, followed by a DUI lawyer ad, divorce lawyer ads, and ultimately bankruptcy ads.

As a writer following the Blogger Constitution, I added the bankruptcy ad part because I think I heard it, and because it’s a suitable ending for the ad string story.

Way back in 2007-08 the smart money move was  borrowing money to make money, spend money, live it up, whatever you do with money borrowed from predatory lenders, except they couldn’t figure it out soon enough to avoid losing everything.

More recently was the wake-up call on student loans with interest a half-life this side of Uranium 238.

Uranium-238 has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. Since the earth is about 4.6 billion years old, the amount of Uranium-238 that had existed at the time of the earth’s birth has now reduced to half.

And that’s only for a public college bachelors?

No wonder it feels like a downward spiral picking up speed.

It doesn’t start with sports betting, but there are signs.

As the American sports betting industry continues to expand, it has reached a high water mark, posting a record $10.92 billion in revenue for 2023, according to the American Gaming Association’s annual report.

 

Radio Voices Over Talking, Or Just Doing Their Job

You could call it over talking, filling time, or forgetfulness, but when sports radio people repeat themselves with rhythm it has a rap feel.

Some of them make an event, or a play, the theme of their show for a day and it makes listeners feel like they’re in the club when they hear it repeated in different contexts.

Radio has good hooks, but television broadcasts aren’t one of them.

I enjoy the heck out of an amped up radio host breaking down the most recent ‘once in a lifetime’ moment from a ‘generational player.’

There’s something missing when it’s a voice coming from a man who looks like he never played sports, and if he did he was the locker room manager who got to dress down for home games.

On the radio it’s a guy who loves sports more than anything; on TV he looks out of place.

The most disappointing are new shows where experienced radio people, one male the other female, team up.

I avoid them on video because I like them so much on the radio, then it happens, I see them, and I’m not the same fan afterwards.

For reference, my optimal woman sports host would be a sassy Tiny Fey.

The usual broadcast team includes a seasoned radio pro and a former athlete for the insider angle, the color commentator with some personality.

My current favorites are a man who came from the Dan Patrick Show, and a lady with the right timing on her snark.

If I’m in the car at the right time, they’re on my radio. Unless my wife is along for the ride.

 

Sharing Air Waves

I love sports talk radio for the over talking aspect. When it get’s to the pitch of barking sea lions it’s even better.

But my wife? Not so much. She prefers the soothing tones of OPB, the hushed outrage, the quietness of ‘being there.’

Nope, no roar of the crowd for her. Turn that shit down, shit being what she calls two men raising their voices in guttural harmony.

(Again with the Blogger Constitution: I made the ‘shit’ part up.)

 

When I hear guys from around the country call in to sports talk radio shows to give their take, I hear that same voice proclaiming ‘I got carried away’ when confronted with their sports gambling losses.

By their wife.

I hear them straining for the finish line of their work day so they can tip back a cold one or five, maybe phone in a parlay.

No, I’m not going to run the whole ad line at the top all the way to DUI, divorce, and bankruptcy. Boomerpdx is not that kind of blog, not a rub-it-in kind of blog.

But I hear those male voices, those good timing party dude voices, and celebrate with them.

Make those bets, drink that drink, and know when enough is enough.

If you’ve got a wife, listen to her. If you don’t have a wife, find one.

Find a wife that doesn’t have a gambling addiction, alcohol problems, legal issues, the baggage of too many divorces, and no checking account.

Why not give positive self talk a try? Start with, ‘Grow the f up and stop doing stupid shit.’

Just don’t over talk it.