I moved from CT to Northern Virginia in December 1994.  It was the mid point of my Jr year in High School.  Sure I wanted to get the hell out of CT, but once I moved, things were so much more different.  So many people, so much traffic, so many shopping centers, so many schools.  But that’s when I discovered talk radio on WJFK.  My daddy listened to talk news radio which can be dry, but when I came across just plain talk radio, I realized how enjoyable it could be.  Conversations with out uncomfortable pauses.  Funny opinions and stories, and I truly enjoyed it. I listened to Howard Stern in the morning driving to school, and Don and Mike in the afternoon.  Back in the high school days, they started at 2pm, I got out of school at 2:10pm.  Sometimes I would cut out a little early to hear their show opening, which was random and interesting clips from movies and TV.

WJFK was there for me after high school, when I went to community college, and after that when I wasn’t working at all.  It was there when I moved, it was there when I got a job, there during my job, there when I lost my job.  That station was there for me for most of my life…14 years.  I listened when Stern left, listened to the many shows that came and went during mid days, and always Don and Mike in the afternoons.  I cried when Dons wife died, which was strange feeling so much hurt for someone I met once but listened to everyday.  I was there when he left the show, I was going to listen no matter what.

Then in Baltimore, WJKF was gone.  It went to all sports.  Which meant that I wouldn’t be able to listen on the radio in the car.  That was a very difficult thing to wrap my head around and get over, since I started a job and was driving a lot.  But still, I listened online all day at work, no matter what.  And then I lost my job again, and needed WJFK more than ever.  I was home all day, and lonely, and the one thing to keep me going was listening to Big O and Dukes and Mike O’meara.  They kept me laughing.  They told me what was going on in the world.  I didn’t even watch TV, I listed to WJFK online.  I was there, and I needed it.

And then they went all sports.  It felt like a family member in my life died.  This was not some radio station I turned on once in a while, this was a station that  has been a large part of my life.  And they died. Just like that.  They took away all the people I cared about, and replaced them with people talking about fucking bull shit sports.  I hate major sports.  I cant think of anything more annoying and tedious than to hear people talk all day about a bull shit, worthless baseball game.  I got over the fact that Baltimore had done it to me, but I held on to DC.  I had my DC.  And when DC died, it all really died. And I cried.  July 17th, I cried and cried, because it was over.

I hate executives that think they know what they’re doing and ruin life for real people.  I hate the strange empty feeling of having that station be gone.  It must seem strange to someone who doesn’t get it, but for those who listened and understand it not strange.   Sure someone can say to me and all the others “Its a radio station, get over it”  but to me, its like a family member or a friend I had for that long, suddenly stop talking to me.

A couple days ago, Big O and Dukes had a little get-to-gether at a nifty bar in Northern VA.  Nothing like the old “Don and Mike Vegas Style Shows”, it was just them there talking to people.  I went, because I just wanted to hug them, tell them I miss them a lot, and that I’m a fan…and I did exactly that.   I am not in the demographic that they were made for, I am not white, I am not a male, I do not care about sports.  But I was a fan of WJFK no matter what.  That didnt matter, all the fans didnt matter.  WJFK died, and a little part of me died as well.  Sure I’ll survive, but things wont be as funny.

Here is a great post about the station flip and The Mike O’meara Show