Casual Hockey does radio: Dark Star, Bloggers, and Glen Sonmor

Peoples! It seems Casual Hockey is catching on with the rest of the world! As, no doubt, many of you heard last night , I was interviewed on Dark Star's Sports Night radio show on WCCO 830. I was on with an Anaheim Ducks blogger, Finny, who writes "Girl with a Puck". The idea was that Finny and I would have a friendly debate about Wild's first-round playoff matchup with Anaheim. (The "debate" was moderated by Dark Star. Listen, don't ask me why he calls himself that. My guess is he really really likes the Grateful Dead).

This is how Dark Star introduced the segment: "Ok, I've got the bloggers with me!" I'm sure listeners were thrilled when they heard that. I would have preferred this, "Ok, I've got a couple random people who write about their respective hockey clubs on the internets...." The best part about his opening line is that our segment was following Dark Star's interview with Glen Sonmor, former North Stars coach. So, one minute listeners are hearing a Minnesota hockey legend/expert discussing the great players of the 1966-67 Toronto Maple Leafs and the next they're hearing a couple of "bloggers" dissect the Wild playoff matchup. This is why sportsradio is the best.

Sidenote: I'm not actually certain why Sonmor was talking about the '66 Leafs. I'm pretty sure he was on the air to talk about the Wild. I think he's just getting old and all the years and teams sort of blend together. He started off talking about the Wild, but somehow he finished with the Leafs. Also, he basically said that the Swedes in the 1960's were a bunch of pussies. That's why I can't wait to be an old man. You can say stuff like that and it's hilarious.

In any case, on to the debate. Dark Star was immediately enamored with Finny's voice, presumably because she's a woman and there aren't a lot of women on that show. (He also asked her if she had any pictures of herself on the blog. Hey, I don't judge, I just report the facts.) Apparently, my radio voice isn't as sexy because I received no creepy compliments from Dark Star - so that's too bad. Anyway, I was at a disadvantage from the start.

Finny and I exchanged a few jabs. I predicted the Wild would win the series in 5 games. (I'll give you more specifics on my prediction and comments on the show in the next post.) Finny was much more diplomatic saying the teams were evenly matched. In the end, Dark Star claimed Finny was the winner of the debate. Obviously, I take issue with that. He clearly had a thing for her and didn't want to be rude to the out of town guest. So, Finny, that's "Minnesota Nice" for you!

Anyway, I was hoping at worst I'd get a free t-shirt for being on the show and at best I'd get playoff tickets. Not sure why I thought that, but I was really disappointed when the segment ended and my phone line went dead and I got nothing. That was it. To make it worse, they didn't even plug the blog! Eeeeeesh. I need to write up a contract or something. But now that I've got radio experience, sky's the limit. Casual Hockey, coming to a TV near you! Probably.