The Pittsburgh radio personality who rose to popularity on the WDVE Morning Show in the '80s and '90s, is set to take on a new role as part of a holy trinity of sports announcers on 1250 ESPN-AM radio beginning today.
"We'll see if everything gets completed on time," Paulsen said last Wednesday of his newest venture with Eddy Crow and former Steeler Mike Logan. "I'm in no hurry. If there's anything I learned during the last fiasco (the short-lived Man Zone format at 93.7FM),) it was to look extremely carefully before you leap, and to, above all, take everything a corporate radio executive tells you with a huge grain of salt."
After leaving WDVE in 2006, Paulsen joined "The Zone," a format aimed primarily at men and featuring hosts that included Dennis Miller and John Steigerwald. When "The Zone" folded after a few months, Paulsen and Steigerwald participated in a ballyhooed "tryout" on KDKA-AM. Paulsen soon bailed out, preferring the greener pastures of his Washington County farm, which he now writes about in a weekly Observer-Reporter column.
If he didn't miss the long drive into Pittsburgh, he apparently did miss communicating with his fans.
"I've been trying for about seven years to put together an afternoon talk show that would be both creative and popular," Paulsen admitted. "For various reasons, both of my own doing and of radio station ownerships, I have not been able to do so to my own satisfaction." (Because of a contractual agreement, Paulsen was not permitted to work for a non-CBS property until July.)
And making the transition from the Stones to Steelers and Pink Floyd to Penguins?
"As you've discussed in your column from time to time," Paulsen offered, "the creativity has been sucked from most music radio. It is, however, flourishing in talk. I've been attracted to this format since the mid-'90s and have been devising different schemes for conquering it since then. I've always played, watched, or talked about sports from the time I could walk. My mom introduced me to baseball on the radio with Baltimore Orioles games when I was six or so and have been hooked on play-by-play since. I was a member of Franco's Italian Army. I've sneaked many beverages into many Mountaineers games. The last sport I was introduced to quickly became my favorite. I went to my first NHL game the first night I spent in Pittsburgh in 1986 and have been mainlining Mike Lange and company ever since. I still play lots of sports, albeit much more slowly and with much longer recovery time between games."
One may think Paulsen's biggest challenge will be to fill the void left by Mark Madden, who previously held the 3 to 7 p.m. time slot. Scott says it isn't necessarily so.
"Madden's ratings, although good, were not anywhere near what could be achieved there. There's new management now, people who have big ideas and a huge arsenal of weapons to choose from. Keep in mind that this is an ESPN network station, and with that comes every sports analyst and expert under the sun along with access to any athlete. It's a candy store. The name carries great cache. Unlike Mark, I won't have the show revolve around myself - not with the kind of support I will have at my disposal."
That arsenal includes his two co-hosts, one of whom he worked with in the past.
"Ed was my sports anchor for the last several years of the 'DVE Morning Show. He's one of the most unique and knowledgeable people I've ever met and really gets how radio works. It'll be a thrill and an adventure to share a studio with him again. Mike Logan's presence allows our show to have a 'hammer,' if you will, when it comes to discussions about the Steelers and high school sports. He's only been off the field seven months or so, so it's all still fresh. I think that as the months roll on, people will discover what an interesting cat he is - more so in conversations not dealing with sports, actually. Any time you mix together people from different walks of life, you'll get interesting conversation - think of a cocktail party. That's what we'll strive for."
Any lingering thoughts on the "Man Station?"
"R.I.P. and good riddance."
Love the show
As part of the changes at ESPN, Stan Savran and Guy Junker will reunite in the 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. slot. The pair is best known, perhaps, for teaming on "Sports Beat" on FSN.