Mark O’Connell

I admit I didn’t like the man, neither as a person nor a talk show host. He was always defensive and cold, at least to some college kid (me) who sent him the occasional email (none of which were ever worded strongly or in any way inflammatory). However, he is responsible for my first interview in radio. On the eve of the Iraq war O’Connell and Wodele (sp?) was the morning show on KSTP and they interviewed some anti-war college activist on their show. O’Connell invited me to also be interviewed on his show the following week (I was the leader of a conservative student group at the time and probably the only conservative student he knew).

I had never been on radio before. A little bit after the interview I started calling the occasional radio talk show but I still rarely call in. I was just starting to get a handle on the issues (I was 21 years old, I wasn’t going to have a nuanced foreign policy) and I remember I got completely hammered in the interview by both Wodele (a Ventura Admin staffer) and O’Connell. They didn’t just ask me about the war but they also hammered me on Academic Freedom. I don’t think I’ve ever been so rhetorically beaten in my life.

But it was also a catalyst for my interest in radio. I would later be interviewed on other stations a few more time after that before I get onto a talk show myself. Sure I didn’t do well but I could only go up from there right? I had just embarassed myself and conservative students on a 50,000 watt blowtorch in the 14th largest market in the U.S. during drive time. It didn’t matter what I was faced with in radio after that (interview on 770? nothing to it; MPR? Pffft; Demo tape for KYCR? No worries; Debate with former Congressman? Handled very well I thought; “The Next Big Thing? Ain’t no thing). I got my first taste for radio from Mark O’Connell and I am thankful for it.

It’s one of those strange paradoxes of the universe. It’s not the easy professors or teachers I remember, it was the tough ones who didn’t particularly care if I failed or not who I’m thankful for. I don’t remember winning, I remembered being defeated and wanting to come back for more.

I’m not going to take back the mean things I said about Mark O’Connell. It’d be a lie. But I am thankful for Mark O’Connell. For he is responsible for a little bit of who I am today. Fortunately for me, I did thank him for having me on his show and I did thank him and that Wodele character for the beating I took from them (seriously, I thanked them for just that in the email I sent after the interview). There is no regret in me now that Mr. O’Connell is gone, despite our differences I recognized what he did for me, before he passed on. I hope he finds rest and that his family finds peace. They have my condolences.

I hope everyone “leaves it all on the field.” Thank yous shouldn’t be for the dead, they are for the living. I’m glad I don’t have have to lament not thanking Mr. O’Connell for his actions on my behalf. I hope everyone learns to reflect upon and occasionally thank those who have shaped our lives, even when we don’t particularly like those people. Mr. O’Connell left us all far too soon.

h/t Mitch

Random Link o’ the Day:

http://www.jackfleckgolf.com

Colts or Bears

I’m rooting for Peyton Manning and the Colts, not because I don’t like the Chicago Bears and not because I like (and have invested heavily in memorabilia of) Peyton Manning. I root for the Colts because Bears fans are…going to kill me if I write what I actually think about them.