An inevitable constant of sports talk radio--having the illusion, as a fan, that you can change a player's or the management of a team's mind about going to another team, retiring, or broadcasting the team's games on a different radio or TV station.
I remember a fan calling KMOX's "Sports Open Line" in the '80s, upset that our hockey team, the St. Louis Blues, was taking its broadcasts to another radio station.
"I'm upset. I'm disturbed," the caller said. "Can we do anything?"
"No, there's nothing we can do," host Dan Dierdorf responded. "They signed a five-year contract, by my understanding, over at another radio station...It's out of my hands. It's out of our hands..."
Although it isn't realistic for a fan to think (s)he can prevent a team from seeking a new outlet for its broadcasts, there's something heartening in hearing from a fan who cares that much. That tenacity keeps people following their favorite hometown teams and attending their games, even during their weaker seasons. Those are a team's true fans.
