Posted by chicagomedia.org on December 03, 2009 at 18:02:37:
The Score's Dan McNeil moves column to Chicago Tribune from Sun-Times
By Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune
Dan McNeil, the popular midday host for CBS Radio�s WSCR-AM 670, is moving his weekly sports column from the Chicago Sun-Times to the Chicago Tribune, where his first piece will appear in Friday�s edition.
"It is something very seriously that has been an aspiration of mine going back to the eighth or ninth grade, when I used to read the great David Israel in the Tribune and so many great sports columnists who followed, like Bernie Lincicome and -- in this guy's opinion -- Skip Bayless," McNeil said, announcing the switch on today's radio program. "It's going to be fun to get on board."
McNeil, who early in his media career was a staff writer and columnist for The Times of Northwest Indiana, had been writing for the Sun-Times for the last 14 months.
"Having Danny Mac join our little party makes our lineup of voices that much deeper, broader and sharper," said Mike Kellams, the Chicago Tribune's associate managing editor for sports. "There's no doubt he will be a distinctive voice in our lineup. And combining his big platform on The Score and ours in print and online, he's going to reach a hell of a lot of the market. We're very excited to have him."
In McNeil's July 24 Sun-Times column, at the height of Cutler-mania, the talk show host tried to warn Chicago Bears fans with a column that opened:
�Chances are excellent you don't recall the Sid Luckman days, so it's understandable if Jay Cutler's arrival still has you a little intoxicated. Well, take caution in your giddiness.
�It is not my desire to step on your Bears buzz. � There is a fly in the ointment, however. � A football team with a problematic offensive line is a team that won't break a sweat in a Super Bowl. And while I don't blame general manager Jerry Angelo for spending the last few months taking bows for the Cutler deal, he has assembled a cast of O-linemen that is suspect.�
That essay concluded:
�The offensive line is the soul of a football team. Without a good one, it's difficult to join the NFL's elite. And isn't that what Cutler was brought here to do for the Bears?
�For now, however, let's keep sippin' that Bears Kool-Aid and get to Olivet Nazarene for camp. It's the dawn of a new day. Just remember that it won't be until September concludes that we learn whether the Bears truly are prepared to ring in a new era.�
Turns out they weren�t.
By last week�s column, McNeil practically was ready to help the Bears coaching staff pack their things: "Lovie Smith needs a break from football, and football needs a break from him. Paying Smith and his wingmen to hit the bricks would be the best money the Bears have spent in ages. I don't care if it nears $20 million collectively. Big deal."
Leaving the Sun-Times for the Tribune is the second big change this year for McNeil, co-author of "The Great Book of Chicago Sports Lists" with Crain's Chicago Business blogger Ed Sherman.
Taken off the air in January by WMVP-AM 1000, which cited the economic climate for not picking up the fifth and final year of his contract, he took over the 9 a.m.-to-1 p.m. slot on The Score in June.
It is his second tour of duty at WSCR. McNeil was part of the team that launched The Score in January 1992, spending almost nine years there before leaving for ESPN 1000 in late 2000. His reputation includes a sometimes testy relationship with his bosses and others.
Joining the Tribune, in a way, brings McNeil full circle. After attending college at Ball State University, McNeil was an intern at Chicago Tribune parent Tribune Co.�s WGN-AM 720 in the summer and fall of 1985, working as a producer on its �Sports Central� program as well as on Chicago Bears pre-game, halftime and post-game shows.
McNeil began producing Chicago Bulls broadcasts and Chet Coppock�s sports talk program on the old WLUP-AM in January 1988. He transitioned into a sidekick and fill-in host, and began contributing to Steve Dahl and Garry Meier�s show.
"In college, I spent time on the school newspaper, I spent time in the radio business, after an internship at WGN radio, worked for 18 months at the Times in northwest Indiana," McNeil said this morning on the air. "My ego did not allow just to have a byline ... I had to have a microphone, so I went in another direction when Coppock gave me a chance to produce his show in '88 and did a little weekend work."