July 14, 2013 by Mark Wilson
I know— it’s hard to believe. This summer marks 15 years since the Parker and the Man story began. It comes from humble beginnings but it’s a fascinating tale! Figured I would write that so you read longer.
Just about this time in 1998, we were looking for a permanent morning radio show at Detroit’s original sports station, WDFN AM 1130 “The Fan.” I was doing a “temporary” show with Oakland Press columnist and Detroit Tigers’ beat writer Pat Caputo. Pat, of course, is a longtime host on WXYT-FM since the switch to sports full time.
Before that, Pat and I were thrust together on what was called, “The Red Wings Playoff Morning Show.” It was created to take advantage of what would be the Wings’ run to their second Stanley Cup championship in two years. We’d get up at some ungodly hour, around 3:30 AM and get our butts into the old DFN studios downtown Detroit in what we lovingly called, “the garage.”
By the time we hit summer, the Wings had secured their Cup but the “Playoff Morning Show” rolled on. Obviously, the title was stupid at this point but it was doing so well that we just kept going. Every morning— Monday through Friday— we came in and did morning sports radio for the good peeps of the Metro “D.”
Remember, DFN was the one and ONLY sports station in Detroit. Next year they will celebrate 20 years in operation albeit that operation has sunk to new lows. They are no longer downtown but instead in the slick Clear Channel building at 12 Mile and Halsted.
The station was t...
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