10 Questions with ... Dave Dameshek

NAME:Dave Dameshek TITLE:Host of "The Dave Dameshek Show" STATION:KSPN 710 ESPN MARKET:Los Angeles COMPANY:ESPN BORN:Yes. (June 11, 1970) RAISED:Yes (Pittsburgh, PA)

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

Did sales in Chicago, moved to LA to pursue my dreams of dance, but after a devastating knee injury, shifted focus to comedy writing. Wrote for shows like "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "The Man Show," "Crank Yankers," "Battlebots," and "I'm with Busey." Also did some overnight work on Fox Sports Radio. In 2006, was the sports guy on the Adam Carolla Show. As of November 26th, 2007, been taking advantage of ESPN's poor judgment in giving me my own show.

1. You came to L.A. as a comedy writer but for some reason decided to do radio. Why? What was it about radio that appealed to you?

Outside of being a big league ballplayer, I figure getting paid to do either - writing on a late night show or hosting a sports talk show - is about as good as I could ever wish for, but hosting a radio show is ultimately more fun because I'm not pitching jokes or writing for someone else. If there's something I want to say, I say it. And then listeners call the FCC to complain.

2. You're from Pittsburgh, but you've been out here for about eight years -- have you converted to being an L.A. sports fan yet or will you always be a Steelers guy? Should an adult sports fan be able to change allegiances just because he moved, or married a fan of a rival team, or for any reason? (Or can someone really have "second favorite" teams, like Simmons buying Clippers season tickets while remaining a Celtics fan?)

Fortunately, there aren't too many conflicts where my allegiances are concerned. I'll always be a Steeler fan, and since LA has no NFL team, that's not a problem. I didn't have an NBA team growing up, so adopting the Lakers and Clips has been easy (well, rooting for the Clips hasn't been that easy). I'm still a Penguins fan, but I don't think very many people in LA know that hockey still exists, so no problem there. Baseball's a little different because of the every day-ness of it - if you live in a town with a ball club, it's hard to not start following that team during the summer months when not much else is going on. That's especially true with the Dodgers because of the respective greatness of Dodger Stadium and their play-by-play guys Vin Scully and Chaz Steiner. Generally speaking, I think it's shameful when a grown man switches loyalties. Even worse, though, are the LA fans who continue to root for the Rams and Raiders - these teams are like a girlfriend who dumped you and moved on to another guy while you remain hung up on her. You wouldn't go to her wedding and cheer, would you? Of course not. Please, Angelenos, regain your dignity and turn your backs on the Rams and Raiders.

3. You're part of a larger trend that might be traced back to Jimmy Kimmel's days as KROQ "Sports Guy" and includes your Kimmel cohort Bill Simmons, Deadspin, and other "alternative" sports sources who approach sports with a heavy dose of humor and pop cultural references. What "regular" sports guys - traditional, no-nonsense sportscasters and sportswriters -- do you like and respect?

Along with the guys you named - Kimmel, Simmons, Deadspin's Will Leitch - I really enjoyed Tony Kornheiser's ESPN radio show. As far as the more traditional guys go, Vin Scully is the best of all time; Peter Gammons is great both in print and on ESPN; loved Howard Cosell; guys like J.A. Adande and Jay Mariotti are always compelling; and as anyone who grew up in Pittsburgh can tell you, that town has been blessed by some of the greatest sports broadcasters anywhere - Mike Lange, Bill Hillgrove, and my personal favorite, Myron Cope.

4. You've co-hosted, you've been Adam Carolla's sidekick, you've been "the sports guy" on Dicky Barrett's old Indie 103.1 show, but this time, you're the star, carrying the show. With a month or so under your belt, how's it going? What about being the lead guy has been the most difficult thing to adjust to?

Really, the only tough part in the first couple weeks was tending to the so-called 'formatics' - making sure you mention the call letters enough, getting out on time, etc. Otherwise, it's been too much fun to have any complaints. I continue to be amazed that I've gotten an opportunity to host a drive-time sports show, let alone on ESPN in L.A., the second-biggest market in the country. Boy, the 710 execs must've been drunk that day.

5. Who, and what, makes you laugh?

Midgets.

6. You have multiple fantasy sports league teams. Why do you put yourself through that every week? (And how does that mix with being married? And... "Kool Kats"? Seriously? Was "Hello Kitties" taken?)

First of all, how dare you attack the name Kool Kats - you see that it's spelled with 'K's, right? You can't get no kooler than that. As for my involvement in fantasy sports, I'm fully aware of how pathetic it is. You certainly don't hear about any actual athletes participating in such nonsense. If you've never participated in a fantasy league but are feeling tempted to try it out, don't. It's a humiliating and powerful addiction that just might ruin your life.

7. With all the stuff you've done, including radio and Kimmel and "The Man Show," what was the one moment you can point to that was the most surreal, where you found yourself, say, in the same room with a huge celebrity doing something weird and thought that it doesn't get much more out-of-body-experience than this?

One through 40 would involve Gary Busey in some way - my favorite one came late one night after finishing shooting a scene for his reality show. For weeks, we'd wondered why Gary always had a metal attach‚ case with him - the type you'd see in an espionage movie. Finally, that night in his trailer, he happened to leave it open. While he wasn't looking, I took a peak inside - it was completely filled with small bags of Doritos and Fritos. Among the non-Busey moments, getting to do a radio reenactment of a scene from 'Red Dawn' with one its stars, C. Thomas Howell, was pretty surreal.

8. You now work for the Worldwide Leader, so getting huge guests is a given. Who's on your wish list -- who are your dream guests (and for the sake of this thing, let's confine it to those currently alive)?

Mario Lemieux, Vin Scully and former WWF Intercontinental Champion Koko B. Ware.

9. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without _______________.

......learning something new about myself and how I fit into this crazy world. Just kidding. I'm almost positive I haven't made it through a single day without breathing.

10. What's the best advice you've ever gotten? The worst?

Best: Montgomery Burns once said on "The Simpsons": "Push out the jive, bring in the love."

Worst: "You gotta get one of those Segways before they're all sold out."