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10 Questions with ... Dave Palet
December 4, 2007
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NAME:Dave PaletTITLE:Talk Show hostSTATION:XTRA SPORTS 1360MARKET:SAN DIEGOCOMPANY: CLEAR CHANNELBORN:LOS ANGELES, CARAISED:LOS ANGELES, CA & NASHVILLE, TN / GRADUATED FROM SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
I started in radio at XTRA Sports 690 working as a stringer covering the Padres, Chargers, and Lakers. I moved on from there working for ESPN Radio Network and for anyone who would hire me covering every team in Southern California. My ultimate goal was to host a sports talk show.
In 1998 my career goal of becoming a talk show host was realized when Jeff Dotseth and I started "The Dave and Jeff Show" at 760 KFMB.
Jeff and I have since worked for four stations together in San Diego: ESPN Radio, CBS Radio / Free FM, and XTRA Sports 1360.
I also host sports on FOX TV here in San Diego and work as a contributor for ESPN Television concerning San Diego sports.
1.What got you into radio? Why radio?
I always wanted to be a professional athlete and when that goal wasn't realized I knew I had to do something with my life that would keep close to sports. I used to listen to Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton while in college and was hooked to the way he broke stories and how he got an entire city to run to their radio while he read Hacksaw's Headlines.
I decided to do an internship to get my foot in the door answering phones for Hacksaw and other shows on XTRA Sports. Once in the door I caught the radio bug immediately. I would describe it as the way Howard Stern did in his movie when his dad brought him in the studio as a young boy and once Symphony Sid turned the microphone on he was hooked, almost like a trance. Radio was a way of performing and expressing my thoughts and sense of humor while creating a relationship with people in the community.
2. About what are you most passionate these days?
I still love radio after 15 years, my passion for the business is stronger than ever! Without passion you won't be happy or successful. I guess they're one in the same.
Outside of radio I spend as much time as possible with my wife and two boys. I coach my son's High School and travel ball baseball teams as well as my youngest son's 9-year old team. The four of us have a very strong bond centered around love, laughing, and sports.
3. You did sports talk for years before doing non-sports talk at the old Free FM in San Diego, but now you're back -- did the foray into "lifestyle" talk for young guys have an effect on the kind of show you'll do for XTRA now that sports is the primary focus again? Do you think there's room to mix non-sports talk in on a sports show?
Jeff and I were hesitant to do a Hot Topic format before going to Free FM, but once we got started we quickly realized how much fun it was. Sports Radio for us was a one-way street and Hot Topic Radio was a five lane highway. It gave us the opportunity to about anything with humor as the main back drop. We've always had a strong female following, but Free FM added to that in leaps and bounds.
This new show will start and end with sports stories, but doing morning radio will allow us the room to bring some of the hot topics to the audience.
4. What's the best and worst thing about working with your on-air partner?
Jeff and I are best of friends and after ten years of doing shows together; we've become like family. We're an oddity in the radio business. It's not very often that radio teams get along. More often than not the radio teams I've been around with put a show on for the audience and then once the microphones are turned off the hosts spend their free time stabbing one another in the back.
5. You've done the tour of San Diego sports and talk radio, both individually and as a team, and you've managed to get back on the air reasonably quickly after each departure. What would you say is the most important thing to do once you find out your job is about to go away?
Once you find yourself out of a job the first step is to sign up for unemployment, next to start drinking, then start crying, and third find out where the government hands out that free cheese. Just kidding about all that other stuff except the unemployment. The key to finding work quickly is act quickly. Don't sulk, be proactive. Everyone wants an opportunity in life and if you lock yourself up in your own misery then radio executives will forget about you. You have to call everyone in the business you have a solid relationship with. Hopefully you did a good show and they'll recall you were a good guy on your way up the ladder and that you deserve another chance coming down the ladder of success.
Jeff and I have always treated people in the radio business with respect. We never let our ego overcome us. We understand that this is a great addictive business and that it's a privilege to be working in it.
6. Who has been your single favorite San Diego sports personality since you started in local radio? Who was the worst?
The best sports personality by far was and always will be "Mr. San Diego", Tony Gwynn. Tony was a person who kept me in the business. My job when I first started in the sports radio business was to do post-game interviews and grab post game sound. Tony was one of the few guys who wouldn't tell me to go "F" myself. He would talk to me after every game and has remained a good friend over the years.
Most of the Padres' players have been great over the years; from Trevor Hoffman bringing me cigars from Montreal to Bruce Bochy letting me take batting practice with my son at Qualcomm Stadium.
The list of the worst would include; Lenny Dykstra who with the Phillies would smoke cigarettes while showering. I've had my run in with a variety guys over the years most of whom play baseball. My favorite quote of all-time came from Nick Van Excel in 1994. Nick had a great game and when I asked what he was going to do to celebrate he told me, "Dave I'm such a great guy that tomorrow I'm going to wake up early so I can spend more time with myself."
7. Who are your radio influences?
My biggest radio influence is Howard Stern. I don't do a show like his but he displays passion for the radio business and shows if you focus and work hard, good things will happen.
8. What do you do for fun?
I still love to go to sporting events. I love watching and talking strategies with my sons on what different managers or coaches should do in particular situations.
9. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without _________
talking to my wife and sons.
10. What's the best advice you ever got? The worst?
The best advice I ever got was stay away from slow horses and fast women. No, I would say it's the old John Wooden saying "failing to prepare is preparing to fail."
The worst advice is from my grandmother who said "if you don't have anything nice to say don't say it at all." If I did that my shows would suck!
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