Radio Waves
WEEI’s Gerry Callahan has adapted to life as an early-riser to become one of the top media personalities in Boston
By Gary Larrabee
From an idealistic rookie staffer on the Lowell Sun in 1983, Gerry Callahan has grown into one of the most powerful - and opinionated - voices on the Boston media sports scene. The conservative half of the Dennis & Callahan morning show on WEEI 850 AM, the top-rated sports radio station in America, Callahan also pens a twice-weekly column for The Boston Herald - a must read for any Boston-area sports fan.
The former Chelmsford High athlete is a UMass-Amherst graduate who wrote sports for The Sun for six years, then accepted a position at The Herald. After one month on the job, sports editor Bob Sales appointed him a columnist. His reputation as an incisive, no-holds-barred observer of the sports world quickly spread.
In 1994 he was hired by Sports Illustrated, where he covered primarily the major sports and contributed to the inside-back-cover column. In the meantime, Callahan, now an Andover resident, had begun appearing on WEEI’s The Big Show, which set the stage for his being offered the 10 a.m.-12 p.m. gig with former Channel 7 sports anchor John Dennis in 1997. He quit SI and has never looked back.
After two years in the late-morning slot, Dennis and Callahan were offered the 6 a .m. to 10 a.m. prime time slot, replacing Imus in the Morning, and now, five years later, they have emerged as the No. 1-rated show in town among the critical 25-54 age male listeners.
North Shore Golf posed “18 Questions” to Callahan while he hit balls on the practice tee of his home club, Indian Ridge.
1. NSG: The wakeup call is frightfully early. The money is exceptional. The bumps have been few, but high profile. So how has the sports journalist enjoyed his new career as a radio personality in one of the sports-crazed towns in America?
GC: It’s been terrific, despite a few uncomfortable moments. Radio life is the complete opposite of sportswriting life. I get up now in what used to be the middle of the night for me, but my hours are set. I know when I’ll finish. Travel is minimal – a week at spring training, a week at the Super Bowl. I’ve got weekends off, and that’s been the best thing since [my wife, Tracy and I] have children age 10 and 7. I don’t get much sleep, but I don’t travel hardly ever, and that’s a pretty fair trade. I spend a lot more time with them and my wife since I left SI and that’s the best benefit of this career change.
2. NSG: Then there’s that other small issue: money. Media reports indicate you, Dennis and Glen Ordway make well into six-figure salaries. Does that weekly check make it easy to get up at 4 a.m.?
GC: Sure does. I make more money than I ever dreamed of making and I’m grateful to the people here at the station who help make it possible. It makes those years of two-week road trips for SI and schlepping around from one high school wrestling match to another worthwhile. I’m not looking for sympathy, but we earn our dough. We do a lot of talking over that four-hour time slot and we have to be a combination of funny, entertaining and provocative. Sure it’s a blast most days, but by 10 o’clock we’re bushed. Try it some time.”
3. NSG: Is John Dennis as insufferable to work with as you suggest by your constant arguments on the air? You guys seem to agree on the issues of the day, sports and otherwise, about as often as John Kerry and George Bush.
GC: It’s not as difficult working with John as it might sound, because I’m always right. The facts invariably land on my side of most issues. John’s got the booming voice. He’s more articulate. But I hold my own, believe me, on and off the air. He’s particularly brutal to listen to from now through October because he wants to tell me every morning what he shot the previous day on the golf course, shot by shot; all 97 shots typically. Overall, though, I can tolerate him. We’ve got the right chemistry, as they say, to keep the show interesting for people getting up at 6 or driving down 128 at 9:30.
4. NSG: Dennis is perceived as the golf nut on the show, but have you not developed your own infatuation for the game?
GC: I never played the game until I was 30. The fool I am, I started playing right after I got married. That’s called two competing forces at work. When I was a kid golf was for wimps. The very idea of watching golf on TV was laughable. But I got the itch and I love it. I love playing, watching, reading golf. And it hasn’t hurt that we talk to some big names in golf on our show, like Brad Faxon and Johnny Miller.
5. NSG: What’s the state of your game?
GC: I can hit it alright. I’ve got a [handicap] index of 11. I play at Indian Ridge at least once a week, practice at least once a week. I might play three, four or nine holes once in a while late in the day. Then there’s Dennis. He’ll play more rounds by Memorial Day than I’ll play all year. The club has lots of good players. The course is a good test and I’ve made some nice friends over my seven years as a member.
6. NSG: What are your favorites courses locally and beyond?
GC: I love both courses at The International in Bolton. I’m not a golf snob where I only like their new Oaks course. The other course is a fine experience, too, just like the two courses at The Pinehills. Can’t go wrong with either. I couldn’t pick among the so-called best courses around, like The Country Club, Salem and Winchester.
7. NSG: What has been your most memorable round?
GC: I played a twosome last August with Colin Ahern, a golf chum and a top-notch amateur player from Indian Ridge, at his second club, Cape Arundel in Kennebunkport. We had a good, quick match. As we were walking off we were told that Faxon was playing with the former President Bush a couple holes behind us. Since I knew Brad from the show, and since the President had spoken to us and made a sizable donation during our Jimmy Fund Radiothon in 2002, we drove out to watch. Well, it wasn’t just any round with the President for Brad. He was on the verge of breaking the course record, but he needed another birdie and parred it instead. But Brad introduced us and we had a nice conversation with the President. That round I will never forget.
8. NSG: How difficult was it to make the transition from full-time writer to full-time talkshow co-host?
GC: It was, in fact, an easy transition overall. Writing is solitary, stressful, where in my case I’m alone in a room for two, three hours trying to create a good piece for usually the very next day. You internalize, you personalize. You must have credible knowledge. With radio, you can let it all out, whether we’re talking about, sports, war or politics. Radio is off the cuff, spontaneous, a whole different feeling for me, an enjoyable contrast, intoxicating.
9. NSG: But we know it’s not all fun and laughs, right?
GC: We’re exposed for good or bad for four hours a day, five days a week, to the largest radio audience in Greater Boston. We’ve got nowhere to hide, especially if we misspeak. You can’t fake it. The way we speak is the way we feel, which pleases many, but can displease many, too.
10. NSG: The show seems to have the perfect makeup of liberal Dennis, conservative Callahan and off-the-wall Jon Meterparel. What makes the three of you click?
GC: It’s a case of three unique personalities providing the right mix. John’s a funny, quick, good on his feet, doesn’t need a teleprompter like some TV guys who’d wet their pants without one. It also helps that he’s completely insane. Jon’s a great wisecracker I discovered while on assignment for SI in Charlotte. He was working the same job down there with Billy Packer’s son, Mark. They invited me on the show and Jon caught my attention. He’d make fun of NASCAR drivers like you wouldn’t believe, near sacrilege down there. Yeah, irreverent. So when John and I got the morning show here, I said we’ve got to bring up Meterparel. He was from Boston anyway, so it was a no-brainer for him. The three of us have been together five years now.
11. NSG: What were your expectations for the show at the outset, when a lot of the “experts” said you would flop?
GC: Our goal was to eventually beat Imus in the ratings. That’s why the station bumped him for us. I guess we fooled everybody, because we were well ahead of him from the very first rating book. Five years later we kill him every rating period. We just had our best rating ever over the winter book, 12.4 for the 25-54 male audience demographic, best in the market, and our increase in audience from fall to winter, 8.9 to 12.4 (3.5), was more share points than Imus’ total rating book of 3.4. We’re thrilled, of course. If we don’t put up the points, we’re looking for jobs.
12. NSG: Do you have any trouble separating your two jobs and avoiding conflicts?
GC: Not really. Radio comes first. That job pays the bills and then some. I’m a part-time columnist at The Herald, twice a week, so that’s a good fit for now. But once in a while I write when I’m tired – not a good thing – you need a clear head. I write about the same stuff we talk about, i.e. the hot topic of the day, something we’re never short of around here, so the two jobs tend to feed off each other. I still love writing, because you have a finished product for posterity, whether it remains with someone for a day, month or year, or just a few minutes. What we say [on the radio] usually passes quickly.
13. NSG: Any new movie roles lined up with your buddies, the Farrelly brothers?
GC: Not currently, but their next movie is The Three Stooges, and I want to be on the set to watch some of that. I’ve always loved the Stooges. They’re still casting for it and I haven’t gotten a call, but I’m hoping. It was a blast getting a few seconds face time in their others, Me, Myself and Irene, Shallow Hal and Stuck on You, but even more fun just being around for the filming. I realize my future is not in movies.
14. NSG: We realize it’s tough being among the movie star set; all those vicious rumors of romantic link-ups. You’ve survived those rumors quite well. So how is your pal Gwyneth Paltrow these days?
GC: C’mon. She’s just a good friend from Shallow Hal and that’s all. The only reason we’re ever linked is because she waddled into our trailer one day during shooting in Charlotte, wearing that fat suit and she watched a hockey game on TV with us. We talked about art, other stuff and we bonded. I thought she’d call later, but it never happened. (Callahan then returned from his fantasy land of dreams to continue our exchange).
15. NSG: Whom do you most admire on the male side of the movie world?
GC: There’s no better or funnier guy than Lenny Clarke. We’ve done some stuff together and he’s been on the morning show plenty of times. One of the nicest guys I ever met I show business is Darius Rucker from Hootie and the Blowfish. We were in a scene with him in Shallow Hal and couldn’t have been nicer. I wish more athletes handled their stardom like Rucker. Same goes for Matt Damon and the rare moments we spent with him while filming Stuck on You. He disappointed me only in that he’s such a liberal - yecch! But he was so nice to my wife. But not so nice that I had a reason to get jealous.
16. NSG: Your star seemingly continues to rise. What’s in the future professionally for Gerry Callahan?
GC: We’ve got to keep it up here on the “D & C” show; keep showing up at the top of the two ratings books. We’ve got a good thing going and it’s up to John and me and Jon to keep it going. We’d be happy doing this for the next 10 years, regardless of the sleep deprivation involved. At least we’re aware of how careful we have to be because we’ve seen other guys lose their minds doing this shift. Hey, so what if I get up at 4. I drive a nice car to work in no traffic. I can keep my family happy and it’s a fun way to put my kids through college and put a few bucks away for retirement. Ultimately, it’s be nice some day to do the show during the winter from my vacation home in Florida, like some guys in this town already do.
17. NSG: And what, pray tell, do you forecast for our four professional sports teams over the next 12 months?
GC: The Patriots will win the Super Bowl again, tougher regular season schedule or not. They’ve got all their really key guys back except for Ted Washington. They’ve got a bonafide running back in Corey Dillon, if he doesn’t get in trouble with the cops. They could be better than last year. The Red Sox are built for the long haul if Nomar and Trot are healthy. They’ll get to Game 7 of the ALCS again and this time the manager won’t choke when everything is on the line. After that, it’s up to the baseball gods. The Celtics will beat the Revolution in the TV ratings and the Bruins as well, since the NHL will have a lockout and not even have a season.
18. NSG: Last question. Where would you like to play your last round of golf on earth, and with whom?
GC: Somewhere in Ireland, almost anywhere in Ireland, with my dad, Gerry Sr., John Daly, Ann Coulter, my favorite right wing pundit, Phil Mickelson and Laura Ingrahm, the most beautiful Republican pundit. Oh, that’s six, not four? Well, let’s round it off to two full foursomes with President Bush 41 and 43.
