Fast Eddie

Fast Eddie - When I was a kid growing up in North Dakota, just getting started in the radio business, a new sportscaster came to Fargo's Channel 4, to backstop the legendary Jim Adelson. He was "Fast" Eddie Schultz, former college tackling dummy quarterback (if memory serves) for Moorhead State.

Jeez, he was awful. He couldn't pronounce the alphabet, and his sportscasts were like parodies of Chris Berman done by "English as a Second Language" students. But he had something going for him; he married Maureen Zimmerman, Channel 4's hot-shot anchor and the most beautiful woman ever to come from Jamestown, ND (and that includes Peggy Lee at her peak), became "Sports Director" at Channel 6, and spent many years as a chronic joke in the local media.

The joke? He could guess which side was left with only three tries.

It seems it's true with his political talk hosting career, as Schultz, a former Limbaugh knockoff, is garnering headlines as a turncoat liberal host:

Schultz, 49, a former college quarterback and sports broadcaster, likes to be known as a fighter. He once bolted out of the broadcast booth while doing play-by-play for a college football game to chase down a fan who threw a whiskey bottle at him. He once threatened to "bop" a "bozo" who was harassing him during a broadcast of a college hockey game. [Which would have at least gotten him out of the booth long enough for viewers to enjoy the game without his inane prattle - Ed.]

Some listeners have accused him of opportunism, saying he made the right-to-left switch for the chance to make more money.

"You can't believe anything Schultz says because you don't know what his core beliefs are," said Larry Astrup of Fargo, a former listener who describes himself as "so conservative I'm mad at Bush."

Simple - finding a schtick that sets him apart from the rest of the market!

Oh, he has another explanation, of course:

said his transformation from Republican to Democrat was genuine, and started when his wife-to-be, Wendy, asked him to meet her for lunch at a Salvation Army cafeteria - an experience that made him feel guilty about poking fun at homeless people.

So he was a compassionless moron. It spans all politics. Duly noted.

Notify the media.

Of course, one thing rings true about Schultz' conversion; the paranoia. Always, the paranoia:

Schultz said many conservative talk show hosts have "this big political engine" buying advertising to get them onto stations, making it difficult for him to break into bigger markets.

"I know I'm climbing a pretty tall mountain," he said. "I also know the conservative hard-right attack is coming. I know they're going to go after me any way they possibly can. My feet are on the ground. I'm ready for it."

On the plus side - he makes Sean Hannity look nuanced.

Posted by Mitch at February 26, 2004 05:04 AM