Let me tell you a little story. All through college I enjoyed listening to an awesome afternoon radio show based out of Washington D.C.’s WJFK 106.7 called the Don and Mike Show. This show was syndicated via the Westwood One Radio Network. Here Don Geronimo (real name Mike Sorce) and Mike O’Meara would make me laugh out loud every afternoon (their show ran from 2-6pm CST). They played here in Mobile first on the sports channel WNSP 105.5 and then moved to AM 1480 WABB where they remained for many years. Unfortunately, the local radio station did not get the kind of ratings they wanted for the show, and they were banished from Mobile. Much to my and many other fans’ dismay, their timeslot was replaced with the absolute bore and cliched Sean Hannity (I like conservative talk but this guy is terrible).
Now this was quite a few years ago before radio broadcasting via the Internet was commonplace. There were various people that would set up streaming feeds occasionally that I could find and listen to, but these would disappear once Westwood One found out about them (amongst the fans, the feeds were referred to as “Fight Club”, and anytime someone outed a feed in a public forum, the response would be about the first rule of Fight Club…fun stuff).
For some reason a couple of weeks ago, I thought about this show and decided to google it and see what was up. Much to my surprise and pleasure, I found that they now have an official website – www.donandmikewebsite.com and are now streamed online during their show (2-6pm CST). On their official site they have Daily Audio Highlights and also Show Recaps.
It is like I have reconnected with some old friends. The cast of characters involved with the show hasn’t changed much since I last listened and the material is even funnier than I remember. It is great to hear you guys again, Don, Mike, Buzz, Robbay!
One unfortunate thing I discovered upon reading their site was that Mike Sorce (Don Geronimo’s real life alter ego) lost his lovely wife Freda earlier this year. Freda was a frequent participant in the show and she was a joy to listen to. Though I’ve never met these people in person, I spent quite a bit of time listening to their show and hearing details of their lives. So I guess I felt a bit like I knew them and hearing news of Freda’s death saddened me greatly. Don took some time off and upon returning to the show did a segment by himself, as himself, Mike Sorce, talking about what he had gone through and as a tribute to his dear Freda. Here are links to a 4 part mp3 of the tribute show. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
Be prepared though before you listen, for me this was one of the saddest things I’ve ever listened to. I feel for Don and his family, but it seems he is continuing his life as best as one can expect after something like this, and I am very happy to be able to listen to the show again. They truly are quality entertainment at its finest.
Oh and if you are in the greater Balitmore area, be sure and eat at O’Meara’s (owned by Mike O’Meara and affectionately dubbed by Don as Hank’s Look-Around Cafe).
