The Voice

In the Pop Culture and Sports world, there are a few industries that have a hard time differentiating some of their major personalities or talents from one another. In many cases there is almost nothing separating the ones at the pinnacle of their respective fields, as once you reach a certain level in Hollywood or in the Arena, everyone can tend to fall into easily categorized buckets.  In recent pasts it’s been small comparisons the likes of Letterman vs Leno, Brady vs Manning, Pacino vs De Niro, or for the comic book fans currently obsessing over the next Marvel movie - Team Cap or Team Stark.  Each pick comes with extremely subtle differences that separate the two, with no right or wrong answer, when it comes to success in their respective roles.  In the television broadcaster arena the difficult differentiation is just as evident, as it would be surprising if the majority of people could tell you who the current lead news anchor for ABC,NBC, or CBS is.  But in the sports broadcaster segment specifically, where there are tens of thousands of radio stations nationwide, there comes a point where almost every single one of the “talking heads” eventually all sound the same.  Sure there are a few polarizing personalities that garner some national attention, but most continue to be lost in the white noise of the sports broadcasting and more specifically, the sports talk radio, universe.  In what some might call a bit of irony, the one voice that does do it a little different, a little smarter, and is just simply a little better than the rest, is one that helped build the sports journalism industry when coming up through the ranks of the ESPN lore. 

Dan Patrick, host of The Dan Patrick Show simulcast on DirectTV’s Audience Network, not only rises above the fray on a daily basis, but he manages to set the bar of success and professionalism significantly higher than any other mover or shaker in the industry has done.  Eventually every show in the sports talk show market is going to have some overlap with content, and even more commonly with their opinions.  However, listening to Dan cover the same subjects, sometimes with an even broader and varied take, is not like listening to just another show talking about the same thing.  A lot of the time, it’s more like listening to someone debate a sports topic with family at a holiday dinner or overhearing a bar-room argument amongst a group of drinking buddies.  But most commonly it’s hearing Dan facilitate a discussion in a round table-esque context with “The Danettes” about sports stories and news, and their thoughts on it.  Dan has the ability to speak the opinion he gets paid handsomely to share in the context of talking out his humble analysis with someone else, instead of trying to impose his opinion as fact to the public.  Framing things for an audience that way gives the show a credibility that also enables it to have moments when it can get serious with sports controversy, commentary on the actions/behavior of athletes, and even deal with tragedy in a manner that can certainly have the ability to reach listeners in a completely unexpected way (i.e. the show after the Boston Marathon horror). 

Even listening to Dan interview a guest gives you something different than almost any other host in the industry (Howard Stern being one of the few exceptions).  The fun that he has with his guests and his ability to get them to let down their guard has been earned by the personal brand he’s spent years building for himself and the show.  Sometimes there are guests that he takes a journalistic approach to (almost in the likes of a 60 Minutes interview) or often it is a light-hearted interview like when he had Jordan Spieth tapping the phone against his brand new US Open Trophy.  And as you can imagine, Dan also has the professional reputation and brand that gives him the ability to push back on non-answers and he is far from being afraid to ask the direct, difficult questions when there is a story to be told. You can find the same scripted questions and answers on every other show, and certainly the guests appear to even appreciate the difference with The Dan Patrick Show.  However, as one would imagine, there are times when pointed conversation evolves into a little bit of heated debate, like in some rare cases with an analytical guest or somewhat regularly with the Head of the Bowl Championship Series Bill Hancock.  But the importance of the way everything is handled by the host is exemplified by the fact that said guests still continue to come back or also in the fact that a NBA personality from ESPN, who simply differed in an opinion that easily had two sides, felt their conversation get loud enough to where he half-seriously asked if they were actually yelling at either.  But it was done in a mutually respectful, tip-the-cap sort of way that made for great radio.  It was brushed off by both parties as good fun and in the nature of that good fun, they proceeded to joke that there will definitely be a newsflash coming about their new feud because the guest just happened to be from ESPN. 

Dan’s track record and history in the rest of the sports industry certainly helps him in getting access to difficult “gets” in the sports field, but his ever-growing friendship with Adam Sandler has been a big help to whatever doors were only slightly open to him in the Hollywood realm prior.  It is rare that the show will ever shy away from conversation about pop culture – yes all that is movies, music, and television – sometimes carrying out a conversation for an entire segment.   You’ll often even see them delve into what a normal everyday conversation about a big TV finale or concert from the night before might sound like behind closed doors.  Or maybe another time they give you a little bit of a peak behind the curtain in Hollywood like when giving a review on the latest blockbuster that they just happened to be at the Premiere for over the weekend.  If you do want to say that the show has one imperfection, one might point to the fact that Dan and his Danettes might get a little childish with some of their gags.  Sometimes there can be a fraternity brother type humor as they torture each other with wheels of punishment (spin for your penalty) and Mitch Kupchak bouts.  Yet, most people probably couldn’t imagine favoring the show just as much without these “sidebars” that actually often make one laugh out loud even while they’re only listening.  Even his man caves (not only the main hub in Milford, CT but now the ones in New York City, Los Angeles, and the mobile man cave at each Super Bowl), put most people’s in the world to shame. 

Dan is still probably most recognizable for his 17 years at ESPN, but his re-birth with the still under-appreciated “DP Show” has scored him gigs as the Studio Host for both Sunday Night Football, the NBC Olympics, and most recently as the founding face of Sports Jeopardy!. While The Dan Patrick Show has received critical acclaim and is mostly regarded as the best national talk show, not many people realize what a trailblazer might truly be currently underneath their noses.  There is still plenty of favoritism towards the local ESPN Radio stations and even most local sports talk, unfortunately with some of the household names having been born out of controversy (i.e. Steven A. Smith).  But as everyone recently celebrated Chris Berman’s well-deserved induction into the Broadcaster Hall Of Fame, most people are still missing out of the ever-growing legacy that will undoubtedly be joining Mr. Berman one day in the near future.