A couple months ago, I sent out a tweet saying “Radio shows that call me and ask if I’m ready then put me on hold for five minutes are going to not get me back on.” I did this while on hold. It lasted eight minutes actually. It went on to be the start of what’s gotten to be a very nasty run of insults thrown at me on the SBN blog Lone Star Ball.

I want to tell my side of the story.

It started like a lot of things. I was sent an email by someone asking me to do something:

My name is Patrick McCullough and I run the program Lone Star Ball Radio, which is the internet radio program tied to the Texas Rangers blog Lone Star Ball.

We have a show coming up next Monday and we would love to have you on for thirty minutes to talk about Rangers injuries, major league and minor league, as we wrap up this great season. The segment we would like to slot you into would be 8:30-9:00pm CST. Please let me know if this is possible. If not, I would like to record a quick 10 minute interview with you sometime to put up for our listeners.

Ok, nothing wrong with that. I’ll note that he asked for a half hour of time, which is pretty stout. I’m not compensated for these, nor do I ask for compensation on them. Talking for fifteen minutes is usually enough to get anything good out of me. I try to be as accessible as I possibly can.

In addition to the time, McCullogh sent a briefing package with questions. That was nice and showed some good prep. Unfortunately, he didn’t stick to them, starting off with a question that - for reasons I don’t wish to get into here - kind of threw me off, especially considering I’d just been on hold a while. I was in the midst of the discussions that ended up with me leaving Prospectus, so I’ll admit, I wasn’t in the friendliest frame of mind. On top of the package, McCullogh wanted me to do this:

I wanted to let you know about one more thing before tonight’s show… Since we do this show live, and are spread out across the country, we use a chat feature to talk behind the scenes and make sure we know what’s going on… I send out notices of breaks, who is asking the next question, what the next question is, when breaks are, ect… It can be a useful tool, and we ask that if you are going to be by your laptop/computer to check in during your segment and keep an eye on it during the interview. You can also send messages and chat with it, so if you need to piss or something you can send it along…

 It is found on this website http://www.redactedurl.com

 Click in the text insert area, answer two questions, and then under the text insert area you can change your name from DELETED or whatever it is to something more personal so we know who you are.

 Thanks for you cooperation, looking forward to a great show tonight!

While I admire the thought, I responded with this:

Dude, just call me, I’ll answer questions ..

I was probably a bit short with him there, but again, understand that I had a lot on my plate at the time and was doing this anyway. Finally, I did the show and got left on hold, listening to a song play for eight minutes, then the hosts bantered for a bit before I came on. Commercial breaks are one thing, but calling me and just leaving me on hold because you can isn’t my idea of being accommodating. I sent out the tweet, deliberately not naming anyone.

A few days later, I started getting some emails from Rangers-fan friends who frequented the site. They pointed out that McCullough and others had started in on me. I sent an email to the site’s lead writer, Adam Morris:

Hey Adam …

I just got alerted that the kid who does your radio show has been on
blast for me since I did the show a couple weeks back. I can
understand his position, but I wanted to explain mine. The kid asked
if I’d come on the show for a half hour. I love to do radio and since
it was associated with you, I said sure, but I really can’t go that
long. How about 10-15? He kept me for 40. He sent me a laundry list of
things to do, including being in a chat room. Again, my time isn’t as
valuable as Peter Gammons or even Evan Grant, but I’m a simple guy —
call me up, let’s talk about baseball and I’m good with that. I don’t
need homework. Finally, the kid had me on hold after calling me for
almost ten minutes while he played some song. Why do that? I tweeted
about it, wo naming him specifically. Finally, he started with two
questions [redacted]. Was I a bit grumpier about it than I
should have been? Maybe, though with the current situation, I think
it’s very understandable. I could care less if some college kid goes
on blast on me, but I do want you to know where I’m coming from.

Adam was kind enough to reply:

Thanks for the email.  To be clear, I don’t have anything to do with the show, and their carping about me not promoting it on the front page of LSB has been a point of contention from time to time.  I’ve been concerned that their labeling it “Lone Star Ball Radio” was going to cause some confusion, and I think I’ll address that with them.

Case closed, at least for me.
Instead, the attacks got worse on the site. Several people started hitting my Twitter account with crap, so I blocked them. I emailed Adam about it, without reply*, and in a conversation with SBN’s CEO, Jim Bankoff, he didn’t seem too concerned by it. “We don’t have much control of what’s said in the comments,” he said. The conversation was pretty wide-ranging and Bankoff wanted a lot of credit for the quality of his site (and in most cases, he’s very right), but wasn’t willing to manage the cesspool that many of his comment sections descend into. 
In the end, I decided to block those, plus anyone (including Adam Morris) associated with the blog. Looking back on this, while I’m sure I could have handled it better, I think everyone on that side could have handled it better. Funny thing is, I think Rangers fans know me as well as any fan base. I’ve gone down to Jamey Newberg’s event every year except this year and was hoping to make it down for the playoffs.
If hating being on hold is wrong, I don’t want to be right. And if having to deal with that kind of reaction is what some people are trying to build, I don’t want to have anything to do with that either.

(* UPDATE: Adam Morris emailed, saying that he didn’t get my second email. That happens and I believe him. Doesn’t change anything about the above post.)