Sportstalk’s Dan Russell To Sign Off After 30-year Run

[Mr. Ambien]

Good riddance

LOL

I expected that at some point but didn't expect it at reply #1.

[DonLever]

This.

Scott Rintoul is ok but Dan was far more entertaining.

I wish 1040 would bring back Blake Price in the evening. That was a good show.

Anyone know if Lee Powell will take over? Or will it just die?

Didn't you read the article? Dan Russell paid for the airtime on AM 650 and tried to get sponsers to offset the cost.

Unless Lee Powell is going to pay for the show, it is gone.

[Peaches]

Didn't you read the article? Dan Russell paid for the airtime on AM 650 and tried to get sponsers to offset the cost.

Unless Lee Powell is going to pay for the show, it is gone.

Yes, I did know that, but I was wondering if there was any news on Lee paying for the show. Seems to be a well liked guy, more than Dan so he may have an easier time getting sponsors.

[Ghostsof1915]

I credit Dan for being one of the first in this market for talk sports radio. But after he was denied taking over for Jim Robson, he became extremely bitter and eventually became unlistenable.

He forgot the first rule of broadcasting, make friends. You need allies in case things start going bad for you.

Maybe he can be a columnist for the Province. That way Cryptkeeper can finally rest in his tomb.

[Brick Tamland]

Why? No one is forcing you to listening to him. Just turn the dial.

I listen to him because he provides a diiferent viewpoint. The more viewpoints out there the better.

The reason why he is leaving radio is he could not make money by buying airtime and paying for it by using sponsorships. That is a risky propostion for any business. Especially for a business that got no assets besides the name, "Dan Russell" sports talk. This business model works only if you use it as promotion for your company. Plus it is is obvious long term sponserships were not there for him. Otherwise he would have gone on longer.

The bitter slant gets old quickly. He was good when he was the only show on the road, but as competition grew, so did his bitterness.

[MJDDawg]

If you weren't around for Dan's show during the '94 cup run, you really missed some awesome radio. Dan loved the team back then and had really good access to the team and management. The show was incredibly interactive with the fans and very spontaneous. It was such a hoot, following those guys with the old beater traveling across Canada and USA to watch the games.

Dan has a fantastic knowledge of the game, but as others have said, he became very negative and his popularity dwindled. It got to the point that one could predict what (negative) agenda he would have before he spoke. Very boring. More recently, I've noticed that he has made an effort not to chirp about the team so much, but I guess it came to late.

I'll never forget that run in '94; partly because of Dan Russell

Agreed.

And who could ever forget "The Pauser"?

[J529]

Was a big fan of his and his show almost from the very beginning, mainly because the it was the only sports talk show in town in those days, but stopped listening after he became a bitter old man after losing out to Shorty for the Canucks play-by-play gig.

Damn I must be getting old!

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Sportstalk+Russell+sign+after+year/9776245/story.html

Sportstalk's Dan Russell moved his show to CISL AM 650 last September after a nearly quarter-century run on CKNW 980. Photograph by: Jason Payne , PNG files

VANCOUVER — Dan Russell calls it a hiatus, not a retirement, but after nearly 30 years he is ending his nightly Sportstalk radio show.

Russell will wish his listeners one more "pleasant good evening" when he does his final show next Thursday night on CISL AM 650. Russell moved to AM 650 last September after a nearly quarter-century run on CKNW. He bought his own airtime at the Richmond station and sold advertising to try and keep the show going.

"I knew that when I had to take this on my own that I would be the first to know if it was going to make it or not," Russell said Friday. "We actually had a really good start last fall with sponsorship, but I found it extremely challenging to add to what we had and even maintain what we had. There are so many options for sponsors these days. It's very, very competitive and I am not a sales person per se.

"It has been a long run and at some point a change is needed. I'm not thinking of retiring. I am going to take a hiatus on the daily show."

Russell intends to keep his Sportstalk brand alive. He will continue a Sunday night golf show on AM 650 with Bill Wilms and Fraser Mulholland.

And he plans to continue podcasts and blogs on his sportstalkbc.ca website. "So I am still going to have a voice that way, podcasting and blogging and the Sunday night golf show, and then we're going to see what that leads to in the fall," he said. "Maybe we could do a regular hockey show. We are kicking around different things. We just don't know."

When he signs off on Thursday night, which is May 1, Russell will have come full circle. It was May 1, 1980 when CISL signed on as a radio station and the first disc jockey on the air was a 19-year-old Dan Russell, who was working the midnight to 6 a.m. shift.

Russell began his Sportstalk show on Oct. 15, 1984 on former Vancouver station CJOR. Now 53 and the father of three children, Russell is looking forward to a new phase of his life. "It has been a great run in terms of consistency, but I am actually looking forward to a new stage here," he said. "Maybe what we do at my age is morph into something that is a little bit less in terms of quantity. Maybe we do a couple of days a week or maybe zero. I don't know what the market is going to say. Maybe somebody is going to come and ask me to do something else. Maybe the market will retire me, maybe people will say that's enough, they have heard enough of Dan and that's fine. If the tribe has spoken, that's cool."

Russell's future could include a book. After nearly 30 years on air, Russell has lots of stories to tell. His show drew large ratings at CKNW and Russell has a storage locker filled with the tapes of many of the thousands of interviews he did over the years. Some of the most popular were with Brian Burke, who as the then-assistant general manager of the Vancouver Canucks did a hugely popular weekly segment with Russell.

"Burkie himself would fill four or five chapters," Russell said with a laugh Friday.

Russell actually started work on the book two years ago.

"I kept a diary of every show over the 30 years," he said. "There are just so many behind-the-scenes things … Two summers ago I spent six weeks writing a book and it just poured out of me. The first draft was done. It was actually very fun and therapeutic to do. The only intent at that point was for my three kids to one day have a look at it, but then the more people I told the more people said maybe you should consider doing it. I don't know, would there be a market for that, would people want to read it? I think maybe they would.

Source? Or are you just spotting off at the mouth with no real evidence that Dan is bitter about not getting Canucks play-by-play.

About time. Sports radio here is garbage in general, but Dan Russell was definitely the worst of them all.

Dan is far from worst of them. That would be 1040 and bobbleheads and "yes men"

This.

Scott Rintoul is ok but Dan was far more entertaining.

I wish 1040 would bring back Blake Price in the evening. That was a good show.

Anyone know if Lee Powell will take over? Or will it just die?

Rintool is drama queen. If you've listened to him lately he's purely speculating without any actual facts to support his claims about if Pittsburgh or San Jose go out early there's chance that Mclellan and/or Bylsma could become available and Canucks would certainly be looking at them. I can't stand Rintoul. He sucks at White Caps play by play too. The kid is like in Grade 9.

Agreed.

And who could ever forget "The Pauser"?

"The Pauser" once insulted and called Dan something to effect of "gutless puke" and was banned from ever calling into Sports Talk again.

[MJDDawg]

Source? Or are you just spotting off at the mouth with no real evidence that Dan is bitter about not getting Canucks play-by-play.

Someone piss in your cornflakes this morning, or are you always this passive aggressive?

And there is no source. But it has always been speculated. He's not going to come out and announce it is he?

He had openly campaigned for the job for quite some time, and if you'd ever listened to his show, you'd know that he went from a Canuck fan that talked about the team in an unbiased manner to pretty much becoming the most negative person on radio almost over night after Shorty was announced as Robson's replacement.

[J529]

Someone piss in your cornflakes this morning, or are you always this passive aggressive?

And there is no source. But it has always been speculated. He's not going to come out and announce it is he?

He had openly campaigned for the job for quite some time, and if you'd ever listened to his show, you'd know that he went from a Canuck fan that talked about the team in an unbiased manner to pretty much becoming the most negative person on radio almost over night after Shorty was announced as Robson's replacement.

Speculation doesn't necessarily mean it's true that he's bitter he didn't get it. I realize he's not going to come out and talk about it. I've listened to his show and he's made it no secret that he's Bruins fan (especially doing 2011 SCF). I don't perceive Dan as negative about Canucks when he's simply telling it like it is and pulling no punches, as opposed to 1040 and bobbleheads/"yes men" who makes excuse galore for Canucks and Gillis when he was here.

[almo89]

Someone piss in your cornflakes this morning, or are you always this passive aggressive?

And there is no source. But it has always been speculated. He's not going to come out and announce it is he?

He had openly campaigned for the job for quite some time, and if you'd ever listened to his show, you'd know that he went from a Canuck fan that talked about the team in an unbiased manner to pretty much becoming the most negative person on radio almost over night after Shorty was announced as Robson's replacement.

I use to listen to him every night before bed when I was in high school. I think he was a bit bitter when Hughson was replaced Robson, but when Hughson left for Sportsnet, he felt it was finally his time and then Shorty got the job. That's when I really felt like his attitude changed. Of course it's all speculation, but it I believe it to be the case. I remember when he had a chance to call a game against Anaheim I think because Shorty was away for some reason. He sounded really excited and I actually thought he did a good job.

[BanTSN]

"That old grey mare ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be..."

[CroSen]

Was Russell perfect? No, however who is. Listen to team 1040's morning show and many days it is just plain embarrassing. Russell was a pioneer, and I enjoyed even now the pacing of his show. Team 1040 segments often feel rushed and so sponsor driven. Russell and Powell seemed to take their time more to disect topics and have some fun with them. It is a style I will miss. And while he may have been, or may not have been angry toward the Canucks, at least he calls Province writers on things. Team 1040 often just seems like a promotional tool for the Province and the Sun, and the discussions tend to have less confrontation. Best of luck Dan, hope you get a hockey show.

[DonLever]

Today is the last day of the Dan Russell show. Anyone listening to it?

He is reminiscing with his co-host of the old days. Names that younger people on this forum never heard of. Like Pat Burns, Al Davidson and others. Stations like CJOR that is no longer on the air.

He is talking about the guy called The Pauser. Whatever happened to him?

[nuckin_futz]

Today is the last day of the Dan Russell show. Anyone listening to it?

He is reminiscing with his co-host of the old days. Names that younger people on this forum never heard of. Like Pat Burns, Al Davidson and others. Stations like CJOR that is no longer on the air.

He is talking about the guy called The Pauser. Whatever happened to him?

Pretty sure the Pauser died.

[MoneypuckOverlord]

It was f unny when he was indirectly attacking the callers. Funny as hell.

Caller calls in. "Canucks played great tonight this and that etc,"

Russel in a bad mood "annnnd your point?" lol

[Riviera82]

I listened to Dan Russel's final show in it's entirety this evening and it was terrific. It's a real melancholy feeling for me, I always thoroughly enjoyed his show and listening to all the people who called in this evening, they feel the same way. They like myself aren't the least bit happy and in fact are quite saddened that our favorite 9 to midnight pastime is no more.

I'd think it's unlikely that Dan Russel follows the boards on CDC but on the off-chance he does, I'd just like to say thanks Dan. Thanks for all the hours of sports talk (particularly Canucks related) that you provided over the years. No matter what anyone else might say, I think your'e the best sports personality in Vancouver and I really hope your excellent program finds it's way back on to the radio some day soon.

[zipzap2013]

He is talking about the guy called The Pauser. Whatever happened to him?

Pretty sure the Pauser died.

The Pauser did die back in 2009 iirc. He called Dan "a puke" and believe he wasn't allowed to call the show for couple of years. When Team started in 2011, The Pauser won a contest where a caller got to come in studio and host a show.

[UnkNuk]

I listened to Dan Russel's final show in it's entirety this evening and it was terrific. It's a real melancholy feeling for me, I always thoroughly enjoyed his show and listening to all the people who called in this evening, they feel the same way. They like myself aren't the least bit happy and in fact are quite saddened that our favorite 9 to midnight pastime is no more.

I'd think it's unlikely that Dan Russel follows the boards on CDC but on the off-chance he does, I'd just like to say thanks Dan. Thanks for all the hours of sports talk (particularly Canucks related) that you provided over the years. No matter what anyone else might say, I think your'e the best sports personality in Vancouver and I really hope your excellent program finds it's way back on to the radio some day soon.

I haven't listened much to sports talk radio these past few years. But when something major happened with the Canucks, it was his show that I would listen to.

I suspect/hope that someone with his knowledge and experience will be able to make his way back onto the radio waves again.

[Salmonberries]

I always felt his biggest agenda was in promoting his own 'self brilliance', so I tuned him out about 20 years ago .. not all bad I am sure, but the bitter edge came thru

He's still lying about introducing the sports talk radio concept with his "I was the first" to Vancouver nonsense while a few of us still remember Neil Macrae's phone-in/interview sports talk show show Sportsline from '78-'81 on the same radio stations (AM 650 and 1130) that Russell followed him on a couple of years later with basically the same format. I've always wondered why Macrae has let him get away with that all of these years when it was Macrae that actually paved the way for the Russell show with his trailblazing sports talk format show in the late seventies.

I listened to about five minutes of his show last Tuesday night since I read here he was going off. Nothing much has changed, still a blow hard and a liar.

[Nuxfanabroad]

Had that fixation with tooting car horns, I recall.

Would NEVER discuss a trade possibility. What's sports-talk supposed to be for, ferGawdsakes? So insistent with his opinions,as well. Get the last word, typa bloke.

Is the guy married?(skimmed the article). Consolation would be his long run kept his whingeing, nasal drone outa' the kitchen. His missus better take a longgg cruise to celebrate. Send the guy postcards.