(670 The Score) When I encountered Dan McNeil and Terry Boers as an intern in 1994, they were awe-inspiring. McNeil was the best driver of a radio show I’d ever seen, maybe still to this day, and Boers was a wild animal.
“Whoop!” in a jarring falsetto might come out of his mouth as easily as a salient basketball point with deep strategic insight. Terry would blow up on an overwhelmed caller, change the subject with an off-kilter but ingenious observation and 30 seconds later deliver a brilliant one-liner that left McNeil wheezing and laughing, red-faced. Those two were doing something I couldn’t even conceive of being good enough to do, but boy did I want to.
And when the mic was off, Terry just kept being Terry. He’d walk through the halls needling everyone in his path, offering perfect asides to others about the people he’d just passed, with those track pants gently chafing. Everyone in the building wanted to get in his face to take his brand of benevolent abuse. He was our Don Rickles.
We lost our dear friend Terry on Friday, as he passed away while lovingly surrounded by family. We’ll miss him and always remember him.
Terry’s ability or choice or natural gift at being the same person on and off the air was inspiring in ways I didn’t grasp for a while. He was comfortable with himself – flaws, weirdness and all. That’s what we loved, the eccentric authenticity.
When he and Mac would get their hands on a juicy, absurd story, Terry was the best you’d ever hear at stretching the entertainment possibilities to the absolute maximum. One day in 1997, the baseball world mourned the passing of former White Sox outfielder Johnny Dickshot. Over the course of the next two hours, Terry made every joke imaginable, twice, with perfect timing and a stand-up comic’s feel for callbacks. It never got old, never got tired and I never forgot it. This was a master.
For every team that came to town or school that Illinois was preparing to play, there was an out-of-town writer Terry knew would be radio gold. Through him, I heard Art Thiel from Seattle, Patrick Reusse from Minneapolis, Terry Pluto from Cleveland and so many more. He had a huge and weird collection of funny and sharp guests who all quickly said yes because they loved him. I wanted to have been in the hotel bars where those friendships were formed.
All of that came before his pairing with Dan Bernstein, as they linked to what eventually Mac and I would call “The Freight Train of Hate and Indignation." Terry showed me that you could make great radio with two thoroughly different kinds of partners and still maintain your own character. He also showed me that if you had built up enough genuine goodwill through simply not being an asshole, you could probably then get away with the times you ended up being a little mean.
Sometimes he felt like he needed to be mean to do the job. He hurt my feelings a couple times. We talked about it later. He was accountable, kind and funny. He was super easy to forgive. Years later, we would discuss it anew, and I could relate on all sides of it.
Terry laughed at himself. He invited you to laugh at him. He knew how ridiculous he was and how fortunate he was. But he also knew the power in that humility. Self-deprecation in the midst of an interview question always got a laugh while it also created the warmth to elicit a more human response. Smart.
Terry and both of his Dans made shows that have been my north star for what Chicago sports radio can be. They actively involved producers who became vital forces and fostered a sense of listener community that expanded upon itself. Every on-air partnership I’ve forged has been an opportunity to shoot for that star, and regardless of whether we’ve reached it, a community has come together amidst the aspiration.
Looking back, it’s easy to see that his comedic sensibilities defined the station’s voice in a way that still resonates deeply.
Thank you, Terry Boers, for all that you were and all that you’ve inspired.
Matt Spiegel is the co-host of the Spiegel & Holmes Show on 670 The Score from 2-6 p.m. weekdays. Follow him on Twitter @MattSpiegel670.