(670 The Score) When The Score was born in January 1992, it was the first all-sports radio station in Chicago. At the time, it seemed like an ambitious idea.
Thirty years later, those original voices are proud and perhaps somewhat surprised the sports radio concept worked in Chicago. But Tom Shaer, a host who was the very first person to speak on The Score, believed it would all work out.
“I never doubted for a minute we’d make it,” Shaer said a in Score Stories segment with the Parkins & Spiegel Show on Thursday. “Everybody else did. And I’m not exaggerating when I say everybody. But I thought it was a good idea.
“Nobody thought it would be a home run. I was told we wanted to hit a clean single, maybe a double and we’ll see if we can hit a triple.”
Launching The Score proved to be a challenge early on, especially because the station was supposed to begin broadcasting four months earlier.
“We were flying by the seat of our pants, but it was kind of an organized chaos," Shaer said. "We were supposed to go on the air in September of 1991, in time for the Bears’ season. And the FCC delayed our broadcast license and all things like that for four months.
“It actually was a blessing that we had those four months to get ready. We would not have been ready for September, I can tell you that right now.
“It’s the unknown. This had never been done in Chicago before.”